7th edition of Sangam exercise begins in Goa

Tags: Defence

The 7th edition of Exercise Sangam, a joint Naval Special Forces exercise between Indian Navy MARCOs and US Navy SEALs commenced from 1 Dec 22 at Goa. 

Important facts

• Exercise Sangam was first conducted in 1994 and is an important military and diplomatic initiative between the two nations, reflective of the trust and friendship between them.

• The present edition will see personnel from SEAL Team Five based at San Diego, USA and Indian Navy MARCOs from INS Abhimanyu. 

• It aims to exchange ideas and experiences on various aspects of Maritime Special Operations.

• A joint exercise among US SEALs, MARCOs and other participating nations’ Naval Special Forces is held annually as part of Exercise Malabar. 

• The Sangam exercise is a bilateral exercise purely between the US and Indian Special Forces.

• The exercise will be for a duration of three weeks, in which the personnel will be trained in Maritime Interdiction Operations, Direct Action Missions, Combat Free Fall Jumps, Special Heliborne Operations and other skill drills.

What are Indian Navy MARCOs?

• MARCOS was raised in the year of 1985 as the Indian Maritime Special Force (IMSF).

• 2 Years later, MARCOS were renamed as the Marine Commando Force (MCF) with the deadliest motto “The Few The Fearless”.