Malabar 07

Touted as one of the most strategically important navy exercises this year, Malabar 07 included 5 navies from various corners of the globe:
United States, India, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

The exercise took place in the Bay of Bengal and involved phenomenal numbers:

Number of Ships : ~27
Number of personnel: ~20,000?
Number of Aircraft Carriers: 3(USS Nimitz, USS Kitty Hawk, INS Viraat)

Number of aircraft(landbased inlcd): ~200

I thought it would be good to get this thread started now, and add to it as it progresses.

Obivously there are whispers of an 'Asian NATO' being formed to counter China's growing blue water ambitions. Again the exercises were held in close proximity to the Cocos Islands which are home to chinese listening posts.

Exercise formation with USS Chicago(LA Class SSN) leading followed by the USS Nimitz to the left, INS Viraat in the center and the USS Kitty Hawk to the right:


Here's a good set of pictures on the exercise.

[edit on 21-9-2007 by Daedalus3]

Some Indian media news articles on the recently concluded Malabar-07. A good read to get the macroscopic perspective on these games..

The buildup to the wargames:

www.hindu.com...
ia.rediff.com...
www.hindu.com...
www.ibnlive.com...

Carriers Sunk at Malabar 07

Lessons Learnt:
www.rediff.com...
www.indianexpress.com...
www.ndtv.com...


I believe these articles offer invaluable insights into the future naval situation in the Indian Ocean region.

I will quote some interesting facts/occurences from these articles in the next post.

[edit on 22-9-2007 by Daedalus3]

Interesting excerpts from above linked articles:

When I said the exercise was taking place in close proximity to the Chinese held(Burmese Terrritory) Cocos Islands I didn't think this close!

The wargame is being held just 30 to 40 nautical miles from Myanmar's Coco Islands, where the Chinese Navy is reportedly building a naval base.

Holding exercises of such magnitude and geo-strategic significance so close to a Chinese base/listening station makes one wonder who was listening in on whom!!
This is really very abnormal.

So much for finding out who beat whom!!
:

"Though kills and hits will be recorded, they will never be released," naval officials said pointing out that air superiority and air defence tactics will be jointly worked out.

Carrier Kills:
Interestingly though,IIRC the Jaguar can only carry one Sea Eagle at a time, while the F-18 can carry 2 AGM-84 Harpoons.
So I wonder how many Jaguars snuck through to constitute a mission kill.
Also When the Viraat was targetted by F-18s AND Jaguars, I wonder what the exact break up of Sea Eagles and Harpoons was..
Like I said before, Carrier Kills to be taken with a pinch of salt..

The IAF registered its first “kill” of the day — none less than the mighty nuclear powered Nimitz with its compliment of 85 fighters. But the young officer, on a cross attachment to the US ship, barely had time to feel proud. The battle had begun in earnest and the target now was India’s lone aircraft carrier.

INS Viraat, however, proved easy meat for the joint striking force of US F-18 Super Hornets and IAF Jaguars with the American fighters deliberately flying over the ship to drive home their air-superiority skills.

Inter-operatibility taken to new levels:

1) Cross fleet Mid-Air Refueling:

Mid-air refueling is a standard practice for any modern air power in the world. The ability of a fighter aircraft to refuel in flight not only gives it extended range to reach out to a target but also enhances its ability to stay up in the air to protect an asset.

However, when an Indian Sea Harrier fighter “buddy refueled” from an F-18 Super Hornet in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, the commander of the largest forward deployed US Navy fleet considered it to be the highlight of the six day Malabar 07-2 war games. “These are the sort of things that require really high end skills. There is no other exercise available to develop such capabilities,” Vice Admiral William Crowder, US 7th fleet commander said, minutes after explaining that the five-nation exercises are not directed towards “any particular country.”

2)India gets to use CENTRIX:

No surprise then that the entire war game was conducted as per standards followed in NATO missions. All Indian ships were attuned to NATO standard communication frequencies, technical terminology, command structures and were even fitted with special US equipment to connect to its CENTRIX satellite communication system. Officers confirmed that a detailed NATO standards ‘MTP’ document spelling out the standards was handed to the Indian Navy earlier in the year to prepare for the exercise.

3)Invaluable insights to SSN Ops?! :

The opportunity to track and ‘destroy’ a nuclear submarine (USS Chicago) during Malabar gave the Indian Navy — more attuned to Soviet philosophy gained by the operation of a Russian nuke sub in the late 1980s — a rare close look into the tactics adopted by Western countries.

The two Indian officers onboard the Chicago too picked pointers on how to avoid detection and attack by the enemy which would come in handy when it inducts a Akula-II Russian nuclear submarine next year.

This also reaffirms a now-dormant rumor that the Indians are in the process of quietly acquiring 2(or more?) Akula-II class subamarines in the next year or so. India's own indigneous nuclear sub program is nearing completion now, and India envisages an SSN fleet of 5 with 2 -3 being SLCM/BM capable.
Again recent news reports claim the imminent(or already 'successful') testing of such a missile named Sagarika.


At Malabar 07, the Indian submariners and seamen get invaluable insights from the Americans on how to :
1) Track and hunt SSNs(LA class no less)
2)Evade and operate SSNs(again LA class)

Now here's the irony of the situation:
The Indians are to get Akula-II class Russian SSNs which to my knowledge are probably the exact counters(albeit superior?) to the LA Class SSNs.

I'm sure the Americans through their various intel inputs are aware of the Akula transfer, and so I ask..
What the hec is going on here?!!
Apart from the fact that the Indians are getting unnerving exposure to two very different(and secretive) asset types, aren't the Americans and Russians the least bit concerned about information slipping from one side to the other?


Its like some 3rd party getting a look at the F-22 and the PAK-FA..
except we're talking nuclear submarines here, strategic assets, and thus much much more important!

SuperBugs and Harriers:

Malabar 07-02 Orbat

Some good pictures: