25th edition of SIMBEX, an acronym for Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise was held 10-21 November 2018 off the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. Bilateral cooperation between Singapore and India began in 1994 when RSN ships began training with the Indian Navy. This has in recent years evolved into a complex high stakes exercise with both nations attaching premium in terms of time, complex advanced exercises and type of platforms involved.
In marking the Silver Jubilee of SIMBEX, both navies undertook exercises over an extended geographical span. The Indian Navy was represented by the Ranvir-class destroyer INS Ranvijay, two Project 17 multirole stealth frigates INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, the Project 28 ASW corvette INS Kadmatt, the Project 25A missile corvettes INS Kirch, the OPVs INS Sumedha and INS Sukanya, the Fleet Support Ship INS Shakti, a Sindhughosh-Class submarine, INS Sindhukirti, the P-8(I) LRMP/ASW aircraft from INAS 312, Dornier 228 MPAs from INAS 311, Hawk AJTs from INAS 551 and integral helicopters such as the UH-3H, Seaking Mk.42B, Seaking 42C and Chetak utility helicopters.
Dr Ng Eng Hen, Defence Minister of Singapore was present during the SIMBEX 18, hosted by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff of Indian Navy who welcomed Rear Admiral Lew Chuen Hong, Chief of the Singapore Navy (RSN) and officials from Defence Ministries of both the nations who accompanied Singapore’s Defence Minister.
In June 2018, on the side-lines of the Shangrila Dialogue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore signed numerous agreements including those under the ‘Defence and Strategic Partnership Sectors’.
Both counters agreed to undertake continuous and institutionalised naval engagements in their shared maritime space including establishing maritime exercises with like-minded regional / ASEAN partners. The Prime Ministers of both countries had commended the armed forces for maintaining a high level of annual exercises, goodwill visits and professional exchanges. The previous edition of the exercise was held off Singapore in the South China Sea in May 2017. The Republic of Singapore Navy was represented by two Formidable-Class stealth frigates, RSS Formidable and RSS Steadfast, one Littoral Mission Vessel, RSS Unity, two Missile Corvettes, RSS Vigour and RSS Valiant, an Archer class submarine, RSS Swordsman, ‘Swift Rescue’ a Deep Sea Rescue Vehicle (DSRV), a Fokker F.50 maritime reconnaissance aircraft, embarked S-70B helicopters and Scan Eagle unmanned aerial systems.