By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Oct 22:
The UK Carrier strike group reached the Western Coast to participate in a week long maiden India-UK Joint Tri-Service Exercise “Konkan Shakti” on Thursday, indicating that India-UK ties will gear up for a phase of high profile engagements..
In the exercise, there will be re-entry of UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) into western Indian Ocean waters. The CSG, along with HMS Queen Elizabeth, has been on deployment in the Indo-Pacific waters for all summer. The deployment of CSG is significant for the UK as it is the biggest deployment after the end of Cold War.
One of the ships of the CSG will dock in to the Mumbai port. It will stay at anchorage and some invited guests will be taken on board. The UK’s foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss will be in Mumbai for senior level discussions on a range of topics, including maritime propulsion technology, which the UK is keen to sell to the Indian Navy. The UK has an integrated electrical propulsion technology which it hopes to sell for future ships in the Indian Navy.
The Army exercise “Ajeya Warrior” between India and UK, is ongoing in Uttarakhand in which about 120 British soldiers are participating. Military of the UK engaged with their counterparts in Singapore and Bangladesh. They also did a “non-provocative deployment” in South China Sea.
The maritime component of the exercise, to be conducted off the “west coast of India”, is scheduled to be held in two phases. The “harbour phase” is planned at Mumbai till October 23 while at sea, the exercises will be conducted from October 24 to October 27.
The naval linkages between India and the United Kingdom is one of antiquity and, over a period, it has grown substantially in terms of interoperability and synergy. Over decades now, both navies have undertaken bilateral exercises, exchanges and enhanced their technical cooperation. Rightly so, this has formed the basis for the maiden tri-service bilateral exercise, ‘Konkan Shakti -21’, a Defence statement said.
Royal Navy (RN) will be represented by its aircraft carrier, “HMS Queen Elizabeth”, with her integral F35 fighter aircraft and helicopters, the Type 45 Daring Class air-defence destroyer “HMS Defender”, the Type 23 frigate “HMS Richmond”, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) “Fort Victoria”, and a Royal Netherland Navy Frigate “HNLMS Evertsen”.
The Indian Navy (IN) is being represented by three of its indigenously built stealth guided missile destroyers “INS Kolkata”, “INS Kochi” and “INS Chennai”, two stealth frigates, “INS Talwar” and “INS Teg”, and the tanker “INS Aditya”.
The Indian Navy will also be participating with integral Sea King 42B, Kamov-31 and Chetak helicopters, MIG 29K fighter aircraft, Dornier and P8i (maritime patrol aircraft) and a submarine. The exercise will also see participation by “IAF aircraft that include Jaguars, SU-30 MKI fighters, AWACS, AEW&C and Flight Refueling Aircraft”.
The exercise at sea will feature advanced warfare tactics, Anti-Submarine Warfare exercises, over-the-horizon targeting drills, Air Defence Exercise, Cross Deck landings and other complex manoeuvres at sea. The joint phase of the exercise would also include air-tactical operations involving F35Bs, MiG 29Ks and Indian Air Force elements.
To facilitate smooth execution of the exercise, the harbour phase will see active interaction between planners of both navies, exchange of information by respective subject matter experts, and interaction of personnel participating in the exercise. Earlier, the Indian Air Force participated in an operational engagement with the UK CSG on October 19 and October 20,2021. The exercise focused on multiple areas including enhancing aspects of interoperability and exchange of best practices.
The “land phase” of the exercise is being conducted between Indian Army and UK Army at Chaubatia till October 27, 2021, under the aegis of Golden Key Division of Surya Command. UK Army is being represented by officers and troops of the 1st Battalion of the Fusilier Regiment and the Indian Army is represented by the troops of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles. The Joint company level exercise between the two nations is aimed at training troops in conduct of Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Operations by coalition forces in an opposed environment.
The tri-service exercise “Konkan Shakti” aims to derive mutual benefits from each other’s experiences and also showcase the continuing cooperation between the two countries. Maritime cooperation is a distinguishable symbol of the commitment of both nations in ensuring a positive climate at sea for enhancing strategic stability and promoting global economic prosperity. The interoperability achieved over the years, as a result of such exercises, has proved to be operationally beneficial to armed forces of both countries.
