Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz

New Delhi, Sept. 23: The Indian Navy begins a nine-day exercise with the US Navy on Sunday in what is the biggest and most advanced war game it has held with a foreign force off the west coast.

The US Navy’s aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, and the Indian Navy’s carrier, the INS Viraat, will lead battle groups for the manoeuvres.

This is the first time that aircraft carriers from the two navies will participate in the Malabar series of exercises, seven editions of which have been held so far.

The US will showcase aircraft and equipment that it has offered for sale or is negotiating to sell to India. The Nimitz will have on board F-A 18 Superhornet fighter aircraft and the E2C Hawkeye early warning plane. The US Navy will also fly sorties on the P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft from Goa.

Rear Admiral D.K. Joshi, the assistant chief of naval staff (information warfare and operations), said here today that the exercise, which continues till October 4, was not long enough to accommodate a major war game scenario but it would have elements of warfare.

These include air to air warfare, air to sub-sea warfare, rescuing a ship that has been boarded by pirates, simulated air strikes, shepherding, anti-submarine warfare, mid-sea replenishment in a multi-threat environment, counter-terrorism and air defence.

“In terms of assets committed, Malabar ’05 is the most advanced exercise that we have had with any navy,” Rear Admiral Joshi said. He identified the focus areas of the exercise as aviation inter-operability and VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure).

Indian and US authorities are in talks on the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) ? which India has been invited to join ? under which US and allied forces authorise themselves to take maritime security and anti-piracy measures in the sea lanes of communication.

The US naval authorities are understood to be independently organising a visit by senior Indian Air Force officers to the Nimitz to demonstrate the capabilities of the F-A 18 Superhornet aircraft.