Navy exercise begins

Visakhapatnam: The Indian Navy’s Annual Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) got underway on Tuesday and the month-long exercise will have ships and aircraft of both Western and Eastern Naval Commands, as also assets from the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard exercising together.

The exercise is being conducted off the Western Seaboard and the last edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2015.

The TROPEX has grown in scale and complexity over the years and will see the participation of major surface combatants and air assets of Indian Navy, including aircraft carrier-Vikramaditya, nuclear submarine Chakra, Landing Platform Dock (LPD) Jalashwa, the recently commissioned destroyer Chennai, the P-81 long range maritime reconnaissance andante-submarine warfare aircraft operating alongside SU-30 MKI, Jaguars, AWACS, IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft of the Indian Air Force and Infantry units of the Indian Army.

The exercise will be conducted in various phases both in harbour and at sea encompassing various facets of war-fighting and combat operations.

TROPEX-17 assumes special significance in the backdrop of the present security scenario and is aimed at testing combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Indian Navy and the assets of Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard. It will also strengthen the joint operations in a complex environment.