Major Naval Exercise Planned on Mumbai West Coast

The Western Naval Command, the sword arm of the Indian Navy, is preparing to exercise its assets of the Western Fleet in the Arabian Sea over the next fortnight.

“With the withdrawal of the monsoon and improved sea conditions, this is the right time to test our operational preparedness, validate procedures and try out new strategies and concepts of naval operations”, a naval spokesperson said.

“It is customary for the Navy to gear up for exercises and deployments immediately following the monsoon season, taking advantage of improved conditions at sea. This is the ideal time to fine tune our deployment concepts, test communication plans, exercise contingencies at sea and validate our inputs towards better maritime domain awareness”, the spokesperson added.

Live firing drills, helicopter operations from ships, operational logistics and communication SOPs are some of the areas that will form the core of these planned exercises in order to hone operational skills, testing of training efficacy and validate existing seamanship practices and procedures.

The Indian Navy has been a key presence in the Arabian Sea following its prolonged anti-piracy deployments in the Gulf of Aden and Op Sankalp off the Gulf of Oman.
The Western Naval Command just concluded an offshore security and contingency exercise code named “Prasthan” on 17 October.

It may also be recalled that the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had embarked the Western Fleet in end-September and the Navy had used the opportunity to exercise carrier-based evolutions and fighter operations during the event.

Source: DH

Image Courtesy: The Hindu