Indian Army canines participate in Yudh Abhyas with the US Army (Photo: adgpi)
Bikaner: Four Indian Army dogs - Rice, Victor, Zac and Rowdy – have participated in Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026, the joint exercise between the Indian and US armies. They are demonstrating how trained military dogs support troops in specialized operations, the Army said.
As part of exchanges with the US Army, the dogs took part in drills that included room intervention and rappelling. The demonstrations let US personnel see how the dogs are trained, how agile they are and how they work alongside troops in demanding tactical situations.
Rowdy and Victor are Rampur Hounds, an Indian breed that the Army is increasingly using in military roles. Zac is a Belgian Malinois and Rice is a Labrador Retriever.
The dogs also bring experience from deployments on India's northern and eastern borders. The Rampur Hounds earlier took part in a multilateral exercise at Umroi in Meghalaya. They were later deployed along the Manipur border, where they detected improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Their siblings were deployed in the Jalandhar and Amritsar sectors during Operation Sindoor. The Army said this showed the adaptability and reliability of the breed in varied environments.
The dogs' participation in Yudh Abhyas 2026 reflects the growing role of Army dogs, particularly indigenous breeds, and the close coordination between the animals and their handlers.
Yudh Abhyas is an annual bilateral exercise between the two armies, held alternately in India and the US since 2004. The 22nd edition began with an opening ceremony at Auli in Uttarakhand on September 15 and is scheduled to end on September 28.
About 600 soldiers from each army are taking part, including troops of the US Army's 11th Airborne Division, according to the US Army.
The programme includes a brigade-level command post exercise, a field training exercise, mountain warfare and cold-weather training, counter-drone training and live-fire drills with weapons such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. Last year's edition was held at Fort Wainwright in Alaska.
