Historic first as Royal Navy and Indian Navy carrier strike groups train together

Exercise Konkan has been a fixture of UK–India naval cooperation since 2004.

But this year's edition marks a first: the Royal Navy and Indian Navy are deploying their carrier strike groups side by side.

HMS Prince of Wales, leading the UK Carrier Strike Group on Operation Highmast, joined India's carrier INS Vikrant off the country's west coast for several days of air and maritime drills.

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The sea phase of the exercise includes air defence, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare exercises, as well as flying operations involving aircraft from both navies.

Konkan in context

Held every two years, Exercise Konkan alternates between the UK and India to strengthen interoperability between the two navies.

The 2025 edition runs from 5-12 October, having started with a harbour phase of professional exchanges, cross-deck visits and sports fixtures before moving into high-intensity operations at sea.

Once Konkan concludes, the UK Carrier Strike Group will make port visits to Mumbai and Goa before taking part in a one-day aerial defence exercise with the Indian Air Force.

Flagships on both sides

At the centre of the UK group is HMS Prince of Wales, the 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth-class carrier and the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy.

She operates F-35B Lightning jets and Wildcat helicopters, as part of the UK's fifth-generation maritime strike capability.

India's INS Vikrant, commissioned in 2022, is the country's first domestically built aircraft carrier, a symbol of its expanding defence industry and growing blue-water capabilities.

What the commanders say

"It's fantastic to work again with the Indian Navy during Exercise Konkan to develop our combined operational capabilities," Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of UK Carrier Strike Group, said.

Meanwhile, Commodore Chris Saunders pointed out that the UK and India, as two carrier-operating countries, are in an exclusive club of blue-water, multi-carrier navies.

As the defence adviser to the British High Commission, he said: "This exercise provides another opportunity, a first with both carriers, for two maritime powers to enhance combined capability operating and share best practice."

Only a handful of navies operate fixed-wing aircraft carriers, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, India, China and Japan. 

It has recently been reported that repairs to Russia's sole carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, have stalled, leaving the country's place in the exclusive club of carrier-operating navies uncertain.

For more reports about Carrier Strike Group 25, click here.