Exercise KAVACH and AMPHEX-21
Joint Military Exercises in the Andaman Sea
Towards enhancing joint operational readiness, the Indian Armed Forces conducted large-scale conjoint military training exercises KAVACH alongwith AMPHEX-21 in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in January 2021, the exercise conducted under aegis of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC) with participation of Eastern Naval Command (ENC) and the Army’s Southern Command (SC) and involving assets of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, including elements of an Amphibious Brigade of the Army along with corvettes, submarines and amphibious landing ships of Navy’s Eastern Fleet and MARCOS Marine Commandos. IAF Jaguar maritime strike and transport aircraft and assets of the Coast Guard also participated.
The exercise commenced with maritime strikes by Jaguar aircraft, followed by Para Commandos and Marine Commandos carrying out Combat Free Fall paradrops over Car Nicobar to validate air dominance and maritime strike capability within the area of interest in Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
The MARCOS, along with combat loads and Air Droppable Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (ADR), were dropped over the Andaman Sea, enabling them to reach targets with stealth and speed. Mi-17 V5 armed helicopters undertook precision targeting against designated enemy assets at sea and on land. The training exercise culminated with beach landing operations by elements of the Amphibious Brigade from INS Jalashwa, Airavat, Guldar and LCU MK-4-class of ships involving 600 troops along with tanks, troop carrier and other heavy weapons. The logistic team demonstrated and validated the joint logistic
system and its capabilities to respond to dynamic changes in operational situations and combat missions.
The exercise also validated joint capabilities of intelligence gathering from space, air, land and sea based assets, their synthesis, analysis and near real time sharing to achieve battle field transparency for quick decision making. “The joint force executed multi-domain, high intensity offensive and defensive manoeuvres in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal”.
Amphex-21
The large-scale tri-service joint amphibious exercise AMPHEX–21 was conducted in Andaman & Nicobar chain of islands during 21–25 January 2021 and included naval ships, amphibious troops of the Army and different types of IAF aircraft.
“The exercise was aimed at validating India’s capabilities to safeguard the territorial integrity of its island territories and it also sought to enhance operational synergy and joint warfighting capabilities amongst the three Services”, according to the MoD briefing.
The exercise involved multi-faceted maritime operations by synergised employment of amphibious assault ships, surveillance platforms, execution of maritime air strikes and complex manoeuvres at sea. Airborne insertion of Marine Commandos of the Navy and Special Forces of the Army, naval gunfire support, amphibious landing of forces and follow-on operations also formed part of the exercise.
Ex KAVACH, for the defence of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, formed part of AMPHEX–21. A joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance exercise under the aegis of HQ Integrated Defence Staff was also conducted concurrently to achieve Maritime Domain Awareness with employment of a multitude of sensors.