QUAD navies to hold military drills in November
Reiterating their commitment to an open and free Indo-Pacific, the QUAD nations will be holding naval exercises off the coast of Yokosuka in Japan from 8th to 18th November.
Reiterating their commitment to an open and free Indo-Pacific, the QUAD nations will be holding naval exercises off the coast of Yokosuka in Japan from 8th to 18th November.
According to reports, the Indian Navy will participate in the annual major QUAD partner exercises with a force component, a Boeing P8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft, a Shivalik class stealth frigate, and a Kamorta class anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette. During this practise period, the QUAD navies are anticipated to conduct sophisticated exercises including live firing and wargame manoeuvres.
On October 12–15, Malabar 2021’s second phase was held in the Bay of Bengal, and the US Navy was represented by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and two destroyers. Three ships—a destroyer, a frigate, and a submarine—represented the Indian Navy. For these drills, the Australian and Japanese navies each contributed two warships.
In the past, the QUAD maritime exercises have included synchronised anti-submarine operation drills and special forces operations due to the aggressive stance of the PLA Navy in the Indo-Pacific and the regular presence of Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean.
The primary goal of the Malabar exercise, which started as a bilateral India-US exercise back in 1992, is for the QUAD navies to understand one another operationally because they are bound by the shared goal of securing sea lanes of communication and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific, particularly the South China Sea.
2020 saw the addition of the Australian Navy following Chinese hostilities in Taiwan and East Ladakh. Prior to 2020, the last time the Australian Navy took part in Malabar was in 2007, which also had Singaporean representatives.