India, US start exercise Tiger Triumph

The bilateral Indian and US armed forces exercise Tiger Triumph kicked off in Visakhapatnam, India, with the arrival of USS Germantown (LSD 42) on November 13.

Tiger Triumph, which stands for tri-services India US amphibious exercise, is scheduled from Nov. 13 to 21, near Visakhapatnam and Kakinada. The training events will enhance US-India military-to-military relations and hone individual and small-unit skills in humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

“Military collaboration between India and the United States is a result of growing, high-level trust and consistent effort to broaden the ways in which we can work together,” said US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster.

The exercise will include staff-planning events as well as field training that simulates moving a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief force from ship to shore. Training like this builds the capacity of both the US and Indian participants, while improving their ability to operate together.

More than 500 US marines and sailors, and about 1,200 Indian soldiers, sailors, and airmen will participate in the nine-day exercise, which will also include the INS Jalashwa (L41) and Germantown.

Additionally, US and Indian forces will embark their counterparts’ ships during the transit from Visakhapatnam to Kakinada to become familiar with each other’s procedures and techniques. The underway period will include visit, board, search, and seizure training, live-fire drills, ship maneuvers, and landings by Indian helicopters on the Germantown’s flight deck.