The Indian Army and the United States Army opened the 22nd edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026 at Auli in Uttarakhand on 15 September 2026, with parallel live fire training at the Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner in Rajasthan. Around 600 soldiers from each side, or about 1,200 personnel in total, are training together for two weeks until 28 September. The exercise links desert fires in Rajasthan with high altitude warfare near the Himalayas in a single edition for the first time.
What Is Yudh Abhyas?
Yudh Abhyas is the annual bilateral Army to Army exercise between India and the United States. The name Yudh Abhyas means preparing for war in Hindi, and the exercise is designed to improve the ability of the Indian Army and the US Army to operate together in real combat conditions.
The exercise began in 2004 as a small counter insurgency training exchange and was sponsored by the US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army command responsible for the Indo Pacific region. It started at platoon level with a focus on peacekeeping and counter insurgency. Over the years it has grown into a brigade level exercise that includes a Command Post Exercise (CPX), which is a staff planning drill without full troop movement, and a Field Training Exercise (FTX), which involves actual troops, vehicles and live firing on the ground.
Yudh Abhyas alternates every year between India and the United States. The Indian editions have been held at places such as Auli and Chaubattia in Uttarakhand and the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan. The US editions have been held mostly in Alaska at Fort Wainwright, Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson and the Yukon and Donnelly training areas. The exercise now covers conventional warfare, mountain warfare, heliborne operations, artillery fire, aviation, electronic warfare, cyber and space awareness, counter drone operations and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), which refers to military help during natural disasters.
Yudh Abhyas Exercise Between Which Countries?
Yudh Abhyas is a joint military exercise between the Indian Army and the United States Army. The Indian Army represents India and the US Army represents the United States in this annual bilateral drill. The 2026 edition is the 22nd meeting of these two land forces under this exercise series.
Yudh Abhyas 2026 Location, Dates and Troop Strength
Yudh Abhyas 2026 is the 22nd edition of the series. The exercise is being held in India from 9 September to 28 September 2026. The formal opening ceremony took place at Auli on 15 September 2026 and was addressed by Major General Amaresh Gunjan of the Indian Army 14 Infantry Division and Colonel Ben Jackman of the US Army 1st Mobile Brigade Combat Team. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 28 September 2026.
The 2026 edition is being held in two states at the same time. Training is underway at the Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner in Rajasthan and at the Foreign Training Node in Auli in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Auli is a high altitude station at about 2,500 metres above sea level and lies roughly 95 kilometres from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. Mahajan is a large desert range used for artillery, air defence and armoured firing.
Each side has deployed about 600 personnel, taking total participation to about 1,200 soldiers. This matches the scale of the 20th edition in 2024, which was the largest till then. The two theatre format is new for Yudh Abhyas. The same contingents first practise desert warfare and live firing in Rajasthan and then shift to mountain warfare, acclimatisation, cold weather survival and high altitude logistics in Uttarakhand.
Who Is Participating in Yudh Abhyas 2026?
The Indian Army contingent is represented by an infantry battalion of the Rajput Regiment, one of the oldest infantry regiments of the Indian Army. The Rajput Regiment traces its lineage to the British Indian Army and its soldiers are known for service in conventional infantry operations in plains, deserts and mountains. In 2026 the battalion is training under officers of the 14 Infantry Division for mountain operations at Auli.
The United States contingent features soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division, nicknamed the Arctic Angels. The division is headquartered at Fort Wainwright in Alaska and specialises in cold weather, airborne and high altitude operations. Its 1st Mobile Brigade Combat Team, led in this exercise by Colonel Ben Jackman, forms the main US ground element. These troops are trained to fight in snow, extreme cold and thin air, so their skills match the conditions at Auli.
The United States has also fielded elements of the 3rd Multi Domain Task Force (3MDTF). A Multi Domain Task Force is a modern US Army formation that combines long range fires, air and missile defence, intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare and space support in a single command. The 3MDTF operates under the US Army Pacific and is designed for operations across land, air, sea, space and cyberspace. Its presence shows that Yudh Abhyas 2026 is testing not only infantry drills but also modern networked warfare.
The exercise is being conducted under the Operation Pathways framework. Operation Pathways is the campaigning framework of the US Army Pacific under which the United States links more than 30 to 50 bilateral and multilateral exercises across 25 countries of the Indo Pacific into one connected annual cycle. The idea is to keep American land forces forward deployed west of the International Date Line, practise rapid movement from exercise to crisis response, and build permanent working habits with partner armies. Yudh Abhyas serves as the India leg of this wider network.
What Training Is Being Conducted in Yudh Abhyas 2026?
The stated aim of Yudh Abhyas 2026 is to improve the joint capability of the two armies in using Integrated Battle Groups in mountainous and semi mountainous terrain, with emphasis on infantry dominated operations. An Integrated Battle Group is a compact combat formation that combines infantry, artillery, air defence, engineers, signals and logistics under one commander so that it can fight independently for a short period. At Auli, training focuses on mountain warfare, cold weather operations, counter drone drills, expert academic discussions and a brigade level command post exercise. At Mahajan, the focus shifts to live firing and technology demonstration.
