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INS Mysore to take part in exercises with French Navy

Krzytof de Breza in Paris

France and India will conduct their second joint naval exercise within six months when the multi-purpose destroyer INS Mysore arrives at the naval port of Toulon later this month.

INS Mysore, which is on a world trip, including to the United States, is heading back home to India. On August 13 it will arrive at Toulon in the Mediterranean Sea, which is a major base for the French Navy.

The Mysore will conduct exercises with the French Navy from August 16, initially off the French coast. The group will then move on to the northeast African nation of Djibouti, where more exercises will be conducted.

This is the second time in six months that the two navies will hold joint exercises. In February, a large French flotilla had visited Bombay and conducted exercises with the Indian Navy. That was the largest French flotilla to visit India. The French are believed to be extremely satisfied with the exercises and the heightened co-operation between the two defence forces.

So happy are the two nations with this increasing cooperation that they have set a target of 54 items of co-operation for the current year, up from barely 14 last year.

A multi-purpose destroyer, the 6,700 tonne Mysore is capable of operating in a multi-threat environment. It is amongst the latest ships of the Indian Navy. Equipped with four gas turbines that give it 64,000 horsepower, the Mysore can achieve a top speed of 32 knots.

The Mysore is very well armed, enabling her to conduct battles on surface, in the air and underwater. She has 16 surface-to-surface missiles, a battery of surface-to-air missiles, a 100mm gun, four 30mm guns, and torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets. She also carries two fully armed helicopters that act as force multipliers.

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