Malabar 2007
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The annual MALABAR series began in 1992, and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers, through Maritime Interdiction Operations
Maritime Interdiction Operations
Maritime Interdiction Operations are naval conducted operations, that aim to delay, disrupt, or destroy enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area before they do any harm against friendly forces, similar to Air Interdiction Operations....
Exercises.
History
Three exercises were conducted prior to 1998, when the Americans suspended exercises after India tested nuclear weapons. However, Washington renewed military contacts following the September 11 attacks when India joined President George W Bush's campaign against international terrorism.In 2002, the exercises comprised basic passing maneuvers among naval vessels, anti-submarine exercises and replenishment-at-sea drill
Underway replenishment
Underway replenishment or replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way.-History:...
s.
In 2003, US warships, , ; US submarine ; Indian guided missile frigates, INS Brahmaputra
INS Brahmaputra
INS Brahmaputra is the lead ship of her class of guided missile frigates of the Indian Navy. She was built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers , Kolkatta....
and INS Ganga
INS Ganga
The following ships of the Indian Navy have been named Ganga: was a Type II Hunt class destroyer, acquired from the Royal Navy where she served in World War II as HMS Chiddingfold , and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1952 is a Godavari class frigate, commissioned in 1985...
; Indian submarine INS Shalki and several aircraft conducted anti-submarine warfare tactics.
In 2004, Malabar participants included advanced assets like the , a Los Angeles class submarine
Los Angeles class submarine
The Los Angeles class, sometimes called the LA class or the 688 class, is a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines that forms the backbone of the United States submarine fleet. With 43 submarines on active duty and 19 retired, the Los Angeles class is the most numerous nuclear powered...
, and US Navy P-3C Orion
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
maritime patrol aircraft. This enabled both navies to engage in submarine familiarization exercises, a key capability for anti-submarine warfare collaboration.
In 2005, Malabar featured the participation of the aircraft carriers and INS Viraat
INS Viraat
INS Viraat is a Centaur class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Indian Navy. INS Viraat is the flagship of the Indian Navy, the oldest carrier in service and one of two aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean Region.The Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's...
. During a month of operations, US and Indian forces collaborated on a wide variety of tasks ranging from a joint diving salvage operation to a 24-hour 'war at sea' simulation that saw the two forces engage in mock combat.
In 2006, a US expeditionary strike group comprising amphibious ships
Amphibious warfare ship
Amphibious warfare ship, often shortened to amphibs or phibs and popularly known as gator freighters, denotes a range of classes of warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault...
, cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s participated in the exercise for the first time.
2007
Malabar-2007, besides interception and dissimilar air combat exercises, featured surface and anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdictionMaritime Interdiction Operations
Maritime Interdiction Operations are naval conducted operations, that aim to delay, disrupt, or destroy enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area before they do any harm against friendly forces, similar to Air Interdiction Operations....
and VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) operations to counter piracy and terrorist acts at sea.
On 4 September 2007, the naval exercise included 25 vessels from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the US, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. This was the first time a joint exercise of this scale involving 25 vessels was conducted, an event that India says is a pointer to the country's growing importance on the world stage.
China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, which has not officially commented on the drill, is known to be unhappy over the event as it is being conducted in the Bay of Bengal for the first time. China has been cultivating naval cooperation with Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
to gain access to the Bay of Bengal. China has also been strengthening military cooperation with Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
India's Left parties
Left Front
The Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. After a 34-year reign in West Bengal, the Left Front was swept from power in the 2011 election...
that have been giving Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
's government a hard time on the India-US civilian nuclear deal, have vehemently protested the joint drill, seeing it as yet another sign of the growing closeness between New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
and Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
In June, China had issued a 'demarche
Demarche
A démarche has come to refer either to# a line of action; move; countermove; maneuver, esp. in diplomatic relations, or# formal diplomatic representation of the official position, views, or wishes on a given subject from one government to another government or intergovernmental...
' to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
seeking details about their four-nation meeting, termed a Quadrilateral Initiative. India and Australia had quickly assured Beijing that security and defence issues did not form part of the meeting's agenda.
