The News
The key naval assets of the Indian Navy were put on operational alert in the northern Arabian Sea.
News Summary
- India had commenced its largest annual amphibious exercise TROPEX-2019 in January. However in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, India has redeployed its key naval assets in the northern Arabian Sea.
- The TROPEX exercise made it easier to switch gears from ‘exercise’ mode to ‘operational’ mode.
- The key naval assets include:
- INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, the mainstay of India’s only carrier battle group.
- INS Chakra SSBN, nuclear-powered attack submarine.
- INS Jalashwa, amphibious transport dock
- Other surface combatants.
In brief: TROPEX (Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise)
- TROPEX is India’s largest amphibious exercise held annually since 2005.
- It is an inter-service maritime theatre level war exercise mainly to augment the interoperability of the armed forced
- It primarily aims to test the combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Indian Navy, assets of the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard.
- It involves deployment of:
- Aircraft carries, submarines, ships, transport docks, marine commandos of Indian Navy
- Aircrafts including Sukhoi, Jaguar, Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and Refueller aircrafts from Indian Air Force
- Troops from Indian Army and Indian Coast Guard.
Significance
- In the current security scenario and with India’s increased role in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Indo-Pacific, the TROPEX assumes great significance.
- This exercise is conducted to test the various aspects of not only joint combat capabilities but also to test the war capabilities of the three services in a war like situation.
- It also helps in validating operational warfighting concepts.
- With the exercise, certain important lessons help the services to further sharpen their skills.
