This week, the Indian Navy’s big Operational level exercise TROPEX for the year 2023 came to an end in the Arabian Sea. The exercise took place across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for four months, from November 22 to March 23.
A press release from the Ministry of Defense on Thursday said that the overall exercise was made up of the coastal defence exercise Sea Vigil and the amphibious exercise AMPHEX.
The Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Coast Guard all took part in these exercises in a big way, according to the statement.
The theatre of operations for the exercise was in the Indian Ocean, which included the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It was about 4,300 nautical miles (nm) from north to south, up to 35 degrees south latitude, and 5,000 nm from the Persian Gulf in the west to the North Australia coast in the east, which is more than 21 million square nautical miles.
About 70 ships from the Indian Navy, six submarines, and more than 75 planes took part in TROPEX 23. When TROPEX 23 is over, an intense operational phase for the Indian Navy that began in November 2022 will be over.
As part of the final Joint Phase, the Honourable Raksha Mantri spent March 6 at sea on the newly opened Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant.
He looked at the operational readiness and material readiness of the Indian Navy. The Navy showed operational manoeuvres and different parts of combat operations, such as using the deck of an Indian LCA and firing real weapons.
When he spoke to the fleets, he praised the Indian Navy’s operational readiness and stressed that the country looks to the Navy to make sure that our enemies’ economic lifelines and military capabilities are disrupted to the point where they can no longer fight wars.
He also said that he is fully confident that the Indian Navy is fully capable of protecting India’s national interests in the maritime domain and will stop the evil plans of any potential enemies who want to threaten India’s peaceful existence.
The RM praised the Indian Navy for being at the forefront of the “Make in India” initiative and using the path of Aatmanirbharta to be “Combat Ready, Credible, Cohesive, and Future Proof.”