New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS): A month-long naval exercise put to test the combat readiness of the Navy, the IAF and the Army with over 45 ships and 70 aircraft taking part, it was announced on Sunday.

The Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (Tropex) started on January 24 and concluded on February 23. It was conducted along the Western seaboard. 

"The exercise provided an apt-opportunity to test the combat capabilities... and strengthened inter-operability and joint operations in complex conflict situation," an official statement said. 

Tropex, in complete coordination with the Army and the Indian Air Force, took place in phases to test the various facets of war-fighting and joint combat capabilities of the armed forces. 

"The 2017 edition of Tropex included the conduct of largescale 'Out of Area Contingency' in island territory, which saw participation of all three services and their special forces," the statement said. 

"The interaction of the forces helped validate operational war fighting concepts and provided valuable lessons to sharpen combat skills." 

The previous edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2015.