The exercise reflects the deepening convergence of US-India strategic maritime interests and the countries’ defence partnership

Exercise Tiger Triumph – 2025, the fourth edition of the bilateral joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) amphibious drill between India and the US, began at Vishakhapatnam on Tuesday, with the opening ceremony being held on-board the Indian Navy’s INS Jalashwa.

The exercise reflects the deepening convergence of US-India strategic maritime interests and the countries’ defence partnership. The present edition is aimed at further enhancement of interoperability and combined joint all-domain operations during large-scale HADR operations, according to an official statement.

“Exercises like these enable our forces to work quickly when our partners in the region are facing humanitarian crises,” Jorgan K Andrews, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in India said at the ceremony.

The harbour phase of the exercise is being conducted at Visakhapatnam from April 1 to 7, which involves a planning process for the execution of various training events at sea, as well as further refinement of procedures established in previous iterations of the exercise.

In addition, the harbour phase will include training and subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) events on a range of professional subjects, such as special operations, emergency medical response procedures and operations across the air, maritime, cyber and space domains.

The sea phase from April 8 to 12, will witness the bilateral forces working together to train for maritime, amphibious and HADR operations through a Joint Combined Command and Control Centre.

This phase will conclude with establishment of a joint combined humanitarian relief and medical response camp following an amphibious landing at Kakinada.

Participating units from the Indian Navy include Landing Platform Dock INS Jalashwa with integral landing crafts and helicopters, the Delhi-class guided-missile destroyer, INS Mumbai, Magar-class amphibious assault ship, INS Gharial, Deepak-class fleet tanker, INS Shakti, and P-8 long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, MH60R helicopters and the Hawk aircraft.

The Indian Army will be represented by an Infantry Battalion Group, including mechanised forces. Special operations force from all the three services, as well as cyber and space specialists will also participate in the exercise.

The Indian Air Force will demonstrate the capability of C-130, Mi-17 V5 and showcase the air portable Bhisma medical equipment.

The participating US task force comprises a US Navy Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, USS Comstock, with embarked US Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 1st Light Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion, as well as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Ralph Johnson and a Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft. The US Space Force and Air Force are supporting the exercise with subject matter experts and a C-130J aircraft, respectively.

The US Army is represented by a platoon, a medical platoon, civil-military operations centre and multi-domain task force combined information effects fusion cell.