Military Exercises of India – Static GK / General Awareness for Competitive Exams (with Memory Tricks)

Introduction

Joint Military Exercises of India are structured military drills conducted domestically, bilaterally, or multilaterally to enhance combat skills, interoperability, counter-terrorism capability, and disaster response.

These exercises are frequently asked in SSC CGL, UPSC Prelims, NDA/CDS, IBPS PO, Railways, and State PCS, often as match-the-following, statement-based, or one-liner questions.

Classification of Indian Military Exercises (Exam Logic)

1️⃣ Domestic Military Exercises of India

Conducted within India to enhance inter-service or intra-service preparedness.

Why asked in exams?
Domestic exercises test command preparedness and terrain-specific warfare.

2️⃣ Bilateral Military Exercises of India (Country-Wise)

Indian Army – Bilateral Exercises

Indian Navy – Bilateral Exercises

Indian Air Force – Bilateral Exercises

3️⃣ Multilateral Military Exercises of India

Why important?
Multilateral drills test interoperability & strategic alignment.

2025–2026 Important Joint Military Exercises (Current Affairs + Static GK)

Sticky Memory Zone (Mnemonics for Fast Recall)

Mnemonic 1 – India–USA Exercises
👉 “YUVa Red”

• Yudh Abhyas
• Vajra Prahar
• Red Flag

Mnemonic 2 – India–France (All Forces)
👉 “G-V-S”

• Garuda (Air)
• Varuna (Navy)
• Shakti (Army)

Mnemonic 3 – Navy Big Three
👉 “MVS”

• MALABAR
• Varuna
• SIMBEX

Don’t Confuse These Exercises

• Don’t confuse Garuda (IAF) with Garuda Shakti (Army, India–Indonesia)
• Don’t confuse INDRA (Tri-service) with INDRA Navy
• Don’t confuse MALABAR (Naval, multilateral) with MILAN (Mega naval)
• Don’t confuse Red Flag (USA) with Blue Flag (Israel)

Key Exam-Oriented Features

• Most repeated in UPSC: MALABAR, INDRA, Yudh Abhyas
• SSC favourites: Match exercises with countries
• Defence exams: Focus on service-wise classification
• Banking exams: One-liner + country pairing

Important One-Liners for SSC / Banking / UPSC Prelims

• MALABAR is a naval multilateral exercise.
• Yudh Abhyas is an India–USA Army exercise.
• Garuda is conducted by Indian Air Force.
• Varuna is India–France Naval exercise.
• INDRA is a Tri-service India–Russia drill.
• SIMBEX is conducted with Singapore.
• Dharma Guardian involves Japan.
• Surya Kiran is with Nepal.
• Nomadic Elephant is with Mongolia.
• Red Flag is hosted by USA.

Previous Year Questions (PYQ) Analysis

• Match the following: Exercise – Country (SSC, Railways)
• Statement-based: Nature of exercise (UPSC Prelims)
• One-liner: Force conducting the exercise (Banking)

Quick-Summary Table (High-Yield for Exams)