Japan Self-Defense Force Destroyer Ariake Joins India’s Destroyer Delhi in Joint Operation Against Enemy Submarine

Distance” shortened through personnel exchanges

Two Indian Navy submarines played the role of the enemy.

The Arriake used a towed array sonar. A black cable with a hydrophone attached to the end is run from the stern of the submarine to search for the submarine’s sound. The Indian and Australian navies used patrol helicopters to search for submarines. The training to locate and deal with submarines from scratch was indeed a day and night exercise.

In Malabar, personnel exchanges between the countries were also conducted in an attempt to deepen cooperation. During the entire exercise, two Indian naval officers were aboard the Arriake as liaison officers.

In the early morning of the 16th, Self-Defense Force personnel in navy blue pupils and armed with pistols lined up on the rear deck of the Arriake. They were the inspection team that boarded the suspicious vessel and took control of it. An Indian naval officer, who told the writer that he had served as a commander in the Navy’s Special Forces, observed the SDF training and then demonstrated an Indian-style method of subduing a suspicious vessel. After observing the training of the SDF for a while, the officer demonstrated the Indian method of suppression, and tightened the atmosphere by advising that the SDF’s training methods are efficient but not practical.

During free time between training sessions, an Indian naval officer and an SDF officer went shopping for T-shirts with the ArIAKE logo printed on them. The officers showed their white teeth as they said, “I will take these as souvenirs for my family.

The two men ate and slept together with the JSDF officers. When they were served the famous “KAIJI Curry,” the KAIJI staff, having heard that curry is not eaten with rice in India, prepared naan for them in advance. When the officers put the curry on the naan and put it in their mouths, they returned it with an “OK” mark. However, the spiciness was not enough. Sprinkled with spices from the table, they murmured with a smile, “I don’t think Japanese people can handle this spiciness.

Despite the distance between Japan and India, the distance between the participants in the training was definitely shortened. The training exercise showed the potential for the Quad to evolve into an Indo-Pacific version of NATO.