INS Rana and INS Sumedha undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with French Navyship Surcouf, in Bay of Bengal on 30 June 2023. French Navy’s La Fayette class frigate Surcouf visited Visakhapatnam from 26 – 29 June 2023 and participated in a variety of activities with Indian Navy ships which included professional and social interactions, sports fixtures and cross deck visits. On departure from Visakhapatnam, FS Surcouf undertook various exercises with IN ships Rana and Sumedha, which included tactical manoeuvres, RAS approaches, air defence against fighter aircraft and cross deck helicopter operations. MPX culminated with a customary farewell steampast between ships reaffirming close friendship between two navies. The visit of FS Surcouf to India signifies strong navy-to-navy links, interoperability and strong bonds between Indian Navy and French Navy. Earlier, this year, FS La Fayette, a frigate and FS Dixmude had participated in an MPX with INS Sahyadri from 10 - 11 Mar 2023.
