Two American destroyers, a nuclear submarine and two P3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft will likely be part of an Indo-US naval exercise off Kochi from October 5 to 10.

India will deploy ships from Brahmaputra and Godavari classes, long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft TU-142, and a Shishumar class submarine and support helicopters, an Indian Navy spokesperson said in New Delhi.

The exercise is part of the "ongoing Malabar series", he said.

The series was started sometime in the early 90s, but was called off after the US imposed military sanctions on India after the 1998 Pokhran tests.

It was resumed last year in September-October with Malabar-4 off Kochi. "Next month's exercise will be more advanced than last year's," a naval officer said.

Last year, the two navies trained on various war tactics.

The cooperation between the two navies has witnessed a major jump after the September 11, 2001, attacks. As part of the American efforts to protect sea cargo from terrorists, the two sides jointly patrolled the busy sea-lanes of communication running from Persian Gulf to Malacca Straits.

Several American warships that are in the waters around India have called on Indian ports, and recently the two navies took part in a multinational search and rescue exercise off Goa.

The Indo-US defence relation is also picking up fast, despite India's reluctance to send troops to Iraq and America's failure, according to India, to stem Pakistan's support to cross-border terrorism.

Almost every month now, there is some sort of military contact between the two sides. Special Forces from India and US are right now engaged in a joint exercise in Ladakh. The training, not far from India's borders with Pakistan and China, is being wrapped up on September 25.

During the naval exercise, India will also get to closely see the P3C Orion, one of the world's most powerful antisubmarine and maritime reconnaissance aircraft. America has offered to sell P3B Orion, older version of P3C, to India, which is interested in acquiring some eight of them. Pakistan already has P3C Orion in its kitty, provided by the US a few years back.