Tiger Triumph 2025’s drills and exchanges have laid the groundwork for more intensive Indian-U.S. military exercises in 2026 and beyond.
Indian and American forces culminated Tiger Triumph 2025 with a large-scale amphibious landing drill on the beaches of Kakinada last Friday in the latest military exercise between Washington and Delhi in the Indian Ocean Region.
“Every year this exercise builds on the previous one and breaks new ground,” said U.S. Consul General of Hyderabad Jennifer Larson in a press statement on Tiger Triumph 2025.
2025’s iteration of Tiger Triumph—standing for the Tri-Services India U.S. Amphibious Exercise—brought together a myriad of forces from across the Indian and U.S. Armed Forces for two weeks of activities. Alongside the U.S. Marines, notable participants in the joint force at the amphibious operation included the Indian Army’s 91st Infantry Brigade, the U.S. Army’s Alaskan-based 11th Airborne Division, a Multi-Doman Task Force coordination cell, INS Jalashwa (L41), and USS Comstock (LSD 45).
While both Indian and American press releases of Tiger Triumph stressed the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief focus of the exercise, Marine Corps LAV-25s and Indian Army BMP-2s practiced securing the beachhead. According to a U.S. Pacific Fleet release, the activity “represented a humanitarian assistance and disaster response scenario” following a “notional natural disaster.”
Indian and U.S. Air Force C-130s simulated supply drops while ground elements prepared a field hospital and supply point for humanitarian efforts.
Rear Adm. Greg Newkirk, Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70 and lead for U.S. joint forces participating in the exercise, highlighted the coordination between Indian and American forces that was achieved during Tiger Triumph.
“The Tiger Triumph 2025 beach landing is the result of substantial gains in our level of integration with the Indian Armed Forces at all levels of the joint forces, and in all domains, as well as wringing out effective combined C2. It highlights the very real strength of two highly professional forces coming together, placing a high premium on interoperability, to achieve a complex objective that only militaries can bring to bear,” said Newkirk
USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), INS Mumbai (D62), INS Gharial (L23), INS Shakti (A57) and P-8 maritime patrol aircraft also participated in the drills.
A Central Command-based U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessel unit, Task Force 59, was also present in exchanges with Indian forces at this year’s iteration. A U.S. Navy press release highlighted their maiden subject matter exchange with Indian industry and defense officials on autonomous systems and further claimed that these discussions would lead to the “greater integration of autonomous systems into Tiger Triumph 2026 and other U.S.-India exercises.”
U.S. Space Forces-Indo-Pacific also attended the drills to discuss bilateral uses of satellite data in military operations. “During Tiger Triumph, I’m talking with my Indian counterparts about the ways we could use this approach in crisis response planning to ensure mission success,” said Maj. David Amiel.
Tiger Triumph 2025 is the fourth iteration of the bilateral exercise series, which began in 2019 under a logistics memorandum of agreement. Since then, the drills have grown to become the premier Indian-U.S. Marine and naval engagement. Washington and New Delhi have deepened their defense cooperation amid Beijing’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean Region.
Last year’s iteration was among the most intensive bilateral exchanges to date, with multiple warships, bomber aircraft, and other forces participating in the Bay of Bengal. Other combined engagements focused on relevant regional challenges, as seen in the anti-drone drills in 2024’s Sea Defender Coast Guard exercise.
