Indian Navy hold PASSEX with World’s largest aircraft -THE HINDU-22-07-2020

Details: Indian Navy hold PASSEX with World’s largest aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in Indian Ocean Region.

Context:

*Indian naval ships conducted a Passage Exercise with the United States Navy’s USS Nimitz carrier strike group near the Andaman and Nicobar islands as it is transiting the Indian Ocean.

* Both naval forces conducted high-end exercises designed to maximize training and interoperability, including air defence.

*The exercise comes amidst high alert by the Navy in the Indian Ocean Region due to the ongoing stand-off with China along the border in Ladakh.

The passage exercise involved a total of eight Indian and US warships which are as follows:

* India was represented by Rajput class destroyer INS (Indian Naval Ship) Rana (D52), two Shivalik class indigenously built stealth frigates – INS Sahyadri (F49) and INS Shivalik (F47) and anti submarine corvette of the Kamorta class INS Kamorta (P28).

*US was represented by US Navy carrier strike group which was led by USS (United States Ship) Nimitz (CVN 68), a nuclear-powered World’s largest aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and consisted of Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114).

Important Points:

*Indian Navy has also recently conducted similar joint exercises with Japanese and French Navy.

*The Navy is keeping a close watch on the movement in the IOR of Chinese naval ships, whose presence has gone up considerably over the years in the name of anti-piracy patrols.