Navies join forces for Exercise MALABAR

13 September 2007

Exercise MALABAR has just wound up in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, with five of the world's naval forces coming together for a series of training and development exercises.

The week-long exercise included ships from the naval fleets of Australia, the United States, Singapore, Japan and India, and involved more than 20,000 personnel.

MALABAR increases cooperation among each naval fleet, and gives the participants an opportunity to develop common procedures for maritime security operations, including boarding, search and seizure, surface exercises, and coordinated surface fire support. The exercise also included air defence exercises, anti-submarine warfare training, and a range of professional exchanges between ships and aircraft.

MALABAR is an annual maritime training exercise, held between the Indian and US Navies. HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Sirius supported the exercise, and this was the first time that the Royal Australian Navy had participated in the exercise. This was the eleventh time MALABAR has taken place.