Indian Military Exercises

Military exercise or war games is the technique of using military resources in training or performing drills of military
operations, testing the quickness & real-time capabilities of warfare & adopting strategies without undergoing actual combat.
The military exercise is a measure to test the performance of the armed forces without engaging in the battlefield.
Why is military exercise required?
 Military exercise has become an imperative part of the armed forces all around the world. They serve many purposes like:
 It trains soldiers in how to act, how to think & how to work together in times of conflict.
 The military exercise is a method to showcase the power & might to other countries of the world.
 It also improves the coordination as well as cooperation among friendly militaries of the world.
 It provides with an opportunity to test the precision of weapons & devices.
 Training for Natural Disasters & Humanitarian Relief.
Military Exercises are classified into the following types:
1. Bilateral Exercise
2. Multilateral Exercise
3. Domestic Exercise
Bilateral Exercises: Bilateral Exercise is those exercise that is conducted between two countries.
Indian Army (Infantry)
S.N. Partner Nation Exercise Name Remarks
The annual joint training exercise, 7th edition held in Oct 2018, it was suspended in
1. China Ex Hand in Hand
2017 because of Doklam Plateau standoff.
2. Nepal Ex Surya Kiran Conducted biannually (every six months), alternatively in India & Nepal.
It is aimed to strengthen & broaden the aspects of interoperability & cooperation
3. Bangladesh Ex Sampriti
between the Indian & Bangladesh Armies.
Its inception was in 2012 in response to China‟s efforts to strengthen its influence in
4. Sri Lanka Ex Mitra Shakti
the Indian Ocean region & Southeast Asia.
5. USA Ex Yudh Abhyas Annual combat exercise, started in 2004, 14th edition held in Uttarakhand in 2018.
Conducted between Special Forces of both countries to deal with operations for
6. USA Ex Vajra Prahar
counter- terrorism.
7. Myanmar IMBAX-2017 It is aimed at strengthening closer relations with armies of the neighboring countries.
8. Malaysia Ex Harimau Shakti It is a 1st bilateral military training exercise between India & Malaysia in May 2018.
Annual military exercise, started in 2012, 6th edition held in 2018 in Bandung,
9. Indonesia Ex Garuda Shakti
Indonesia.
First military exercise between the two countries, to carry out training for
10. Vietnam VINBAX-2018
Peacekeeping Operations under United Nations mandate.
Annual bilateral military exercise, started in 2009. Hosted alternatively in India & the
11. Maldives Ex Ekuverin
Maldives.
Transformed into tri-services Military Exercise in 2017. The 10th edition conducted in
12. Russia Ex INDRA
2018 at Babina Military Station, Jhansi.
It is a joint military exercise first conducted in 2015. It is aimed at interoperability &
14. Oman AL NAGAH
weapons.
DHARMA
15. Japan First joint military exercise between India & Japan, conducted in 2018 in Mizoram.
GUARDIAN
16. Thailand EX MAITREE It was targeted at evolving drills & procedures involved in counter-terrorist operations.
Ex AJEYA
17. UK Biennial military exercise, started in 2013.
WARRIOR
Ex PRABAL
18. Kazakhstan 2016-first edition, 2017-second edition.
DOSTYK
Ex NOMADIC Annual bilateral military exercise, started in 2006. Designed to strengthen the
19.
Mongolia ELEPHANT partnership between the armies of India & Mongolia
The 8th edition of this biennial military exercise conducted in May 2018 at Mahe
21. Seychelles Ex LAMITIYE
island in Seychelles Archipelago.
Ex BOLD A bilateral armor exercise conducted at the BABINA Field Firing Range (BFFR) in
23. Singapore
KURUKSHETRA Central India between the Singapore Army & the Indian Army (IA).
24. Kyrgyzstan Ex KHANJAR It is an exercise between Special Forces of India & Kyrgyzstan.
Indian Navy
S.N. Partner Nation Exercise Name Remarks
SLINEX exercise started in 2005 was previously held biennially; from 2018 onwards it
1. Sri Lanka SLINEX
has been converted into the annual event.
3. Russia INDRA NAVY Started in 2003, 4th edition took place in 2018 in the Bay of Bengal.
4. UK KONKAN Started in 2004, to build interoperability & share best practices.
It started in 1983 between the navies of India & France. These exercises was later
5. France VARUNA
named as Varuna in 2001.
NASEEM-AL- Biennial bilateral exercise between the two navies, started in 1993. Literally means “sea
6. Oman
BAHR breeze”
7. Vietnam Sahyog HOP TAC First India Vietnam Coast Guard Exercise, held in 2018 in the Bay of Bengal.
IND-INDO India-Indonesia coordinated patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT), bi-annual exercise, started
9. Indonesia
CORPAT in 2002, 32nd edition held at Belawan, Indonesia in Oct, 2018.
It is an annual exercise between the Navies of Singapore & India since 1994. It stands
10. Singapore SIMBEX
for Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX).
11. Myanmar IMCOR Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR), held annually since 2013.
Indian Air Force
S.N. Partner Nation Exercise Name Remarks
This is an important aspect of the Indo-French bilateral military cooperation, which is
1. France Ex GARUDA
a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between France & India, established in 1998.
Ex EASTERN
2. Oman Conducted between the IAF & RAFO (Royal Air Force of Oman)
BRIDGE
Started in 2014, conducted biannually. The exercise is targeted towards anti-terrorist
3. Russia Ex AVIAINDRA-18
operations.

