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I'm not sure I buy that line of thinking. I've done some searches and all have come back with similar answers.
TIFWIW
Naval vessels generally do not go completely unarmed during training exercises or joint drills, nor do they simply hide all weapons in internal storage. Instead, they operate under a mixed approach where weapons are kept on board—often in a ready-to-use state—but are controlled, secured, or configured differently depending on the specific drill.
The exercise in question required ships not to carry any ammunition. Normally, the Dena carries various missiles and guns, including anti-ship missiles. Because the U.S. also took part, it would have been aware that the Dena was unarmed. Former Indian Foreign Minister Kanwal Sibal accused the attack of being “premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise.”
