The 22nd edition of the India-US joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas opened on Tuesday with a ceremony at Auli in Uttarakhand, marking the start of a drill that is unusually being run simultaneously across two locations separated by more than 1,000 kilometres and diversity of terrain.While the bulk of the exercise unfolds at Auli, at an altitude of roughly 10,000 feet in Chamoli district, a parallel leg is simultaneously under way at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan.The split-site format allows the two armies to train across sharply contrasting terrain— mountainous high altitude conditions in Uttarakhand alongside the plains and ranges of Rajasthan —preparing forces for “varied terrain and operational environment.”The contingents number 600 personnel from each side.At Auli, the focus is on infantry-dominated operations in high-altitude and mountainous terrain, built around the employment of Integrated Battle Groups. The drills there run from September 15 and include long-range precision firing and tactics to counter drones, culminating in a combined live-fire demonstration by both armies.Roughly 1,000 kilometres away at Mahajan, the emphasis shifts to technology: demonstrations of contemporary weapon systems and the employment of drones and autonomous systems for surveillance and reconnaissance. Subject-matter experts from both armies are also using the Rajasthan leg to exchange views on emerging technologies and developments in multi-domain warfare.Conducting the exercise at both sites at the same time lets the two armies rehearse a wider set of capabilities in a single iteration than either location could support alone — high-altitude infantry manoeuvre at Auli running in parallel with precision-fires and counter-drone work at Mahajan — while still operating under one combined command framework.A centrepiece of this year’s exercise is what the US Army has described as the digital integration of American and Indian long-range and precision-fire and rocket systems, to be showcased in the culminating live-fire demonstration at Auli. Officials also say this iteration marks the first-ever deployment to India of advanced counter-drone systems, as both armies work to adapt to emerging battlefield threats.Beyond the hardware, the exercise is meant to strengthen interoperability between the two armies, facilitate the exchange of best operational practices, and reinforce joint planning and execution — objectives that the two-site design is intended to test simultaneously across different operational environments rather than sequentially in one.