Indo-US naval exercise off Sri Lanka coast

What was planned as a simple passage exercise between aircraft carrier INS Viraat and the American USS Ronald Reagan supercarrier three days ago off Sri Lanka spontaneously became a full-fledged, joint-maritime war game. A detailed operational report on this 8220;surprising level of Indo-US inter-operability between the two Navies at short notice8221; will shortly be given to the Defence Ministry.

After just three days of planning, the two vessels were to rendezvous in the Indian Ocean for simple communication drills, but things escalated. The two carrier groups spontaneously executed dissimilar air combat manoeuvres with F/A-18 Super Hornets and Sea Harriers, visit board search and seizure VBSS missions, cross-deck helicopter missions with Sea Hawks and Sea Kings and probably most significantly, over-the-horizon targeting OTHT. Not in the original plan, these drills usually take months of planning.

In fact, US Navy fleet commander Rear Admiral Mike Mille even gave his counterpart Rear Admiral RF Contractor a guided tour of the strictly out-of-bounds Combat Direction Center on the Ronald Reagan.

In the confidential report that will be submitted to the Ministry, the Navy has said, 8220;This bears testimony to growing levels of inter-operability between the two Navies and augers well for future exercises.8221; The message is clear: the two Navies can easily combine assets with minimum preparation in the event of a war-like scenario.

The complexity of the exercise is principally unusual because of the short-notice at which it was organised. It was on February 11 that the US Navy8217;s Capt Timothy Convoy made a request to Navy officials. Another US Navy officer Lt Cdr Billy Hall Jr., in fact, was on the Viraat on its journey south to the rendezvous point, 60 nautical miles off the Sri Lankans coast.