Indra 2017: First Indo-Russia tri service war game
Q. Name the first tri-service war games held between India and Russia?- Published on 15 Sep 17a. Indra
b. Dhanush
c. Nag
d. Sankalp
ANSWER: Indra
In the first such tri-Service wargames, India will hold a major combat exercise with Russia this year to crank up military-to-military ties between the two long-standing strategic partners.
The Indra exercise, to be held in Russia, will include assets and manpower from the Army, Navy and IAF.
This is the first time India will deploy the three services together for an exercise with a country.
Though Russia has been India's largest defence supplier for long, notching up military sales worth over $50 billion since the 1960s, their armed forces do not exercise much together.
In sharp contrast, India and US hold a flurry of exercises every year, ranging from the top-notch naval Malabar wargames (with Japan now a regular participant) to the counter-terror Vajra Prahar & Yudh Abhyas Ines between their armies.
The US has also bagged Indian arms contracts worth $15 billion since 2007, even overtaking Russia in annual sales over the last four years.
But India and Russia have now resolved to expand their military-to-military ties. "The first initial planning conference has already been held with Russia to discuss the exercise scenario, assets and manpower for the tri-Service Indra.
Two more such conferences will be held soon to finalise everything.
While Indian and Russian armies and navies have been separately holding their Indra exercises off-and-on for the last few years, the first-ever bilateral air combat exercise "Avia Indra" was held in the Astrakhan region, near the Caspian Sea, in 2014.
India has also inked pacts with Russia to acquire five S-400 Triumf advanced air defence missile systems, four Grigorivich-class frigates and 200 Kamov-226T light helicopters, while also sealing the lease of a second nuclear-powered submarine after INS Chakra, all together worth around $10.5 billion.
