The Indian Navy P-8I in Guam. (Photo: Indian Navy)
New Delhi: An Indian Navy’s P-8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft has arrived in Guam to participate in the fourth edition of Exercise Sea Dragon, which is organized by the United States Navy. In an X post on Tuesday, the Navy said the exercise aims to “enhance synergy and interoperability” among participating navies from the US, Australia, South Korea, and Japan “through professional interactions” on ground and in air.
According to Navy sources, the annual multilateral maritime exercise will see drills on anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, search-and-rescue operations, air defence, and inter-navy communications and coordination for enhancing interoperability between them. It may be noted that the complexity and scope of the Sea Dragon exercises over the years has increased steadily to include advanced ASW drills.
The third edition of the exercise, which was held from March 15 to March 30, 2023, saw the participation of an Indian Navy P-8I, along with P-8A of the US Navy, P1 from the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, CP-140 from the Royal Canadian Air Force, and P3C from the Republic of Korea Navy.
It may be recalled that in March 2023, as India Sentinels had reported, the Indian Navy took part in the French navy-conducted biennial exercise named La Perouse in the Bay of Bengal. This exercise brought together seven nations, including India, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the US, and the United Kingdom with an aim to strengthen maritime security and interoperability among partner navies.
