Trilateral maritime exercise Malabar 2018 was conducted off the coast of Guam from June 7 through June 16.
Initiated in 1992 as an exercise between the U.S. and Indian Navy, Malabar 2018 is the 22nd rendition of the exercise and included the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), a regular participant since 2015.
The exercise accomplished maritime interoperability training objectives among the three maritime forces, emphasizing high-end war fighting skills, maritime superiority, and power projection. This is the first year that Malabar was conducted in the Guam operation area. The two-phase exercise took place ashore in Guam and underway in the Philippine Sea.
While ashore in Guam, training included subject matter expert and professional exchanges on operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, anti-submarine warfare, medical operations, damage control, helicopter operations, ship tours, and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations.