India conducts 'Kavach' drill in Andaman Sea to fine-tune joint war-fighting skills

The Indian military on Monday carried out a large-scale conjoint training exercise, codenamed Kavach or shield, in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal to fine-tune joint war-fighting capabilities. The forces also conducted AMPHEX-21 drill off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, news agency ANI reported.

The training exercise was conducted under the Andaman and Nicobar Command with the participation of the Eastern Naval Command and Army Southern Command involving the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and the Coast Guard.

All forces of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, elements of an amphibious brigade of the army’s Southern Command, corvettes, submarine and amphibious landing ships of Navy the and Marine Commandos, Jaguar Maritime Strike and transport aircraft from IAF were part of the training exercise, the defence ministry was quoted as saying by ANI.

The aim of the tri-service drill is to sharpen operational synergy between the three services, with the high-tempo exercise involving fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters, warships, infantry combat vehicles and elements of special forces, the defence ministry said last week.

The exercise involves synergised application of maritime surveillance assets, coordinated air and maritime strikes, air defence, submarine and landing operations. According to the ministry, the scope of the drill will cover joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks that will involve the military’s technical, electronic and human intelligence elements.

The exercise comes at a time when India and China are locked in a border standoff in the eastern Ladakh theatre and the Indian Navy has stepped up surveillance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to keep tabs on China’s moves to expand its footprint in the strategic waters.

The joint force would execute multi-domain, high-intensity offensive and defensive manoeuvres in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal and carry out amphibious landing operations, air landed operation, helicopters-borne insertion of Special Forces from sea culminating in tactical follow-on operations on land, the ministry had said last week.