Article Posted on : - Nov 23, 2020

The warships of Indian and Singapore navies during the SIMBEX 2019 maritime drill. Photo: Singapore MoD website

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Navy will host the 27th edition of the India-Singapore bilateral maritime exercise SIMBEX-20 from Monday to Wednesday in the Andaman sea, an official statement said on Sunday.

"The 2020 edition of SIMBEX will witness participation by Indian Navy ships including destroyer Rana with integral Chetak helicopter and indigenously built corvettes Kamorta and Karmuk," the Navy said in the statement.

In addition, Indian Navy's submarine Sindhuraj and P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft will also participate in the exercise, it said.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) will be represented by the Formidable-class frigates Intrepid and Steadfast with S70B helicopter and Endurance-class landing ship tank Endeavour in the exercise, the statement said.

The SIMBEX series of exercises between the Indian Navy and the RSN have been conducted annually since 1994 and they are aimed at enhancing mutual interoperability and imbibing best practices from each other, the statement said.

The 2020 exercise is being conducted as a 'non-contact, at sea only' exercise in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.