French ships reach Kochi to lead QUAD naval exercise

The two French ships will lead the navies joint exercise 'La Perouse' scheduled from April 5 to April 7 in the Bay of Bengal.

Kochi: To lead the naval exercise ‘La Perouse’ with QUAD members’ Navies, French Navy’s amphibious assault helicopter carrier Tonnerre and Surcouf frigate have arrived at Kochi Port on Tuesday.

The two French ships will lead the navies joint exercise ‘La Perouse’ scheduled from April 5 to April 7 in the Bay of Bengal.

An Indian Navy band welcomed the ships with senior officers of the Indian Navy also present at the ceremony.

The ships will make the port call for three days before moving to ‘La Perouse’.
India, US, Australia and Japan – QUAD members’ navies are all set to take part in the exercise.

Tonnerre carries more than 600 officers and cadets including 150 freshly inducted young cadets who will be participating in the exercise as the final phase of their training.

After finishing the exercise, the ships Tonnerre and Surcouf will head for Japan and will get back to France after five months.

India along with the US, Japan and Australia conducted a ‘Malabar’ naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal in November 2020. Navies of all four countries carried out anti-submarine warfare operations and naval manoeuvre at sea. Indian Navy’s Ranvijay, Shivalik, Shakti, Sukanya and submarine Sindhuraj exercised these operations with USS John S McCain, HMAS Ballarat and JMSDF Ship JS Onami.