Malabar Naval Exercise 2020: QUAD nations commence phase 1 of 24th edition in Indian Ocean

Amid tensions with China, the first phase of the Malabar Naval Exercise 2020 involving QUAD nations began in the Indian Ocean. The 24th edition of Malabar exercise will see the participation of the United States Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defence Force and Royal Australian Navy along with Indian Navy. The first phase of the Naval Exercise commenced in Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, November 3. The second phase of 'Malabar Naval Exercise 2020' will be conducted in the Arabian Sea in mid-November 2020. 

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Phase 1 of Malabar Naval Exercise 2020

The first phase will see the participation of United States Ship (USS) John S McCain which is a guided-missile destroyer along with long-range frigate HMAS Ballarat and MH-60 helicopter from Royal Australian Navy. SH-60 helicopter and destroyer JS Onami will participate in the exercise from Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF). From Indian Navy destroyer INS Ranvijay, frigate INS Shivalik, patrol vessel INS Sukanya and fleet support ship INS Shakti along with submarine INS Sindhuraj will take part in Malabar 2020. The Naval aircrafts participating in the exercise are advanced jet trainer Hawk, maritime patrol aircrafts Dornier and P-8I along with helicopters Dhruv and Chetak. 

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Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Read Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan will lead the exercise for Indian Navy which is being conducted in the Indian Ocean. In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Malabar Naval Exercise 2020 will be a 'non-contact, at sea only'. This exercise will witness a high level of coordination between the quad navies along with several advance and complex naval exercises which included seamanship evolutions, weapon firing, anti-air, surface and anti-submarine warfare operations along with cross deck flying. 

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Malabar Naval Exercise

Malabar exercise originally began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy and US Navy. In 2015, the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force became a permanent partner of Malabar. This exercise is a quadrilateral naval exercise that includes Quad nations- India, United States, Japan and Australia as permanent partners. Singapore has participated in the Malabar exercise as a non-permanent partner in 2007. For the first time in 2020, all members of the Quad nations will come together for the Malabar Naval Exercise 2020 as the Royal Australian Navy accepted India's invitation to join the exercise. 

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