Yudh Abhyas jungle warfare training put soldiers of the US Army's 11th Airborne Division and the Indian Army's Garhwal Rifles into the same squads at Auli this week, taking them through dense forest lanes, an indoor firing range and a rock face in the Uttarakhand hills.

Nobody trained side by side. They trained together.

Yudh Abhyas jungle warfare in mixed squads

Operating as integrated squads, Indian and American troops navigated thick vegetation, engaged targets with simulation rounds and practised combined small-unit tactics. According to the Indian Army, the drills were aimed at interoperability and at building familiarity with each other's tactics, techniques and procedures. Simulation rounds mark hits without the danger of service ammunition, which lets a squad fight its way through a lane against a live opposing force and learn from every mistake.

For the Garhwal Rifles, this is home ground. The regiment draws its soldiers from the Garhwal hills and has its Regimental Centre at Lansdowne, a few hours' drive from Auli.

The US Army contingent comes from the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division, a formation built around cold weather and mountain operations.

AK-203 on the indoor range

The contingents also trained at the recently operationalised indoor shooting range at the Foreign Training Node (FTN), Auli. Soldiers from both sides got hands-on firing experience with the India-made AK-203 assault rifle.

Built at Korwa

The AK-203 is produced at Korwa in Amethi district, Uttar Pradesh, by Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited, the joint venture set up to manufacture the rifle in India. The Indian Army's order, placed in 2021, runs to more than six lakh rifles, according to public records of the contract.

An indoor range also keeps training going when weather closes the outdoor ones, a real consideration at a hill station known for heavy winter snow.

Rappelling down the rock face

The Yudh Abhyas jungle warfare serials culminated in a joint rappelling exercise down a rock face. Indian and American soldiers went down the same ropes, sharpening the mountain warfare skills needed to operate in the rugged, high-altitude terrain around Auli, where steep ground turns every approach into a climb and every withdrawal into a descent.

Where Yudh Abhyas 2026 stands

The 22nd edition of Yudh Abhyas 2026 formally opened at Auli on 15 September, with training running at the same time at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan. The official exercise window runs until 28 September.

Earlier phases at Auli included Expert Academic Discussions and a Command Post Exercise, while Indian Army canines, Rampur Hounds among them, worked room intervention and rappelling drills alongside US troops.