Team Blitz India
The 14-day bilateral triservice exercise between India and the US, ‘Tiger Triumph-24’, which concluded on March 31, aimed at developing interoperability for conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations and refining standard operating procedures to enable rapid and smooth coordination between the forces of the two countries.
The Indian Army’s contingent comprising one battalion took part in the second edition of the triservice exercise in Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, along with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. The closing ceremony of the amphibious exercise was held on board USS Somerset.
The exercise that began on March 1 signifies the “robust strategic partnership” between the two countries and was aimed towards sharing best practices and standard operating procedures in undertaking multinational HADR operations.
The harbour phase was conducted in Visakhapatnam from March 18-25 and included pre-sail discussions, subject matter expert exchange, sports engagements, ship boarding drills and cross-deck visits. Personnel from both the navies celebrated the festival of Holi together on March 25, as part of the cultural exchange programme showcasing the vibrant and vivid culture of India.
The sea phase was conducted from March 26-30 and it included units of both countries undertaking maritime exercises, followed by landing of troops at Kakinada for setting up of a joint command and control centre and a joint relief and medical camp for HADR operations.
The participating units from the Indian Navy included a landing platform dock, landing ship tanks (large) including their integral landing crafts and helicopters, guided missile frigate and long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The US Task Force comprised a US Navy landing platform dock including its integral landing craft air cushions and helicopters, a destroyer, maritime reconnaissance and medium-lift aircraft, and also, US Marines.