At one time, the Indian government was known to have considered postponing or even canceling the drill but the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
put its foot down, saying the logistics involved made any delay impossible.
The operational area of Malabar-2007 stretched from Vizag on the eastern seaboard to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that guard the approaches to the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 to 1511.-Extent:...
, considered one of the world's busiest waterways.
The drill was previously a bilateral India-US engagement and was expanded for the first time.
The US Navy had the largest representation during Malabar-2007 with 13 warships, including the nuclear powered aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
USS Nimitz that was protested when it dropped anchor off Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
in July.
The other vessels included the conventionally powered carrier USS Kitty Hawk
USS Kitty Hawk
Two ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Kitty Hawk: was a cargo ship and aircraft transport that served during World War II was the lead ship of the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers, and was in commission between 1961 and 2009...
, the nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
, two guided missile cruisers, and six guided missile destroyer
Guided missile destroyer
A guided missile destroyer is a destroyer designed to launch guided missiles. Many are also equipped to carry out anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface operations. In the U.S...
s.
Eight warships
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
of India, including the aircraft carrier INS Viraat
INS Viraat
INS Viraat is a Centaur class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Indian Navy. INS Viraat is the flagship of the Indian Navy, the oldest carrier in service and one of two aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean Region.The Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's...
, represented the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
. Viraat's Sea Harrier jet
BAE Sea Harrier
The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval VTOL/STOVL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft, a development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the "Shar"...
s and Sea King helicopter
Sea King helicopter
Sea King helicopter may refer to:* SH-3 Sea King* CH-124 Sea King* Westland Sea King...
s, and the Indian Air Force
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
's Jaguar
SEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft, originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'Air in the close air support and nuclear strike role, and still in service with several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force...
deep-penetration strike aircraft were also seen in action.
Australia was represented by a frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
and a tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
; Japan by two destroyers; and Singapore by a frigate.
2008
19 October 2008, Exercise MALABAR 08, the twelfth of the series, was conducted in the Arabian Sea. The US Navy was represented by the Strike GroupCarrier Strike Group
A carrier strike group is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers and/or frigates, and a carrier air wing of 65 to 70 aircraft...
(RRSG). In addition, one submarine, , and one P3C Orion aircraft also participated in the exercise.
The Indian Navy was represented by INS Mumbai (D62)
INS Mumbai (D62)
The INS Mumbai is the third of the Delhi-class guided-missile destroyers in active-service with the Indian Navy.Mumbai was built at Mazagon Dock Limited in her namesake city Mumbai, launched in 1995, and commissioned in 2001....
, a Delhi Class guided missile destroyer, INS Rana (D52)
INS Rana (D52)
INS Rana is the second of the five Rajput class destroyers built for the Indian Navy. INS Rana was commissioned on 28 June 1982...
, a Rajput Class guided missile destroyer and four guided missile frigates, namely, INS Talwar (F40)
INS Talwar (F40)
INS Talwar is the lead ship of the Talwar class frigates of the Indian Navy. Its name means "Sword" in Hindi . It was built in Russia, and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2003....
, INS Godavari (F20)
INS Godavari (F20)
INS Godavari is the lead ship of her class of guided-missile frigates of the Indian Navy. Built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, she was commissioned on 10 December 1983.-Operation Cactus:...
, INS Brahmaputra (F31) and INS Betwa (F39). Additionally, INS Aditya (A59)
INS Aditya (A59)
INS Aditya is an Aditya class replenishment and repair ship currently in service with the Indian Navy. As there is only one ship in this class, INS Aditya is the lead ship...
, an underway replenishment tanker, and one Shishumar class submarine, Sea Harrier fighters, fixed and rotary wing aircraft also participated.
2011
The Malabar Series of Exercises, from April 2 to April 10, 2011 will be held off the Okinawa coast. Okinawa coast has the highest concentration of US Marines in region.India had stopped involving more countries in the Indo-U.S. exercises after China, in 2007, sent demarches to all the participants of a five-nation naval exercise held in the Bay of Bengal. With last year's Japanese participation raising no political storm, India was once again agreeable to the idea of allowing the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force to participate.