VASCO: The ‘Malabar CY-10’ exercise between India and the US naval ships will be held in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Goa, from April 27 to May 2, in which frontline units from both the navies will be participating.

The Malabar exercise covers diverse range of operational activities in the sea. The naval cooperation between India and the US epitomises the long-term strategic relationship between both the countries.
The Indian Navy will be represented by INS Mysore, an indigenous Delhi class guided missile destroyer and three guided missile frigates, INS Godavari, INS Brahmaputra and INS Tabar. In addition, one Shishumar class submarine, INS Shankush, sea harrier fighter, other fixed and rotary wing aircrafts are also scheduled to participate in the bilateral exercise.
On the other hand the US Navy will be represented by ships from CTF 70 of the USN seventh fleet which is based at Yokosuka, Japan. The CTF will include the cruiser USS Shiloh, USS Chaffee, USS Lassen, and frigate USS Curts. In addition, one Los Angeles class nuclear powered submarine, USS Annapolis, two Orion aircraft and a 28-member US Navy special force team will also participate in the exercise.
There will be a total of 3,000 personnel from both the navies participating in this joint exercise.
While addressing a press conference onboard ‘INS Mysore’ at MPT on Saturday, the flag officer commanding Goa naval area, Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, CTF 70 Rear Admiral Kevin Donegan, commanding officer of ‘INS Mysore,’ Atul Jain and commanding officer of US naval ship ‘Shiloh,’ Mathew Loughlin informed that Malabar is not an exercise but a relationship building process between the two countries.
Rear Admiral Pillai said that both the navies over the years have undertaken diverse bilateral activities such as training exchanges, information exchange, and technical cooperation. He stated that both the nations have significant convergence of interests, especially in maintenance of maritime security and for this, India and USA framework for maritime security cooperation was signed in 2006.
Rear Admiral Pillai also stated that the comparable and communicable exercise between the two nations is also working against the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. It was informed that the piracy is a huge problem as the Gulf of Aden has spread across a huge region. The exercise is primarily aimed at deriving mutual benefits from each other’s experiences. The interoperability achieved over the years as a result of such an exercise has proved to be operationally beneficial, particularly during the ongoing anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, as also during the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations such as the Tsunami.
“The governments of both the nations are working together to fight against piracy,” Pillai stated.
Rear Admiral Pillai said that our nations have built a foundation for our governments to continue to work together to promote peace, prosperity, and stability. He also informed that we believe that strong relationships between the two navies will contribute to peace and stability, wherein the cooperation between Indian Navy and US Navy is a positive tangible symbol of our commitment in ensuring a positive climate for stability and economic prosperity.
The CTF 70s Rear Admiral Kevin Donegan informed that “The regular Indian Navy’s and US Navy’s interaction over the years have resulted in an increase in the complexity and professional content of the bilateral exercise.” He opined that the thrust of the exercise this year would be on anti-submarine warfare, surface firings, maritime interdiction operations, visit board search and seizure and submarine operations.