CHENNAI: The sea was rough and the weather challenging but it did not deter the spirit of camaraderie between Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and US Navy as they carried on with the sea phase of exercises that concluded on Monday.
The might of INS Vikramaditya, India’s aircraft carrier, and US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was on display during the exercise. The MiG 29K was launched from Indian aircraft carrier to undertake combat missions against the US F-18 launched from USS Nimitz for combined crew training.
In addition to the combat operations, the fighter aircraft from both navies undertook composite formation flying, thereby demonstrating another step in the interoperability aimed through this exercise.
Similarly, an Indian Navy Seaking helicopter undertook transfer of Japanese personnel to INS Vikramaditya as part of a crew exchange programme during the exercise. It was followed by flying operations by helicopters of the US Navy.
In a display of cross deck flying operations, which require a high degree of interoperability and knowledge of procedures of participating ships and helicopters, a helicopter from USS Shoup landed on board INS Sahyadri and Japanese vessel JN Sazanami. The helicopter from JN Sazanami undertook flying operations from INS Sahayadri and USS Shoup.
INS Jyoti, a tanker ship, undertook Replenishment at Sea with US Navy Ship Shoup and Japanese Navy Ship Sazanami. During this operation, INS Jyoti passed the oil hoses to the US and Japanese navies to exercise transfer of fuel.