French Navy destroyer Jean de Vienne with guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai and guided missile frigate INS Gomati

The Varuna naval exercise is an annually held bilateral Naval exercise between

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and it forms and integral part of France–India strategic relationship in the 21st century and consists of naval cooperation drills between the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

and the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. The joint-exercises are held either in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

with the aim of improving Indo-French coordination on capabilities like cross-deck operations, replenishment-at-sea,

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

and information sharing. It was first started in 1983, though given its present name in 2001. France is a ''Littoral State'' of the

through the French

Overseas region The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

and

Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean ( or ') consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, as well as a reef in the Indian Ocean; they constitute the fifth district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, though sovereignty over some ...

Editions

2001

The First edition was conducted in 2001.

2015

Varuna 2015 included a French battle-group led by French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) and carrying aero-naval version of

Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...

aircraft operating alongside the

Western Naval Command The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the A ...

2019

The 2019 edition show the participation of French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91), surface ships like FNS Forbin, FNS Provence, FNS Latouche-Treville, tanker FNS Marne and a

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...

. The Indian Navy sent its aircraft carrier

INS Vikramaditya INS ''Vikramaditya'' ()Literally ''Vikramaditya'' translates as being "Sun (Aditya) of valour" (Vikram). The component ''āditya'' (sun) literally means "he who belongs to Aditi". It was the title of the most famous Indian king in Indian histo ...

, destroyer

INS Mumbai INS ''Mumbai'' is the third of the guided-missile destroyers in active service with the Indian Navy. ''Mumbai'' was built at Mazagon Dock Limited in her namesake city Mumbai, launched in 1995, and commissioned in 2001. The ship completed i ...

, frigate

INS Tarkash INS ''Tarkash'' (F50) () is the second constructed for the Indian Navy. She is part of the second batch of ''Talwar''-class frigates ordered by the Indian Navy. She was built at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia. She was commissioned ...

, and fleet tanker INS Deepak.

2023

The 2023 edition of Varuna exercise, which also saw the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership, was held between 16 and 20 January 2023 along the Goa coast. The Indian Navy was represented by INS Chennai (destroyer),

INS Teg INS ''Teg'' (F45) () is the fourth constructed for the Indian Navy. She was built by the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia, and was commissioned to Navy service on 27 April 2012. She is the first of the second batch of s to be completed. ...

(frigate), Boeing P-8I (maritime patrol aircraft), integral helicopters and

MiG-29K The Mikoyan MiG-29K (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) is a Russian all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The MiG-29K was developed in the late 1980s from the MiG-29M. Mikoyan describe ...

jets. The French Navy was represented by French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91), frigates FS Forbin and

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, support vessel FS ''Marne'' and an '' Bregut Atlantique Maritime Patrol Aircraft.''

2024

The 2024 edition of Varuna exercise is scheduled from 2 to 4 September 2024 in the

. The Indian Navy participates in the exercise with INS Tabar and

Boeing P-8I Neptune The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It was developed for the United States Navy as a derivative of the civilian Boeing 737 Next Generati ...

aircraft. The exercise depicts the first European deployment of the P-8I aircraft after it landed at Hyères airbase. This is 63 years after an Alize aircraft deployed on

INS Vikrant Two ships operated by the Indian Navy have had the name INS ''Vikrant''. * , a British-built aircraft carrier which was in service from 1961 to 1997, operated as a museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been p ...

last operated from France from the same airbase. The Indian Navy was represented by INS Tabar, a shipborne helicopter and LRMRAl P-8I aircraft. The French Navy was represented by FS Provence, Submarine Suffren, Aircraft F20; 1

Bréguet 1150 Atlantic The Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic is a long-range maritime patrol aircraft designed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Breguet Aviation. Designed in response to a 1958 NATO specification as a replacement for the Lockheed P2V Neptune, B ...

, 1

Aermacchi MB-339 The Aermacchi MB-339 is a military jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Italian aviation company Aermacchi. The MB-339 was developed during the 1970s in response to an Italian Air Force requirement that sought a re ...

and 1

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helicop ...

; 1

Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin The Eurocopter, later Airbus Helicopters AS365 Dauphin, originally known as the Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin 2, is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It was originally developed and manufactured ...

2025

The 23rd edition of the exercise was conducted between 19 and 22 March 2025. The aircraft carriers and

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, alongside their

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

, and a Kalvari class submarine. The exercise would include a

air defence Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

air-to-air combat Air combat manoeuvring (ACM) is the Military tactics, tactic of moving, turning, and situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Commonly associated with dogfighting, air c ...

drills including Rafale-M and

. During the deployment, INS ''Vikrant'' and was diverted for a

MEDEVAC Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to patients requiring evacuation or transport using medically equipped air ambulances, helicopters an ...

operation from MV Heilan Star on early 21 March after receiving information from

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and Exclusive economic zone of India, exclusive economic zone. It was st ...

's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. A Seaking helicopter from ''Vikrant'' rescued three crew members, who suffered severe burn injuries, from the ship, flown to in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

and transferred to a civil hospital for further medical care. As for the anti submarine manual the Indian submarine played as the aggressor while Indian and French anti-submarine frigates were deployed to protect a high-value target, '' Jacques Chevallier'', the French Navy oiler. Other operations also included

surface warfare Surface warfare is naval warfare involving surface ships. It is one of the four operational areas of naval warfare, the others being underwater warfare, aerial warfare, and information warfare. Surface warfare is the oldest and most basic for ...

manoeuvres as well as

replenishment at sea Underway replenishment (UNREP) ( U.S. Navy) or replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First devel ...

by fleet tankers of both the Navies, INS ''Deepak'' and ''Jacques Chevallier''.

References

External links

Varuna 2006

Varuna 09 Video
Indian naval exercises French Navy France–India relations {{Navy-stub Military history of the Mediterranean Military history of the Indian Ocean