Joint India-US exercise nears conclusion with large-scale amphibious operation training off Andhra coast

Hyderabad: Nearly 1,000 US and Indian military personnel took part in a large-scale amphibious landing drill on Kakinada Beach in Andhra Pradesh on Friday for the culminating event in bilateral Exercise Tiger Triumph 2025.

The event represented a humanitarian assistance and disaster response scenario in which the joint combined forces were tasked with securing space in a coastal area, as well as setting up a field hospital and supply distribution site there following a notional natural disaster.

In a statement, the US Consul General of Hyderabad, Jennifer Larson, said that she is proud to be witnessing these exercises for the second time. 

“Every year, this exercise builds on the previous one and breaks new ground,” she said.

“Our forces are working closer than ever before, and we see this relationship only getting stronger. It is through exercises like Tiger Triumph that the United States and India achieve mutual security objectives and assure a free and open Indo-Pacific region and beyond.” 

The amphibious landing concluded the sea phase of the exercise, which was preceded by a weeklong harbor phase in nearby Visakhapatnam, consisting of operation planning, unit-level training, subject matter expert exchanges and cultural events.

A closing ceremony aboard the US Navy’s Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, USS Comstock (LSD 45), is scheduled to take place in the coming days to officially end the exercise.

“Amphibious operations require effective integrated planning, and unifying command and control – or C2,” said Rear Admiral Greg Newkirk, Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70 and commander of the US joint forces participating in the exercise.

“The Tiger Triumph 2025 beach landing is the result of substantial gains in our level of integration with the Indian Armed Forces at all levels of the joint forces, and in all domains, as well as wringing out effective combined C2. It highlights the very real strength of two highly professional forces coming together, placing a high premium on interoperability, to achieve a complex objective that only militaries can bring to bear,” he said.

The landing force included US Marines from the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion aboard Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 5 Landing Crafts Air Cushion (LCAC) launched from Comstock; as well as Indian Army personnel from the 4/8 Gurkha Rifles Infantry Battalion, 91st Infantry Brigade, aboard Landing Crafts Mechanized (LCM) launched from the amphibious transport dock INS Jalashwa (L 41).

Additional supporting personnel included soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division, plus joint combined Army-Navy medical, legal and civil affairs teams, as well as Special Operations Forces contingents from both countries.

US and Indian Air Force C-130 aircraft conducted simulated supply drops during the event, while a US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft participated with a data-gathering flight over the operation area.

In addition to the amphibious landing, the sea phase of the exercise included underway maneuvering drills, integrated well-deck and flight deck operations, and personnel exchanges.

Beginning with an opening ceremony aboard Jalashwa on April 1, this is the fourth time US and Indian forces have come together for Tiger Triumph, an annual joint India-US amphibious exercise. Overall, the exercise involved approximately 3,000 personnel and at least four ships and seven aircraft from the two countries.

The US 7th Fleet is the US Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.