In news– The 28th edition of Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) was held in South China sea from 02 to 04 Sep 21.
SIMBEX exercise-2021-
- In the current edition, Indian Navy was represented by Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranvijay with a ship borne helicopter, ASW Corvette INS Kiltan and Guided Missile Corvette INS Kora and one P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
- Participants from the RSN included one Formidable Class Frigate, RSS Steadfast, embarked with an S-70B naval helicopter, one Victory Class Missile Corvette, RSS Vigour, one Archer Class Submarine and one Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
- Four F-16 fighter aircraft of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) also participated in the exercise during the Air Defence Drills.
- Owing to the ongoing pandemic-related constraints, this year’s SIMBEX was planned without any physical interactions as an ‘at-sea only’ exercise hosted by the RSN in the southern fringes of the South China Sea.
About the exercise
- SIMBEX is an annual bilateral naval exercise conducted by the Indian Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
- Initiated in 1994, SIMBEX is the Indian Navy’s longest uninterrupted bilateral maritime exercise with any foreign navy.
- India-Singapore Defence relations cover a very wide spectrum of collaboration from conventional military-to-military exchanges to HADR and cyber security.
- Both navies have a representation in each other’s Maritime Information Fusion Centres and have also recently signed an agreement on mutual submarine rescue support and coordination.
Source: PIB
