India-Malaysia Army Joint Guerilla Warfare Exercise Progressing With Full Steam

The primary aim of this exercise is to enhance interoperability between the personnel from both armies.

A joint guerilla warfare military exercise between the Indian Army and the Malaysian Army, ‘Exercise Harimau Shakti 2023,’ is progressing with full steam, covering the vast canvas of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) in sub-conventional warfare environments. The exercise, being conducted in the hilly terrains of the Foreign Training Node, located at Meghalaya’s Umroi cantonment, from October 23 this year, will conclude on November 5, 2023. The exercise encompasses a wide array of multi-domain operations in a sub-conventional environment.

The primary aim of this exercise is to enhance interoperability between the personnel from both armies. Over the past week, soldiers from both contingents have been engaged in combat conditioning and tactical training, the Indian Army said in a press release.

This training includes various elements such as firing drills, ‘battle hardening’ work sessions, and specialized jungle training. Jungle training covers activities such as hellebore operations, rock climbing, jungle survival techniques, reflex shooting, and deployment of snipers, it said.

Additionally, the soldiers have been trained in handling improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and conducting counter-IED drills as well as Army Marshal Art Routine (AMAR) techniques. The Indian contingent has also taken the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the operational procedures and drills of the Malaysian contingent, and vice versa.

The joint training would culminate in a 48-hour validation exercise which aims to rehearse and validate the tactical drills in the simulated sub-conventional warfare environment, it said.

The Command Post Exercise (CPX), a tabletop event, focused on the unit commanders' and staff officers’ abilities of operational plan formulations, was imparted in the joint military exercise. The Harimau-IV Missions are tracked on computer screens, maps and overlays, while simulated insurgent groups fight back, the release further said.

The Harimau Shakti-IV CPX has been planned on the basic concept and mandate of Chapter VII of peace enforcement. Two tactical operational events, ‘RAID,’ on the insurgent’s hideout, and cordon and search operations, were planned during three days of the exercise. The CPX involved every asset of the combat and combat support from infantry, artillery and engineers, signals and the logistics, including medical components for the planning phase, the release added.