TROPEX 2025: Indian Navy concludes three-month exercise in the Indian Ocean

The Indian Navy conducted its 2025 edition of Theatre Level Operational Exercise TROPEX over a period of three months from January to March in the Indian Ocean as per the official statementThe exercise which ended in early March has helped to reaffirm many of the Navys concepts of operationsAccording to the statement the exercise included a Tactical Phase Cyber and Electronic Warfare and an Amphibious Exercise called AMPHEX which is a Joint Work Up Phase centred on accurate delivery of ordnance on targetThe exercise offered a valuable assessment of the Navys ability to defend national maritime security interests by responding to a variety of challenges in a coordinated and integrated mannerThe exercises theatre of operations which was conducted in the Indian Ocean including the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal stretched roughly 4300 nm from north to south up to 35 degrees south latitude and 5000 nm from the Strait of Hormuz in the west to the Sunda and Lombok Straits in the east TROPEX 25 witnessed the participation of about 65ndash70 Indian Naval ships 9ndash10 submarines and more than 80 aircraft of various types The exercise achieved a very high level of operational synergy in the planning and execution of theatrelevel scenarios with the other services it saidIt also witnessed extensive participation by the units of the Indian Army Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard consisting of Sukhoi30 Jaguar C130 Flight Refueller and AWACS aircraft over 600 Infantry troops and more than 10 ICG shipsIn addition to reaffirming the Navys commitment to continue being a conflictready credible cohesive and futureready force TROPEX 25 was the triumphant conclusion of a rigorous operational campaign intended to evaluate the Indian Navys operational readiness and material readiness for conflictIndian Navys Ex INS Guldar to become Indias first underwater museum and artificial reefIn a historic step by the Government of India the Indian Navy handed over Ex INS Guldar a Landing Ship Tank Medium to Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation Limited MTDC on 21 February 2025 to be converted into an underwater museum and artificial reef This is the first initiative in India to use a decommissioned ship of the Indian NavyThe ship was handed over to MTDC at Karwar on an lsquoas is where isrsquo basis MTDC has taken the ship under their charge to convert it into an underwater museum and artificial reef The conversion will be undertaken by MTDC and will involve complete cleaning of the ship to remove any potential pollutants hazardous materials ensuring environmental clearances as per guidelines for marine conservation obtaining various NOCs and scuttling the ship at Sindhudurg ensuring all safety precautions