AUSTRAHIND 2026 HADR drills have brought the Indian Navy and Kerala Fire and Rescue Services into the joint exercise between the Indian Army and the Australian Army, with troops now training in sea and air insertion along the Kerala coast.

The 14-day exercise began on 19 October and concludes on Sunday.

The Indian contingent is drawn from The Garhwal Rifles. Australia has fielded troops from its 13th Infantry Brigade. According to the Indian Army, the first stage of training covered jungle, island and coastal terrain, with physical conditioning and tactical drills forming the base for everything that followed.

Troops move from jungle drills to sea and air insertion

The training has since moved up to maritime and air operations.

Troops are now carrying out sea insertion drills, coming ashore from the water, and air insertion drills, landing by helicopter. The Army said the aim is to improve coordinated induction, tactical manoeuvring and mission execution in difficult operational settings.

AUSTRAHIND 2026 HADR drills add Navy and Kerala fire services

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) forms the other main strand of the current phase.

Rescue operations, casualty evacuation and coordinated emergency response are part of the drills, according to the Army. The Indian Navy and Kerala Fire and Rescue Services are taking part in this segment, which the Army said reinforces joint preparedness for complex contingencies. Kerala Fire and Rescue Services is the state government's civil emergency agency, so the drills place a civilian responder alongside soldiers from two countries.

Inter-agency coordination listed as a stated aim

The AUSTRAHIND 2026 HADR drills are meant to strengthen inter-agency coordination and joint operational capabilities, the Army said. Kerala has seen this kind of cooperation in practice. During the 2018 floods, the Army, the Navy and the state fire services carried out rescues side by side across the state.

Fifth edition held at the Foreign Training Node in Thiruvananthapuram

This is the fifth edition of AUSTRAHIND. It began at the Foreign Training Node in Thiruvananthapuram with around 120 personnel from each army, and an observer delegation from New Zealand is attending for the first time.

Earlier in the exercise, troops trained in combat swimming, drone manoeuvring and counter-terrorism drills. Australian High Commissioner Philip Green visited the troops in Thiruvananthapuram during the first week.

Amphibious focus agreed at the Defence Ministers' Dialogue

The fourth edition was held at Irwin Barracks in Perth from 13 to 26 October 2025. It involved 120 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Gorkha Rifles, who spent two weeks training with Australia's 13th Brigade. That edition focused on company-level operations in open and semi-desert terrain.

The move to coastal and amphibious work follows a direction set at ministerial level. The joint statement from the second India-Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue in June noted that AUSTRAHIND has moved towards amphibious combat and littoral manoeuvre.

The same statement provided for expanded Indian participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre, the biennial Australia-United States exercise, in 2027.