Military exercises are asked in every defence and general awareness paper, always in the same form — an exercise is named and you supply the partner country, or a country is named and you supply the exercise. The core list is stable, and once the name-to-country pairs are fixed the questions answer themselves. This post groups every exercise exams ask about by country and by service, separates the multilateral ones, and ends with previous year questions.
Key Points (Quick Revision)
- Yudh Abhyas and Vajra Prahar — United States
- Indra — Russia · Varuna, Garuda, Shakti — France
- Malabar — India, United States, Japan and Australia
- Hand-in-Hand — China · Surya Kiran — Nepal
- Mitra Shakti and SLINEX — Sri Lanka · Sampriti — Bangladesh
1. Exercises with major powers
| Exercise | Country | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Yudh Abhyas | United States | Army |
| Vajra Prahar | United States | Special Forces |
| Cope India | United States | Air Force |
| Tiger Triumph | United States | Tri-service, humanitarian and disaster relief |
| Indra | Russia | Tri-service in some editions |
| Varuna | France | Navy |
| Garuda | France | Air Force |
| Shakti | France | Army |
| Hand-in-Hand | China | Army |
| Ajeya Warrior | United Kingdom | Army |
| Konkan | United Kingdom | Navy |
| Indradhanush | United Kingdom | Air Force |
France is the country to fix first, because India runs a separate exercise with it for each service — Varuna at sea, Garuda in the air, Shakti on land. That triple is asked more often than any other group, precisely because it is easy to swap the three names.
The United Kingdom follows the same pattern with Ajeya Warrior, Konkan and Indradhanush. And the United States has four separate exercises, of which Yudh Abhyas is the army one and the one asked most.
2. Exercises with neighbours and the region
| Exercise | Country |
|---|---|
| Surya Kiran | Nepal |
| Sampriti | Bangladesh |
| Bongosagar | Bangladesh, naval |
| Mitra Shakti | Sri Lanka |
| SLINEX | Sri Lanka, naval |
| Ekuverin | Maldives |
| IMBEX | Myanmar |
| Bold Kurukshetra | Singapore, army |
| SIMBEX | Singapore, naval |
| Nomadic Elephant | Mongolia |
| Khanjar | Kyrgyzstan |
| Kazind | Kazakhstan |
| Dharma Guardian | Japan |
| JIMEX | Japan, naval |
| Lamitiye | Seychelles |
Two countries appear twice here and both pairs are asked. Sri Lanka has Mitra Shakti on land and SLINEX at sea; Singapore has Bold Kurukshetra on land and SIMBEX at sea. The naval one in each case ends in EX, which is the pattern to notice — SLINEX, SIMBEX, JIMEX, IMBEX and AUSINDEX are all naval or service-level exercises named that way.
3. Exercises with West Asia, Africa and Oceania
| Exercise | Country |
|---|---|
| Al Nagah | Oman, army |
| Naseem Al Bahr | Oman, navy |
| Eastern Bridge | Oman, air force |
| Desert Eagle | United Arab Emirates, air force |
| Desert Cyclone | United Arab Emirates, army |
| Al Mohed Al Hindi | Saudi Arabia, navy |
| Sada Tanseeq | Saudi Arabia, army |
| AUSINDEX | Australia, navy |
| Pitch Black | Australia, air force — multinational |
| Austra Hind | Australia, army |
| Cyclone | Egypt, special forces |
| Africa-India Field Training Exercise | African partner nations — multilateral |
Oman is the third country with a full set of three, alongside France and the United Kingdom — Al Nagah, Naseem Al Bahr and Eastern Bridge. Questions built on Gulf exercises usually come from this row.
4. Multilateral exercises
| Exercise | Participants |
|---|---|
| Malabar | India, United States, Japan and Australia |
| RIMPAC | Multinational, hosted by the United States in the Pacific |
| MILAN | Multinational naval gathering hosted by India |
| Pitch Black | Multinational air exercise hosted by Australia |
| SCO Peace Mission | Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members |
| Tarang Shakti | Multinational air exercise hosted by India |
| Exercise Khaan Quest | Multinational, hosted by Mongolia |
Malabar is the most asked exercise in this whole topic, and the fact attached to it is its growth — it began as an India-United States naval exercise, Japan joined as a permanent participant, and Australia joined later, making it the four-nation exercise associated with the Quad grouping.
