Malabar 2023 naval exercise to begin in Sydney, Australia

Source: The post is based on the article “Malabar 2023 naval exercise to begin in Sydney, Australia”  published in PIB on 10th August 2023.

What is the News?

Malabar 2023 Naval exercise will begin at Sydney in Australia. 

What is Malabar Exercise?

Exercise Malabar began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise featuring the maritime forces of the US and India. 

In 2014, the en­try of the Japan Navy made it a trilateral exercise. In 2020, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) also joined Malabar making it a quadrilateral exercise.

This year marks the 27th edition of MALABAR which is being hosted by Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Malabar 2023 will happen in two phases: Harbour Phase and Sea Phase. During the Harbour Phase, there will be activities like visits, exchanges, and sports. The Sea Phase involves intense exercises covering warfare areas like surface, air, and submarine combat.

Significance of the exercise: The exercise provides an opportunity to the Indian Navy to enhance and demonstrate interoperability and also gain from the best practices in maritime security operations from its partner nations.

Which Indian ships are participating in the exercise?

Indian Navy’s indigenous frontline warships INS Sahyadri and INS Kolkata will participate in the exercise.

INS Sahyadri is the third ship of the indigenously designed and built Project-17 class multi-role stealth frigates.

INS Kolkata is the first ship of the indigenously designed and built Project-15A class destroyers.

Both ships have been built at Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai.