Malabar 2015 Underway

Naval ships, aircraft and personnel from India, Japan and the United States are participating in exercise Malabar 2015, in Chennai, India, Oct. 14-19, 2015.

Malabar 2015 is a complex, high-end warfighting exercise that has grown in scope and complexity over the years and is the latest in a continuing series conducted to advance multi-national maritime relationships and mutual security issues.

The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. The at-sea portions will be conducted off the east coast of India and are designed to advance participating nations’ military-to-military coordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment.

Events planned during the at-sea portions include liaison officer professional exchanges and embarks, submarine familiarization, surface warfare exercises, search and rescue exercises, helicopter cross-deck evolutions, underway replenishments; gunnery exercises, visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) exercises; and anti-submarine warfare.

Participants from the U.S. Navy include the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) with embarked Carrier Air Wing 1, the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60); the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), a P-8A Poseidon aircraft and a Los Angeles-Class fast-attack submarine.

The Indian Navy is participating in the exercise with a Rajput-class destroyer, a Brahmaputra-class frigate, a Shivalik-class frigate, a fleet support ship and a Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine while the only vessel from Japan is the Akizuki-class destroyer Fuyuzuki.

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Image: US Navy