New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS): Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) ships Varyag, Admiral Panteleyev and Boris Butoma on Sunday arrived at Visakhapatnam to participate in INDRA NAVY, the bilateral maritime exercise with Indian Navy.

The 10th edition of the exercise will be conducted from December 9-16.

The primary aim of the exercise, which was initiated in 2003, is to increase inter-operability amongst the two navies, develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations, as per a release.

This edition of the exercise would be held in two phases.

The Harbour Phase would be held at Visakhapatnam from December 9-12, which "would encompass planning conferences, professional interactions, cultural visits, sports fixtures and formal calls between flag officers/senior officers of participating navies".

The Sea Phase from December 13-16 would be conducted in the Bay of Bengal.

"The thrust of exercises at sea would be on anti-submarine warfare (ASW), air defence drills, surface firings, visit board search and seizure (VBSS) operations and tactical procedures," adds the release.

During exercise INDRA NAVY-18, the Indian Navy would be represented by INS Ranvir, a guided missile destroyer, INS Satpura, an indigenous frigate, INS Kadmatt, an indigenous anti-submarine warfare corvette, IN Ships Kuthar and Khanjar both indigenous missile corvettes and INS Jyoti, a fleet tanker.

In addition, one Sindhughosh class submarine, Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk fighter aircraft and other integral rotary wing helicopters would be taking part in the exercise.

The Indian Navy interacts with Russian Federation Navy on many fronts, which include operational interactions, training, hydrographic cooperation and exchange of subject matter experts in various fields through the medium of Navy-to-Navy Staff Talks, as per the release.

"Exercise INDRA NAVY-18 would help to further strengthen mutual confidence and inter-operability and also enable sharing of best practices between both the navies. The exercise will be yet another milestone in strengthening maritime security cooperation between the two navies and will serve to reinforce the long-standing bond of friendship between the countries," stated the release.