Remember the
USS Cole? The famous American destroyer that was almost
destroyed by an Al Qaeda suicide boatman in Aden in 2000 as part of the millenium attack plots? Well, she's in Indian waters now off the coast of Goa, and here for the
Konkan 08 joint maritime operations
exercise between the Indian and Royal navies as an embedded unit, taking a break from her deployment off Lebanon.
Ships have begun moving out for the Arabian Sea exercise, which begins tomorrow and continues till May 2. The Royal Navy's flag-ship for the exercise is the light aircraft carrier
HMS Illustrious with six Merlin helicopters, guided missile frigate
HMS Westminster, fleet replenishment tanker
RFA Wave Knight, the afloat stores ship
RFA Fort Austin and the hunter-killer submarine
HMS Trafalgar. Embedded along with the
Cole is French
La Fayette-class frigate
Surcouf.
The Indian Navy will field destroyers
INS Mysore and
Rajput, missile frigate
INS Gomati, Class-209 attack submarine
INS Shishumar and fleet tanker
INS Aditya.
The exercise is to be conducted under the command of Western fleet commander Rear Admiral Anil Chopra. The British Force is to be commanded by Commodore Tom Cunningham RN, Commander Carrier Strike Group, who will be embarked on HMS
Illustrious.
According to a press release from the British High Commission, "During the exercises at sea, the major thrust will be on combined maritime operations, with the Indian Navy’s Sea Harrier aircraft operating from Goa, and exercises between the submarines of the two navies. Other aspects of the exercise include intermediate and advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare, Maritime Interdiction Operations, VBSS (Visit, Board, Search and Seizure) procedures, Naval Gunfire Support, Clearance Diving and tactical manoeuvres."