Australia starts maritime exercise AUSINDEX 2021 with Indian Navy.

According to information published by the Australian Department of Defence on September 5, 2021, the Northern Territory will host the biennial AUSINDEX maritime warfare exercises between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy.
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Kamorta class corvette INS Kadmatt and Shivalik-class frigate INS Shivalik (Picture source: Yuri Ramsey)

AUSINDEX 21 will be held between 5-13 September and includes a harbour phase in Darwin, followed by a sea phase in the North Australian Exercise Area.

The exercise will see Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga train alongside Indian Navy warships INS Shivalik and INS Kadmatt.

The ships will be joined by an Australian submarine, a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, RAAF tactical fighter jets, as well as embarked helicopters from both navies.

Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, said the exercise would build on the recent navy-to-navy warfare training that was conducted during Phase One of Exercise MALABAR 21 off Guam.

First held in 2015, AUSINDEX has increased in complexity with each iteration. The successful 2019 event in India saw the first anti-submarine warfare exercises and also the first coordinated P‑8 maritime patrol aircraft missions take place over the Bay of Bengal.

This is the first time AUSINDEX has been held in the Northern Territory.

HMAS Warramunga (FFH 152) is an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of ten frigates built for the Australian and New Zealand navies, Warramunga was laid down by Tenix Defence in 1997 and commissioned in 2001.

INS Kadmatt (P29) is the second of four anti-submarine warfare corvettes built for the Indian Navy by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers of Kolkata under Project 28. She was inducted into the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

Kadmatt (P29) is equipped with a wide range of weapon systems. It is fitted with an OTO Melara 76 mm main gun, and uses two AK-630 guns and provision for 16-cell VLS launched Barak 1 missiles as close-in weapon system, which will be added later. In addition, 2 RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers and torpedo tubes capable of firing heavy weight torpedoes.