The five-nation Malabar 07-2 naval exercise kicked off on Tuesday with close to 30 warships meeting 500 nautical miles east of Vishakhapatnam for the “work up” phase of the six-day war games.Naval ships from India, the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore, including three aircraft carriers and a nuclear submarine, met deep at sea early in the morning to “get acquainted with each other” and carry out basic manoeuvres to prepare for a mock battle on the last two-days of the exercise.“In the work up phase, all parties will get acquainted with each other’s communication channels and discuss all procedures that are to be followed. Initial days will be devoted to basic exercises for developing interoperability, which will culminate in a final mock battle,” said a senior naval officer.The war game was planned out during a series of joint conferences between the participating navies in Delhi over the past few months. While the Navy is reluctant to share the exact details of the final mock battle, officers say it will be an air defence-centric exercise.With over 40 types of aircraft participating in the exercise, situations like dissimilar air combat, interception of shore-based aircraft and air defence of war ships have been planned for the mock battle. The main exercise will revolve around smaller sub-missions like assaulting shore-based targets, launching amphibious operations, vessel searching and seizing operations and protection of sea-lanes of communication. Counter-terror and anti-piracy missions have also been included in the exercise.“For the final mock battle, the participating navies will be divided into two forces of equal strength irrespective of the nationality. The battle will be observed and evaluated by umpires aboard a neutral ship. A hot wash-up or debriefing session will be carried out by the observers immediately after the battle to acquaint both the forces about the results,” the naval officer said.The Indian flotilla of 13 warships, including lone aircraft carrier INS Viraat and a number of conventionally-powered submarines, will be commanded by Eastern Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Robin Dhowan.Vice Admiral William Douglas Crowder, who commands the US Seventh Fleet, will arrive on Thursday for the final phase of the exercise. Ministry sources confirmed that from the Indian side, Commander-in-Chief of Eastern Command Vice Admiral R P Suthan would be the senior-most officer to witness the mock battle.
