Meanwhile, five inflatable high speed `Geminis', launched from two submarines, race towards the shore as commandos leap ashore, firing from automatic weapons. Army commandos slither down ropes thrown down three Mi-8 helicopters which cluter from across the bay.

The final phase of a massive two-day amphibious assault, dubbed `Triamph-98' (for tri-service amphibious assault), showcasing the abilities of the armed forces to capture hostile coastline, concluded here on Tuesday afternoon.

Today's exercise reflects the recent stream of thought in the armed forces. ``The fighting capabilities of the future will involve the use of assets of the three services under integrated direction and command,'' Defence Minister GeorgeFernandes had told the armed forces combined conference last month.

On the beach, three different types of Naval Landing Craft, ships with ramps on their bows, hit the beach, disgorging their compliment of Army troops, Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs).

Under the overall command of the navy, a major participant with some 30 warships, an equal number of aircraft and four submarines, Triamph-98 included the Indian Army, Air Force and Coast Guard. It comprised over 1,000 troops from the army's Mountain Division, and paracommandos, Air Force MiG-21's and Jaguars, transport helicopters and Coast Guard aircraft, including Dorniers and Chetak helicopters and patrol vessels.

``These are the largest amphibious operations this decade,'' Vice-Admiral Madhvendra Singh, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Western Naval Command told newspersons.

Originally planned to be held off the Gujarat coast, the operation, which involved using the three services to jointly plan and develop closely integrated operations byamphibious assault against enemy-held coastal areas, was shifted further South after apprehension that it would raise tensions in the neighbourhood.

``Amphibious operations offer the highest level of planning and execution followed by logistics in a joint oepration,'' Chief of naval staff Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat told newspersons amidst the din of action on the beach.

``They are the foremost examples of combined arms working only when local air and sea superiority has been established.''

An amphibious operation is defined as an assault from the sea onto a hostile shore. The Allied landings on Normandy in 1944 and in Korea a decade later are the best examples of such operations, which involve masses of troops, ships and aircraft.

The Indian Navy, which has the capability to `lift' a brigade of 1,200 troops and vehicles, has conducted such operations in the past off Junagadh in 1948, Goa in 1961 and Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar in 1971.

Here's the rather exciting script for Triamph, which pits twoneighbours in the classic Blue Force-Red Force (good and bad) tactical wargame scenario. In this case, the identity of the neighbour isn't hard to guess. Several Indian `Red Force' aircraft, warships and submarines simulated their equivalents in the Pakistani armed forces, `attacking' the Blue Force in the last two days. IAF Jaguar's simulating Pakistani Mirage-V's are `shot down' by Sea Harriers defending the carrier Viraat.

The Red Force has already been launching `attacks' on Blue Force merchant ships, with aircraft and a missile battery. Today's Blue Force attack was to storm these enemy installations situated near the beach and link up with forces from another land-based attack. The good guys won, of course, but it has reinforced some important lessons. ``It is imperative for a country of our size and stature to keep such a capability intact,'' Major General J J Singh said.