Bilateral Exercise SIMBEX-17 between Indian & Republic Of Singapore Navy Commences

The 24th bilateral exercise involving Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy has commenced in South China Sea. SIMBEX stands for “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises“. The exercise will be held from May 18, 2017 to May 24, 2017.
This edition of the bilateral exercise aims at increasing the interoperability among the two navies as well as developing a common understanding and procedures among the two navies for maritime security operations. The major thrust of the exercise will lie on Anti-Submarine Operations (ASN), integrated operations with Surface, Air and Sub-surface Forces, Air Defence and Surface Encounter Exercises.
The exercise would be conducted into two phases-the Harbour Phase and the Sea Phase. The Indian Navy will be represented by Indian Naval Ships Shivalik, Sahyadri, Jyoti and Kamorta, one P8-I Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft. INS Sahyadri and INS Shivalik are both multi-role stealth frigates. INS Kamorta is an indigenous Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette. lNS Jyoti is the fleet replenishment tanker. P 8I Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft is a long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti- Submarine (LRMRASW) aircraft.
The Singapore Navy will be represented by naval ships Supreme, Formidable and Victory, Maritime Patrol Aircraft Fokker F50 as well as RSAF F-16 aircraft.

Background

The Indian & Republic of Singapore Navy began participating in the bilateral exercises in 1994. Since then the two navies share a long standing relationship with regular professional interactions that include exchange programs, staff talks and training courses. The earlier edition of the bilateral exercise, SIMBEX-16 was held  at Visakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017