India and Singapore parade their naval power next to disputed South China Sea

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<strong>The three-day annual Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) concluded today in the southern reaches of the South China Sea within international waters.</strong></p>
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Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, SIMBEX 2021 involved a virtual planning exercise followed by a 'contactless' sea phase involving ships from both navies, and aircraft from the Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).<br />
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During the exercise, the Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) executed a series of naval serials in the air, surface and underwater domains, including gunnery live-firing, replenishment-at-sea approaches, as well as manoeuvring and communication exercises.<br />
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The Indian Navy was represented by by Rajput-class Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranvijay with a Chetak helicopter embarked, a Kamorta-class corvette INS Kiltan, a Kora-class corvette INS Kora and a P-8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.<br />
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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.<br />
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Four F-16 fighters and a Fokker-50 maritime patrol aircraft from the RSAF also participated in the exercise.<br />
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First conducted in 1994, SIMBEX remains the longest-running bilateral maritime exercises for both the navies. Over the years, it has grown both in scope and complexity, expanding beyond conventional naval warfare to include elements of maritime security.<br />
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Apart from SIMBEX, the two navies interact regularly through a range of activities, including professional exchanges, staff talks, and training courses.<br />
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The 28th edition of SIMBEX was also a special occasion as it took place during the ongoing celebrations of the 75th year of India's independence.<br />
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The successful conduct of SIMBEX 2021 underscored the strong and long-standing defence ties between both the countries.<br />
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"The exercise gave us a valuable opportunity to hone our professional competencies and enhance our mutual understanding. That we were able to execute this smoothly without meeting face-to-face is testament to the good understanding that our Navies have built up over the years," said Lieutenant Colonel Carlin Song, the Commanding Officer of RSS Steadfast.<br />
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New Delhi said that India-Singapore defence relations remain a very significant aspect of the overall bilateral relationship and cover a very wide spectrum of collaboration from conventional military-to-military exchanges to HADR and cyber security.<br />
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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.</p>
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