VISAKHAPATNAM, India —  Indian and U.S. armed forces kicked off the inaugural Exercise Tiger TRIUMPH here today with the arrival of USS Germantown (LSD 42).

“Military collaboration between India and the United States is a result of growing, high-level trust and consistent effort to broaden the ways in which we can work together,” said U.S. Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster.

Tiger TRIUMPH, which stands for Tri-Services India U.S. Amphibious Exercise, is scheduled from November 13 to 21, near Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, India. The training events will enhance U.S.-India military-to-military relations and hone individual and small-unit skills in humanitarian assistance and disaster response.The exercise will include staff-planning events as well as field training that simulates moving a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief force from ship to shore. Training like this builds the capacity of both the U.S. and Indian participants, while improving their ability to operate together.

“Exercise Tiger TRIUMPH gives us the opportunity for professional and cultural exchanges at all levels that expand common ground and demonstrate the strength of the U.S.-India relationship,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dana Demer, Special Purpose Marine-Air Ground Task Force Commander. “We look forward to continued cooperation and engagement as both our nations pursue our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Our respective capable forces will continue to ensure this vision is a reality.”

More than 500 U.S. Marines and sailors, and about 1,200 Indian soldiers, sailors, and airmen will participate in the nine-day exercise, which will also include the INS Jalashwa (L41) and Germantown. Additionally, U.S. and Indian forces will embark their counterparts’ ships during the transit from Visakhapatnam to Kakinada to become familiar with each other’s procedures and techniques. The underway period will include visit, board, search, and seizure training, live-fire drills, ship maneuvers, and landings by Indian helicopters on the Germantown’s flight deck. “In addition to hosting exercises like Tiger TRIUMPH, this region of India has become a hub of U.S.-Indian defense manufacturing and joint innovation,” said Consul General Joel Reifman. “The U.S.-India defense partnership is clearly strong, and getting stronger.”