MILAN is asked because India hosts it, and it is worth keeping alongside Tarang Shakti, the multinational air exercise India hosts, since both are India-hosted rather than India-participating.
5. India's own domestic exercises
| Exercise | What it is |
|---|---|
| Sea Vigil | Coastal defence exercise across India's entire coastline |
| TROPEX | Theatre-level readiness and operational exercise of the Navy |
| Vayu Shakti | Firepower demonstration by the Air Force at Pokhran |
| Gagan Shakti | Large-scale Air Force readiness exercise |
| Bharat Shakti | Tri-service demonstration of indigenous defence capability |
Sea Vigil and TROPEX are the two naval exercises asked most, and both are entirely Indian rather than joint. Vayu Shakti at Pokhran is asked by its location as often as by its name.
One caution for this whole topic. New exercises are announced and existing ones renamed or expanded every year — the Malabar participant list changed, and several Gulf and African exercises are recent additions. Treat the pairs in these tables as the stable core, and check anything very recent against a current source before an examination rather than relying on an older list.
6. Previous year questions
- Yudh Abhyas is a joint exercise between India and which country? — United States
- Exercise Indra is conducted with which country? — Russia
- Varuna is a naval exercise with which country? — France
- Garuda is an air exercise with which country? — France
- Hand-in-Hand is conducted with which country? — China
- Surya Kiran is a joint exercise with which neighbour? — Nepal
- Mitra Shakti is conducted with which country? — Sri Lanka
- Sampriti is a joint exercise with which country? — Bangladesh
- Ekuverin is conducted with which country? — Maldives
- Nomadic Elephant is a joint exercise with which country? — Mongolia
- Which countries take part in Exercise Malabar? — India, United States, Japan and Australia
- SIMBEX is a naval exercise with which country? — Singapore
- Al Nagah is conducted with which country? — Oman
- Sea Vigil is an exercise of which service? — The Indian Navy, a coastal defence exercise
- Vayu Shakti is conducted at which place? — Pokhran
7. How to revise this topic
Revise by country, not alphabetically by exercise name. Questions overwhelmingly give the exercise and ask for the country, but countries are the shorter list and several of them own two or three exercises each. Fixing France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Oman as clusters answers a large share of the paper in one pass.
Notice the naming pattern as a second layer. Exercises ending in EX — SLINEX, SIMBEX, JIMEX, AUSINDEX, IMBEX — are naval or service-level, and the country is usually visible inside the name itself once you look for it.
Keep the multilateral exercises and India's own domestic exercises on separate cards. They are asked as their own questions, and mixing them into the bilateral table is how Malabar ends up listed as a bilateral exercise and Sea Vigil as a joint one.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
Which countries participate in Exercise Malabar?
India, the United States, Japan and Australia. It began as an India-United States naval exercise, Japan became a permanent participant, and Australia joined later. It is associated with the Quad grouping and is the most asked exercise in this topic.
Which exercises does India conduct with France?
Three, one for each service — Varuna with the Navy, Garuda with the Air Force and Shakti with the Army. This triple is asked frequently because the three names are easy to swap.
What is the difference between Mitra Shakti and SLINEX?
Both are with Sri Lanka. Mitra Shakti is the army exercise and SLINEX is the naval one. The same pattern applies to Singapore, where Bold Kurukshetra is the army exercise and SIMBEX the naval one.
Which joint exercise does India conduct with China?
Hand-in-Hand, an army exercise. It is the only regularly asked India-China joint exercise, which makes it a reliable one-line answer.
Is Sea Vigil a joint exercise with another country?
No. Sea Vigil is India's own coastal defence exercise covering the entire coastline, not a bilateral one. TROPEX, Vayu Shakti and Gagan Shakti are similarly domestic, and papers use them as distractors in bilateral questions.
For more Static GK topics in simple language, see our Indian Defence: Army, Navy and Air Force and Important Missiles of India posts, or browse the Static GK section. Preparing for a defence exam? Start with the NDA guide or join the 100 Hour GS Course.