Technology infusion is a central theme this year. Troops are practising the use of drones and autonomous systems for surveillance and reconnaissance. They are also training against hostile drones through Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (C UAS) drills, which teach soldiers to detect, jam and destroy small enemy drones. At Auli, Indian and US soldiers carried out a counter terrorism building clearance and room intervention drill with support from drones, robotic dogs, sniffer canines and snipers. This drill recreated close quarter fighting inside buildings, where small teams must clear rooms one by one with precise coordination.
At the Mahajan Field Firing Range, live fire exercises include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), the Stinger short range air defence missile and the Mobile Low Slow Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (M LIDS). HIMARS is a US truck mounted rocket launcher that can fire precision rockets at long distances. Stinger is a shoulder fired missile that targets low flying aircraft and helicopters. M LIDS is a vehicle mounted system that detects and disables small slow flying drones. Training on these systems side by side helps Indian and US crews understand each other firing procedures, safety drills and communication methods.
Yudh Abhyas: Edition History and Recent Editions
Yudh Abhyas started in 2004 in its present Army to Army form. Some records trace early exchanges to 2002, when the contact began as a platoon level peacekeeping drill, and the formal annual series took shape from 2004. The exercise has been held every year since then, alternating between India and the United States, and the 2026 edition is the 22nd in the series.
| Edition | Year | Venue | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16th | February 2021 | Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan | Desert manoeuvres in India |
| 17th | October 2021 | Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska | About 350 personnel each side in cold conditions |
| 18th | November to December 2022 | Auli, Uttarakhand | US 11th Airborne Division with Assam Regiment, focus on HADR |
| 19th | 2023 | Fort Wainwright, Alaska | Sub arctic and mountain training in the US |
| 20th | 9 to 24 September 2024 | Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan | Largest till then with 600 soldiers each side, HIMARS and Stryker vehicles, counter terrorism and attack helicopter drills |
| 21st | 1 to 14 September 2025 | Fort Wainwright and Yukon Training Area, Alaska | Around 450 Indian personnel led by Madras Regiment with US 1st Battalion 5th Infantry Regiment, brigade command post and field training in sub arctic terrain |
| 22nd | 9 to 28 September 2026 | Auli, Uttarakhand and Mahajan, Rajasthan | Two theatre format, Rajput Regiment with 11th Airborne Division and 3MDTF, focus on high altitude warfare, long range fires and counter drone operations |
The 2024 edition in Rajasthan focused on counter terrorism, artillery and heavy machine gun firing, and operations of attack helicopters such as Apache, Prachand and Rudra. The 2025 edition in Alaska focused on joint planning at brigade and battalion level, sniper and reconnaissance training, counter improvised explosive device drills, combat medical training and combined tactical validation in adverse weather. The 2026 edition builds on both by combining desert live fires with Himalayan mountain warfare in one cycle.
Strategic Significance for India and the United States
For India, Auli provides training ground that closely matches the Himalayan border where the Army has maintained heavy deployment since the eastern Ladakh standoff that began in 2020. High altitude logistics, acclimatisation routines, air mobility and infantry tactics practised at Auli can be directly applied to mountain sectors. Live firing at Mahajan at the same time allows the same troops to practise precision rocket fire, air defence coordination and drone defence in open desert terrain.
For the United States, the exercise strengthens the Major Defence Partnership with India and supports the goal of a free and open Indo Pacific. Alaska based Arctic trained troops gain experience in Himalayan heights, while the 3MDTF tests how its long range fires, sensors and command networks work with an Indian formation. The Operation Pathways link also means that lessons from Yudh Abhyas feed into other American exercises across the Indo Pacific, from Japan to the Philippines and Malaysia.
Other Key India US Joint Military Exercises
Yudh Abhyas is the Army to Army exercise, but India and the United States hold separate drills for special forces, tri services and air forces. These exercises together form the backbone of military to military cooperation between the two countries.
| Exercise | Forces Involved | Nature of Drill |
|---|---|---|
| Vajra Prahar | Indian Army Special Forces and US Army Green Berets | Annual special forces drill held alternately in India and the US, focused on counter terrorism, sniping, close air support and joint raids |
| Tiger Triumph | Indian Army, Navy and Air Force with US Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force | Tri services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise, first held in 2019 off the east coast of India |
| Cope India | Indian Air Force and US Air Force | Air combat exercise involving fighter jets, transport aircraft and airborne warning systems |
| Malabar | Indian Navy with US, Japanese and Australian navies | Naval exercise of the Quad grouping, focused on anti submarine warfare, carrier operations and maritime security |
Vajra Prahar and Tiger Triumph have seen rising interest in the 2025 to 2026 cycle, with Vajra Prahar drawing attention for special forces training in the United States and Tiger Triumph for large tri services HADR operations. Yudh Abhyas remains the largest regular ground forces exercise between the two countries.
Key Takeaways
- The 22nd edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026 is being held from 9 to 28 September 2026 at Auli in Uttarakhand and Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner in Rajasthan.
- Yudh Abhyas is an annual bilateral exercise between the Indian Army and the United States Army that began in 2004 and alternates between India and the United States.
- The Indian contingent is represented by the Rajput Regiment, while the US contingent includes the 11th Airborne Division Arctic Angels and the 3rd Multi Domain Task Force.
- The exercise is conducted under the Operation Pathways framework of the US Army Pacific and involves about 600 personnel from each side.
- Live fire drills at Mahajan feature HIMARS rockets, Stinger missiles and the M LIDS counter drone system, while Auli focuses on high altitude warfare and counter terrorism drills.
