Tri-Services exercise held in Arabian Sea

With an aim of building inter- operability, the Air Force, the Navy and the Army carried out three-week-long exercise in the Arabian Sea in which several fighter planes, frontline naval vessels, including aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, and the infantry were involved. Named 'Paschim Lehar', the tri-Services maritime exercise off India's western coast had commenced on February 12, the Navy said in Mumbai on Thursday.

The objective of the exercise was to build interoperability, said the Navy spokesperson. "The Western Naval Command concluded the large-scale operational exercise in the Arabian Sea. The three-week long exercise termed Exercise 'Paschim Leher¿, tested the operational readiness of the Command and the execution of it's operational plans," the spokesperson said. Over 40 naval assets including the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, frontline ships of the Western Fleet and Eastern Fleet, including the newly-inducted Kolkata class ones, submarines, potent missile vessels of the 22nd Killer Squadron, patrol vessels and craft of the local flotilla and the Coast Guard participated in the exercise, he said.

The exercise also witnessed intense flying activity by carrier-borne Mig29K, P-8I, IL-38SDs, Dorniers and Remotely Piloted Aircraft and saw enhanced participation by the Indian Air Force planes, in coordinated flying missions with Navy's air assets, the spokesperson said in a statement here. Maritime role Jaguars, Su-30 MKI, AWACS and Flight Refuellers participated in large numbers from different airfields in Gujarat, Maharashtra and North India. An amphibious landing was also conducted, which included the participation of the 91 Infantry Brigade of the Army. "The exercise enabled testing and revalidation of operational plans and manoeuvres in a hostile maritime scenario on India's Western seaboard," the spokesperson said.

"The defence of Indian offshore assets like oil rigs, escort operations of merchant ships and coastal defence were also rehearsed. The exercise will enable to refine the Command's operational, logistics and administrative plans," he said.

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