French warships to arrive for Naval exercise

A flotilla of warships from the French Navy will arrive on the western coast for exercise Varuna-2015 with the Indian Navy. The exercise that will begin in late April would see a host of maneuvers between the two navies, primarily aimed towards establishing a common mode of communication apart from practicing other naval tactics. Also, an American warship, USS Paul Hamilton, is slated to dock at Goa for rest and recreation (R&R) purposes after a long deployment. The French fleet will include a Carrier Battle Group (CBG) led by an aircraft carrier, most likely the FNS Charles De Gaulle (R91), two destroyers, a supply ship and a nuclear powered submarine. The annual exercise is a part of Indo- French bilateral defence and diplomatic ties, which will see ships and aircraft from both the navies practicing ‘cross deck’ operations, mid-sea refueling and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The Charles De Gaulle will carry the naval version of the Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft, which is seeing contentious negotiations between the two countries to be sold to the Indian Air Force (IAF). “The primary aim of the exercise is to establish and test common communication channels which will be used during a real joint operation and to understand each other’s procedures,” said an officer. Maneuvers in such exercises include sending ‘sea riders’ — officers to the other navy’s ship — primarily as a protocol and secondly to liaise and coordinate the exercise. The ships would be arriving this week and the exercise is slated to begin late in April. “Meetings will first be held for planning the exercise where details of all the maneuvers will be decided upon,” the officer added.



French warships to arrive for Naval exercise | The Asian Age

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