India-U.S. armies begin ‘Yudh Abhyas’ with focus on technology, interoperability
The Indian Army and the United States Army began the 22nd edition of the joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas, held simultaneously at two locations for the first time: the Auli Foreign Training Node in Uttarakhand (high-altitude/mountainous terrain) and the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan (desert terrain).
Around 600 personnel from each army are participating, with the opening ceremony at Auli represented by senior officers from both sides.
The exercise emphasises technology infusion — including training on drones and autonomous systems for surveillance and reconnaissance — alongside interoperability in command, communications, fire support, logistics, and multi-domain operational procedures.
For the first time in India, the US-origin Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS) is being used during the exercise, allowing both armies to train jointly on detecting, tracking, and neutralising small drone threats.
Exercise Yudh Abhyas and India-US Defence Cooperation
Yudh Abhyas is an annual bilateral army-to-army exercise between India and the United States, first held in 2004, originally focused on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in a UN peacekeeping framework and since evolved to cover conventional, high-altitude, and multi-domain warfare training at brigade level. It is one of several institutionalised India-US bilateral military exercises that together span all three services, reflecting the deepening defence partnership formalised through agreements like LEMOA (2016), COMCASA (2018), and BECA (2020).
Key Details
- Yudh Abhyas began in 2004; the 2026 edition is the 22nd, and the first to be conducted simultaneously across two terrain types (Himalayan and desert) within a single exercise cycle.
- The previous edition (2025) was hosted in Alaska, USA, alternating annually between India and the US.
- Other major India-US bilateral/multilateral exercises: Malabar (naval, with Japan and Australia since 2015), Cope India (air force), Tiger Triumph (tri-service amphibious/HADR).
The 2026 edition's dual-terrain, technology-heavy format reflects the deepening scope of India-US defence engagement beyond its original counter-terrorism mandate into contemporary priorities like drone warfare and multi-domain operations.
Counter-Drone Systems and Internal Security
The proliferation of small, low-cost unmanned aerial systems for surveillance, smuggling, and attack roles (seen along India's borders and in recent regional conflicts) has made counter-drone or counter-UAS capability a priority for both internal security and conventional military planning. Systems like the US-origin M-LIDS integrate radar, electro-optical/infrared sensors, and both soft-kill (jamming) and hard-kill (interceptor) options to detect, track, and neutralise small drone threats, a capability India has been building indigenously (e.g., DRDO's D4 anti-drone system) alongside exposure to foreign systems through such exercises.
Key Details
- M-LIDS (Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System) is a US Army counter-UAS platform; this is its first deployment in a joint exercise on Indian soil.
- India's indigenous counter-drone effort includes DRDO's D4 (Drone Detect, Deter and Destroy) system, developed for VVIP security and border applications.
- Cross-border drone incursions (for arms/narcotics smuggling and surveillance) along the India-Pakistan border have elevated counter-UAS as a border-management and internal-security priority.
Joint training on M-LIDS gives Indian forces direct exposure to an operational US counter-drone system, relevant to India's own efforts to secure borders against small-drone threats.
Integrated Battle Groups and Multi-Domain Operations
An Integrated Battle Group (IBG) is a reorganised, self-contained combat formation — smaller and more agile than a traditional division — combining infantry, armour, artillery, and support elements under unified command for rapid, terrain-specific mobilisation, a concept the Indian Army has been operationalising as part of force restructuring along both the northern (China) and western (Pakistan) fronts. Multi-domain operations extend joint warfighting across land, air, sea, cyber, and space domains simultaneously, an evolving doctrinal priority for major militaries including India's.
Key Details
- IBGs are terrain- and threat-specific (mountain, desert, plains variants), a restructuring initiative distinct from the older division-based formations.
- The 2026 Yudh Abhyas exercise objective explicitly cites "employment of Integrated Battle Groups in mountainous and semi-mountainous terrain."
- Multi-domain warfare integrates conventional forces with cyber, space, and information domains, reflected in the exercise's subject-matter-expert exchanges on emerging technologies.
Conducting the exercise across both Himalayan (Auli) and desert (Mahajan) terrain allows joint validation of IBG employment concepts relevant to India's two principal land-border theatres.
- Yudh Abhyas 2026 is the 22nd edition, held from 15 September 2026, at Auli (Uttarakhand) and Mahajan Field Firing Ranges (Rajasthan) simultaneously — a first for the exercise.
- Approximately 600 personnel from each of the Indian and US armies are participating.
- The exercise series began in 2004, originally with a UN peacekeeping/counter-terrorism focus.
- M-LIDS (counter-small-drone system) is being used in India for the first time during this edition.
- Other India-US bilateral exercises for comparison: Malabar (navy, since 1992, later joined by Japan 2015 and Australia 2020), Cope India (air force, since 2004), Tiger Triumph (tri-service HADR, since 2019).