Exercise Konkan 2026 got under way at Plymouth on Thursday, when the Indian Navy's guided missile stealth frigate INS Trishul sailed into the British port to train with the Royal Navy. The India-UK bilateral maritime exercise runs off Plymouth from 8 to 15 October and is being held in two phases.

Exercise Konkan 2026 opens with a harbour phase at Plymouth

The harbour phase comes first, with professional interactions, cross-deck visits, sports fixtures and cultural engagements.

INS Trishul will also be open to visitors while alongside at Plymouth, home to Devonport, one of the Royal Navy's main operating bases.

Sea phase to cover air, surface and sub-surface drills

At sea, the two navies will train across all three domains. According to the Indian Navy, the programme includes flying operations with cross-deck landings, firing serials, air defence exercises, complex seamanship evolutions and anti-submarine exercises.

The Navy said these serials add further complexity to this edition of Konkan.

The stated aim is for both forces to exchange best practices and build the ability to operate seamlessly with each other in complex maritime scenarios. Konkan is the annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy, and the Indian Navy said it has grown in scale and complexity over the past two decades.

Exercise linked to India-UK Vision 2035

The Navy described Exercise Konkan 2026 as a reaffirmation of the shared commitment to secure, open and free seas, and as an example of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership set out in the India-UK Vision 2035.

The defence track under it has been active this year. At the 25th India-UK Defence Consultative Group meeting in New Delhi in August, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and UK Permanent Under Secretary for Defence Jeremy Pocklington agreed to expand exchanges between the two armed forces through joint exercises, training and capacity building.

INS Trishul returns to Konkan after the 2023 edition

This is not the frigate's first Konkan. INS Trishul represented India at Konkan 2023, held from 20 to 22 March 2023 off the Konkan coast in the Arabian Sea, alongside the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster. That edition included gunnery shoots and anti-submarine drills.

Last year's edition was much larger. Konkan-25 ran from 5 to 12 October 2025 off India's western coast and, for the first time, brought together the carrier strike groups of both navies. The indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant led the Indian side, while HMS Prince of Wales led the UK Carrier Strike Group, which included assets from Norway and Japan.

This year the exercise has moved to British waters.

Plymouth follows Alexandria, Toulon and Valencia on the deployment

The UK leg comes well into a deployment that has taken INS Trishul across the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic. She called at Alexandria, Egypt, from 14 to 17 September, and then reached Toulon on 22 September for the 24th edition of Exercise Varuna with the French Navy.

Off France, she exercised with the frigates Forbin and La Fayette and the nuclear attack submarine Suffren, along with NH90 helicopters and Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft.

Her last port call before Plymouth was Valencia, where a programme with the Spanish Navy began on 30 September.