India, US hold bilateral tri-service exercise Tiger Triumph-24 aboard INS Jalashwa in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: The Indian and US navies on Tuesday held a bilateral tri-service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise, Tiger Triumph 24, on the Eastern Seaboard.

The HADR exercise represents the robust strategic partnership between India and US, with the drill aimed at sharing best practices and standard operating procedures (SoPs).

"The Harbour Phase of the exercise is scheduled at Visakhapatnam from March 18 to 25, which includes pre-sail discussions, subject matter expert exchange on professional subjects and deliberations on planning and execution procedures of various tasks," said a press release from the Visakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command (ENC) of the Indian Navy.

Other Harbour Phase activities include friendly sports events to further enhance camaraderie between the participating armed forces personnel of both nations.

Scheduled from March 26 to 31, the Sea Phase will involve the naval units from both the countries setting up joint command and control centre and a joint relief and medical camp.

Further, a planning and coordination exercise would be conducted to discuss and refine SoPs to enable rapid and smooth coordination between the forces of both India and US.

Indian Navy's landing platform dock and landing ship tanks (large), along with their integral landing crafts and helicopters will be participating in the Tiger Triumph-24 exercise.

The Indian Army will be represented by one infantry battalion group with mechanised forces and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will deploy medium lift aircraft, transport helicopters and a Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT).

Moreover, special operations forces from all three services will also take part in the exercise.

Meanwhile, the US Task Force will comprise a US Navy Landing Platform Dock, along with its integral Landing Craft Air Cushions and helicopters, and a destroyer, maritime reconnaissance and medium lift aircraft, including US Marines.