UPSC CSE 2026 Essay Paper Discussion

India, U.S. armies commence Bilateral exercise Yudh Abhyas

Why in News?

The Indian and US armies commenced the 22nd edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas, scheduled from September 9-28, 2026, at Bikaner, Rajasthan, and Auli, Uttarakhand. The exercise features the deployment of an advanced US counter-drone system to India.

UPSC Relevance: GS-2 International Relations: Bilateral Relations 

Prelims: India-US: Bilateral defence and security exercise 

About Yudh Abhyas: 

  • Nature: Annual bilateral Army exercise between India and the United States.
  • Objective: Improve interoperability, i.e, the ability of both armies to communicate, plan and operate together and exchange operational experience.
  • Training: Includes a command-post exercise, field training and a combined live-fire demonstration.
  • Technology focus:
    • Integration of long-range precision firepower, rocket systems and command-and-control networks.
    • Introduce the Mobile Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (MLIDS), designed to counter threats from small and low-flying drones.

India-US Bilateral Defence and Security Exercises: 

UPSC PYQ 2024:

Q. Which of the following statements about ‘Exercise Mitra Shakti-2023’ are correct?

1. This was a joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh.

2. It commenced in Aundh (Pune). 

3. Joint response during counter-terrorism operations was a goal of this operation.

4. Indian Air Force was a part of this exercise

Select the answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 1, 2 and 4

(c) 1, 3 and 4

(d) 2, 3 and 4

Answer: (d)

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Pooja Bhatt Ma'am

Editor — UPSC Content · Anantam IAS

Pooja Bhatt is part of the editorial team at Anantam IAS, writing and editing UPSC prep content across Prelims, Mains and current affairs.

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