Milan 2024 Drills

Exercise Milan – 2024: Indian Navy to host its largest-ever multilateral drill in February, Eyeing China – India’s Two Aircraft Carriers To Lead Navies From 50 Countries In Milan 2024 Drills

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Feb 13, 2024

UPDATES: The Indian Navy will be hosting its largest-ever multilateral exercise – “Milan – 2024” – from February 19 to February 27. The 12th edition of exercise, will be hosted by the Visakhapatnam-headquartered Eastern Naval Command in the Bay of Bengal, the Navy said on Wednesday.

At the end of February 2024, India will flex its Naval muscle in Milan drills. With an eye on China, an armada of 50 navies will congregate in the strategically vital Bay of Bengal, giving an unequivocal message of ensuring a secure and stable Indo-Pacific in the face of China’s belligerence in the region.

Indian Navy fleet tanker INS Shakti (R) replenishing Royal Indonesian Navy frigate KRI Raden Eddy Martadinata during Exercise Milan – 2022. (File photo)

Exercise Milan – 2024: Indian Navy to host its largest-ever multilateral drill in February

By India Sentinels

The Indian Navy will be hosting its largest-ever multilateral exercise – “Milan – 2024” – from February 19 to February 27. The 12th edition of exercise, will be hosted by the Visakhapatnam-headquartered Eastern Naval Command in the Bay of Bengal, the Navy said on Wednesday.

An official said that the final planning conference of the multinational exercise was held at Visakhapatnam, which the Eastern Naval Command’s chief of staff (operations) chaired. It was attended by all participating navies both in person as well as via videoconferencing.

This eight-day megadrill will not be just about size but promises substance too. The exercise will be conducted in two phases – harbour and sea, in which participating navies will take part in high-intensity tactical training. These include manoeuvring drills, air-defence exercises, submarine manoeuvres, and even joint war-gaming scenarios.

Apart from these, communication drills, gunnery exercises, and multinational replenishment-at-sea will add another layer of complexity and collaboration in the overall exercise.

Milan – 2024 will not be just a one-time mega event. The biennial exercise has been steadily increasing its reach since its inception in 1995 with just four countries. The 2020 exercise was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the previous edition in 2022 saw 40 nations, including major players, like the US, UK, Japan, and Australia, showcase their naval prowess.

The 2024 edition promises to be an even bigger leap forward, solidifying India’s position as a key maritime power and a reliable partner in the region.

File Image: Indian Navy Warships

Eyeing China – India’s Two Aircraft Carriers To Lead Navies From 50 Countries In Milan 2024 Drills

By Ritu Sharma, EurAsian Times

Indian Navy’s twin aircraft carriers (INS Vikramaditya and the INS Vikrant) and foreign submarines will be the stars of the exercise.

Apart from the Quad countries – the US, Japan, and Australia, navies of south-eastern countries will participate in the Milan maritime exercise. India will be deploying its twin aircraft carriers – INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant, for the exercise from February 19 to 27. Besides these, 20 naval warships, maritime patrol aircraft like P-8I, and submarines will be participating in the exercise.

“The sea phase of the naval exercise will involve large-force maneuvers, advanced air defense operations, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface operations,” a naval official told the EurAsian Times. This will be the 12th edition of the Milan exercise, and it will be the largest.

The ‘Harbour phase’ of the exercise would comprise an International Maritime Seminar, International City Parade, Maritime Tech Exhibition, Subject Matter Expert Exchange, Milan of Young Officers, and various sporting events.

Navies from the US, Japan, Australia, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia are some of the countries expected to participate in the exercise. The exercise aims to help friendly navies in the region achieve synergy and reiterate commitment to open, inclusive, and rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific, which is being threatened by China’s increasing aggression.

China has been muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region coming in direct conflict with Japan and the US, primarily in the East and South China Seas. The situation with the Philippines and Taiwan has also been fluid for several years.

India, on its part, has been actively engaging with the Southeast Asian countries, and its engagement with the Quad countries has also increased considerably.

But the exercise is not only meant as a show of force but also for diplomatic outreach among many key players like the United Kingdom, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and UAE, Brunei, the Philippines, Maldives, Kenya, Indonesia and Mauritius.

The exercise comes at a time when the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea is threatened by Houthi militia and Somali pirates.

The Iranian-backed Houthis rebels are targeting commercial ships, making the trade expensive. The Indian Navy has been the primary responder against the piracy bids in the Arabian Sea, mainly around the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa, where Somalian pirates have created a maritime menace.

According to an official statement, “for restoring maritime security in the region, enhanced presence of ships, aerial surveillance by maritime patrol aircraft, RPA (Remotely-Piloted Aircraft) in the Central Arabian Sea and Off East of Coast of Somalia is being undertaken by Indian Navy.’’

The Indian Navy’s area of influence extends from the Gulf of Aden in the West to the Malacca Strait in the East. For this, it has deployed 50 warships to escort merchant vessels through the 490 nautical mile-long Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC).

Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt told the Parliament that “since 2008, Indian Navy has deployed units in Gulf of Aden and East Coast of Africa towards anti-piracy patrols. A total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been safely escorted.”

While the Indian Navy is playing a yeoman role in defending commercial shipping from pirates and missile attacks in the Arabian Sea, maritime security in the Indo-Pacific is currently under threat, with China and the rapidly expanding PLA Navy playing the hegemon in the South China Sea.

Previous Editions Of Milan

The 11th edition of Milan took place in 2022 amid tensions between the West and Russia. The warships from Quad countries participated in the exercise along with France, Myanmar, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Russia, Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, among others, participated in the exercise without ships. A total of 39 countries participated in the exercise.

The first two days of exercises at sea included complex anti-air warfare drills with US P8A aircraft shepherding a strike of Indian fighter aircraft on a formation of warships of the participating navies.

Additionally, weapon firings against low-flying air targets were conducted, reflecting the crews’ proficiency and high levels of interoperability.

Cross-deck landing operations were carried out with helicopters, and ships from the participating countries took turns to replenish at sea with the Indian Navy’s tanker. The sea phase saw the practice of anti-submarine exercises.

The sea phase witnessed the participation of 26 ships, one submarine, and 21 aircraft.

Starting with the participation of four countries – Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – in 1995, the exercise has since transitioned in terms of the number of participants and complexity of exercises.

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