India and US gear up for upcoming 2026 edition of joint military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas"

New Delhi: The 22nd edition of the premier annual Army exercise between India and the United States, Yudh Abhyas, will be held soon, the US Embassy in India announced on Tuesday.

This comes as the United States and India continue to deepen their defence alignment as Yudh Abhyas, a flagship bilateral military exercise sponsored by US Army Pacific, which has entered over two decades of operational history.

The US Embassy, in a post on X, teased the upcoming 2026 iteration of the exercise and highlighted the role of the joint exercise in reinforcing the US-India Major Defense Partnership.



"Since 2004, Yudh Abhyas, a U.S. Army Pacific-sponsored bilateral exercise with the Indian Army, has enhanced combined interoperability and strengthened the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific," the post read.

Notably, last year, the 21st edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas, comprising 450 personnel led by a battalion of the Madras Regiment training alongside US soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment ("Bobcats"), has become one of the largest bilateral military exercises for the Indian Army in terms of troops mobilised, a press release said.

The 21st edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas, the premier annual Army exercise between India and the United States, commenced on September 1 at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and will continue through September 14, as per an official statement by the Embassy of India in Washington.

The statement highlighted that the Indian Army contingent, comprising 450 personnel led by a battalion of the Madras Regiment, arrived in Fairbanks on August 31. They are training alongside US soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment ("Bobcats"), part of the 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Arctic Wolves), 11th Airborne Division.

The statement further highlighted that the 2025 edition is one of the largest bilateral military exercises for the Indian Army in terms of troops mobilised. The edition emphasises five areas, namely- mountain and high-altitude operations under sub-arctic conditions; heliborne and air-mobility integration, backed by artillery and aviation assets; electronic warfare, surveillance, and counter-drone systems; medical evacuation and combat casualty care in field conditions and live-fire tactical drills to validate seamless interoperability.

Since its inception in 2002 as a platoon-level exercise, Yudh Abhyas has expanded greatly both in scope and participation. Past editions have explored diverse terrains such as high-altitude warfare in India's Auli and Chaubattia; desert manoeuvres in Rajasthan; urban and cold-environment training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Alaska.

The statement noted that Yudh Abhyas stands as a flagship, high-complexity Army-to-Army exercise. It has become one of the cornerstones of India-US military cooperation. India conducts more military exercises with the US than with any other country. These exercises, including Yudh Abhyas, Malabar, COPE India, Vajra Prahar, Tiger Triumph and several others, are central to building interoperability and forging mutual trust. It demonstrates how the two democracies continue to work towards peace, security and prosperity, including in the Indo-Pacific region.