The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) conducted joint-military exercises, ex-KAVACH, aimed to fine-tune the joint-warfighting capabilities, said the ANC on Thursday, reported ANI.

Multi-domain exercises including amphibious landing, air-landed ops, heliborne ops and rapid insertion of Special Forces were carried out during the drill, it said. 

“Andaman and Nicobar Command conducted a large-scale Joint military EX-KAVACH involving assets of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard on April 5. This joint-services exercise aimed to fine-tune joint war-fighting capabilities and operational synergy,” the ANC said in a statement, reported by the news agency.  

The ANC is the first integrated theatre command in India with its headquarters in Port Blair.

The Indian Army’s Agra-based Shatrujeet Brigade Wednesday participated in ex-KAVACH exercise with the tri-services of the Andaman and Nicobar Command to rehearse its rapid reaction capabilities on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Army said on Thursday.

The high-intensity exercise — carried out in conjunction with the Indian Air Force and the Navy — tested the jointness and interoperability among the Special Forces of the three services.

The drill required responding to various plans and contingencies in tactically relevant scenarios. From Agra, the paratroopers descended and made a surgically precise landing on a secluded island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They landed early on Wednesday morning in an IAF C130J Super Hercules aircraft.

The exercise also saw validation and employment of specialised equipment, combat free fall jumps and ground-based manoeuvres.

The defence ministry in a statement had said that the exercise was aimed at validating India’s capabilities to safeguard the territorial integrity of its island territories. It also sought to enhance operational synergy and joint warfighting capabilities amongst the three Services.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands are of high strategic value to India, thanks to their proximity to the Indo-Pacific as well as to major sea lines of communication (SLOC) in the Bay of Bengal.

“Moreover, the joint operation with the special forces of the IAF and Navy provides cohesiveness of operating in theaterised domains,” a defence source said.

The Indian military has already set up the tri-service Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) in which the special forces of the three services train together.

Image source: ANI