INS Sahyadri Reaches Japan for Exercise Malabar 2026: India Joins the US, Japan and Australia at Sea
The Indian Navy's warship INS Sahyadri reached Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on November 4, 2026, to take part in the multilateral (many-country) naval exercise MALABAR 2026.
The exercise runs from November 5 to 12, 2026, in the sea area south of the Kanto region on Honshu, Japan's main island. Japan is the host this year.
Four navies take part: India, the United States, Japan and Australia. These are the same four countries that make up the Quad.
The exercise has two parts. The harbour phase covers professional talks and joint planning. The sea phase brings the ships together for drills in anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and a joint photo exercise.
Other units include Japan's helicopter destroyer JS Ise, frigate JS Mogami, a submarine and a P-1 patrol aircraft; Australia's frigate HMAS Stuart and a P-8A aircraft; and a US amphibious transport dock with a P-8A aircraft.
INS Sahyadri is an Indian-built Shivalik-class stealth frigate of the Eastern Fleet. Before Malabar, it also took part in Exercise INDRA 2026 with Russia at Vladivostok and other exercises in the region.
Exercise Malabar
Exercise Malabar is a regular naval war exercise between the navies of India, the United States, Japan and Australia. Their warships, submarines and aircraft train together at sea, so that they can work as one team if a crisis comes. It began in 1992 as a small India-US exercise and has grown into one of the most important naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific. It takes its name from the Malabar Coast of Kerala, where the first edition was held.
MALABAR 2026 is the latest edition of this four-nation exercise, hosted by Japan south of the Kanto region. India's frigate INS Sahyadri is training with Japanese, Australian and US ships in anti-submarine and anti-surface drills. It shows India's continued sea partnership with the other three Quad countries in the Pacific.
The Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)
The Quad is a group of four democracies: India, the United States, Japan and Australia. They meet regularly to work together for a "free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific". It is a diplomatic partnership, not a military alliance. It has no headquarters, no treaty and no promise that one member will defend another.
The four navies at MALABAR 2026 are exactly the four Quad members. While the Quad itself works on diplomacy, technology and maritime awareness, Malabar is where their navies actually practise together at sea.
Warship Classification: Frigates, Destroyers, and Corvettes
Navies sort their fighting ships into classes such as corvettes, frigates and destroyers, mainly by size and by the jobs they do. A corvette is small and works mostly near the coast. A frigate is medium-sized and often specialises in hunting submarines and escorting other ships. A destroyer is larger, with more weapons and a stronger air-defence role. INS Sahyadri, India's ship at Malabar 2026, is a frigate.
A frigate like INS Sahyadri is well suited to an exercise focused on anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. By sending an Indian-built stealth frigate on a long Pacific deployment, the Navy also shows the reach of its indigenous shipbuilding.
- MALABAR 2026: November 5 to 12, 2026, south of the Kanto region, Honshu, Japan
- Participants: India, the United States, Japan and Australia
- Indian ship: INS Sahyadri (F49), Shivalik-class stealth frigate, Eastern Fleet; reached Yokosuka on November 4, 2026
- Focus areas: anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, joint photo exercise
- Japan's units: JS Ise (helicopter destroyer), JS Mogami (frigate), a submarine, P-1 aircraft
- Australia's units: HMAS Stuart (frigate), RAAF P-8A; US: amphibious transport dock, P-8A
- Malabar began in 1992 (India-US); Japan permanent since 2015; Australia rejoined in 2020
- INS Sahyadri commissioned 21 July 2012; built by Mazagon Dock, Mumbai, under Project 17