New Delhi, April 20: An American warship attacked by suspected suicide terrorists in the Gulf is embedded in a British flotilla that begins exercises with the Indian Navy off Goa from Monday.

The 12-day exercise is the third in the series of the Konkan drills between the Royal Navy and its Indian counterpart.

A French ship, the Surcouf, will also participate in the war game that involves the Royal Navy carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.

The attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, at the Yemen port of Aden by suspected al Qaida suicide bombers blew a hole in the port side of the ship and killed 17 of its crew.

The ship — an Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer — is now repaired and operational again. But its name has become synonymous with the threat of terrorism at sea that navies across the world are increasingly concerned about.

In the Konkan 2008, the ships will practise anti-submarine drills — presumably protection of the carrier from a submarine attack force — and combined maritime exercises with the Indian Navy’s aircraft operating from Goa.

They will also practise interdiction, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) procedures, naval gunfire support, clearance diving and tactical manoeuvres.

The exercise will be under the tactical command of the flag officer commanding-in-chief, Western Command, Rear Admiral Anil Chopra. The British force is commanded by Commodore Tom Cunningham.

Apart from the HMS Illustrious, the USS Cole and the FS Surcouf, the British force includes the HMS Westminster (guided missile frigate), fleet replenishment tanker RFA Wave Knight, store ship RFA Fort Austin and hunter-killer submarine HMS Trafalgar.

Indian warships for the drill are guided missile destroyers INS Mysore and INS Rajput, guided missile frigate INS Gomati, fleet replenishment tanker INS Aditya and submarine INS Shishumar.