AL – Mohed AL – Hindi’ exercise set to begin between India and Saudi Arabia
- The first naval exercise ‘AL – Mohed AL – Hindi 2021’ is being conducted at Al Jubail between India and Saudi Arabia.
- A flagship warship of India’s Western Naval Fleet, INS Kochi reached Port Al-Jubail on August 9.
- The joint naval exercise will showcase the reflection of growing defence and military cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia.
Key points:
- The maiden bilateral naval exercise comprises shore and sea-based drills activities.
- Exercise has begun with the Harbour Phase of the Al-Mohed Al-Hindi 2021 which was conducted on August 9, 2021.
- The Al-Mohed Al-Hindi 2021 exercise will be held at King Abdul Aziz Naval Base, which is the Headquarters for Saudi Eastern Fleet.
Significance of joint exercises:
- It signals other gulf countries and China about Indian influence in the region and demonstration diplomatic objectives.
- enable militaries to understand each other’s drills and procedures, overcome language barriers, and facilitate familiarisation with equipment capabilities.
- facilitates understanding and familiarisation with new technologies that other countries may be utilising and enables on-the-job training of each other’s crews.
- useful in the event of joint operations whether in war or in operations other than war (OOTW) - humanitarian aid, disaster relief, anti-piracy, etc
- promote brotherhood and camaraderie between soldiers
- tool for projection of a nation’s soft power – culture, language, customs, beliefs, food habits and lifestyle.
INS Kochi:
- It is the second ship that was indigenously designed and constructed under Project 15A (Kolkata-class) guided missile Destroyers.
- INS Kochi has been built by the Mazagon Dock Ltd., Mumbai.
- The ship has a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) propulsion system, comprising four powerful reversible gas turbines; and can attain speeds in excess of 30 knots.
- She is equipped with the advanced supersonic and long range BrahMos Surface to Surface Missile – a joint Indo-Russian venture.
- The ship also have the most sophisticated state-of-the-art weapons and sensors including the vertically launched Long Range Surface to Air Missiles (LRSAM) and MF-STAR multi-function active phased array radar.