Bikaner: Four Indian Army dogs—Rice, Victor, Zac, and Rowdy—are participating in Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026, a joint military exercise with the US Army. These dogs are demonstrating their role in supporting troops during specialized operations, as reported by the Army.
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As part of the exercise, the dogs engaged in drills, including room intervention and rappelling, allowing US personnel to observe their training, agility, and teamwork in challenging tactical situations. Rowdy and Victor are Rampur Hounds, an Indian breed increasingly used in military roles, while Zac is a Belgian Malinois and Rice is a Labrador Retriever.
The dogs come with experience from deployments along India's northern and eastern borders. The Rampur Hounds previously participated in a multilateral exercise in Umroi, Meghalaya, and were later deployed along the Manipur border to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Other siblings have served in the Jalandhar and Amritsar sectors during Operation Sindoor, showcasing the breed's adaptability in various environments.
Their involvement in Yudh Abhyas 2026 underscores the growing significance of Army dogs, particularly indigenous breeds, and reflects the close coordination between the dogs and their handlers. Yudh Abhyas is an annual bilateral exercise that has been conducted alternately in India and the US since 2004. The 22nd edition of the exercise commenced with an opening ceremony in Auli, Uttarakhand, on September 15 and is set to conclude on September 28.
Around 600 soldiers from both armies are participating, including troops from the US Army's 11th Airborne Division. The program features a brigade-level command post exercise, a field training exercise, mountain warfare training, cold-weather training, counter-drone training, and live-fire drills using equipment like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. The previous year's exercise took place at Fort Wainwright in Alaska.