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 5. Thailand SIAM BHARAT Humanitarian assistance & disaster relief (HADR) exercise.
Ex DESERT A bilateral air combat exercise, provides exposure towards mission planning &
6. UAE
EAGLE execution in a simulated high threat combat environment.
Ex To enhance to mutual operational understanding between IAF & Royal Air Force. Four
7. UK
INDRADHANUSH editions so far viz. 2006, 2007, 2010 & 2015.
It is 2-week aerial combat exercise organized by the Indian Air Force. It offers air
8. USA Ex RED FLAG
combat training to military pilots from USA & its allies
Multilateral Exercises: They are those exercise which consists of more than one military partners.
S.N. Exercise Name Remarks
It is the world‟s largest maritime exercise. It was first conducted in 1971 & is held biannually near Honolulu,
1. RIMPAC Hawaii (USA). The Exercise is overlooked by the US Navy‟s Pacific fleet. The recent 2018 edition saw 26
countries participating which included India.
An annual trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan & India as permanent partners. It
2. MALABAR originally began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India & the US. Later in 2015, Japan became a
permanent partner
First joint military exercise between BIMSTEC countries, conducted in Pune, Maharashtra. All member
3. MILEX-18 BIMSTEC countries, except Thailand & Nepal, took an active part in this exercise. The main aim is to promote
practices in areas of counter-terrorism.
A Counter Terror Military Exercise, held in Russia in September 2018, under the framework of Shanghai
4. PEACE MISSION
Cooperation Organisation (SCO). For the first time, arch-rivals India & Pakistan took part in it.
The first multilateral Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of Indian Air Force in
5. Samvedna-2018
association with South Asian Region nations, was held off the coast of Kerala.
6. Ex COBRA GOLD It is the largest Asia-Pacific military exercise held in Thailand every year.
Started in 1993, it is a multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise hosted by the Royal Australian
7. KAKADU
Navy. It derives its name from the Kakadu National Park.
It stands for ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercise (ARF DiR Ex). It is aimed at organizing a large-
8. ARF DiR Ex scale disaster relief exercise. It was 1st held in 2009, & takes place biannually. It is co-hosted by one ASEAN
member states & one non-ASEAN ARF member.
A biennial multilateral Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise, conducted for the first
9. Ex KOMODO
time by the Indonesian Navy in April 2014 at Batam, Indonesia.
Domestic Exercise: They are aimed at improving the internal engagements amongst various departments. They can be
inter-services or intra-service depending on its nature & its application.
S.N. Exercise Name Remarks
Conducted by the Chetak corps of South Western Command of Indian Army in Mahajan field firing ranges of
1. GANDIV VIJAY Rajasthan in May 2018. It was based on offensive operations through joint air-land battle in a network-centric
environment employing modern technology.
Conducted by the South Western Command of Indian Army. The month-long exercise was aimed to
2. VIJAY PRAHAR orchestrate a wide spectrum of threats which are planned to be tackled through high tempo joint air & land
operation.
Tri-service maritime exercise conducted by Indian Navy off western coast in the Arabian Sea. The exercise is
PASCHIM
3. aimed at improving the interoperability between the Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force & Coast
LEHAR-18
Guard.
Vayu Shakti It is an Air Force Exercise conducted once in every 3 years. It was previously held in 2016 codenamed „Iron
4.
2019 Fist‟. It is a firepower demonstration exercise held at Pokhran, Rajasthan.

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