Malabar 2017 is the latest in a series of naval exercises and takes place amid growing tensions in the Indian Ocean.
Visitors observe flight operations on the USS Nimitz, July 16,2017, in the Bay of Bengal as part of exercise Malabar. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Cole Schroeder)
The US, India, and Japan kicked off the Malabar 2017 naval exercises earlier this month in the Bay of Bengal.
Malabar 2017 is the latest in a series of exercises that have grown over the years to address shared threats to maritime security in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific and to build interoperability between participants.
While Malabar 2017 is not the series’ largest exercise, it is the first to involve carriers from each navy: India’s Vikramaditya, the US’s Nimitz, and Japan’s Izumo, which Tokyo classifies as a “helicopter destroyer.
