India and Singapore open SIMBEX naval drills at Visakhapatnam with anti-submarine warfare at the core

The navies of India and Singapore opened the 33rd edition of their annual bilateral exercise, SIMBEX, at the Indian port of Visakhapatnam on Wednesday 21 October, the Indian Navy announced. The six-day drill runs until 26 October and, according to the navy, puts anti-submarine warfare at the centre of its sea phase in the Bay of Bengal.

The exercise began after the Republic of Singapore Navy frigate RSS Supreme arrived at Visakhapatnam earlier on Wednesday, both The Tribune and TFIPOST reported. An opening ceremony was held on board two Indian Navy warships, INS Nilgiri and INS Kamorta.

TFIPOST said the ceremony was attended by the Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of India's Eastern Naval Command and by the Fleet Commander of the Republic of Singapore Navy, together with other senior officers from both services.

SIMBEX-2026 is split into two phases. The harbour phase at Visakhapatnam, from 21 to 23 October, covers professional interactions, subject matter expert exchanges, cross-deck visits, planning conferences and sporting events between the two crews, according to both outlets.

The sea phase follows from 24 to 26 October in the Bay of Bengal. The Indian Navy said it will include maritime operations and tactical exercises such as anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface and anti-air warfare drills, seamanship evolutions and tactical manoeuvres, The Tribune reported.

The Indian Navy described the exercise as a reaffirmation of the long-standing maritime partnership between the two countries and of their shared aim of improving interoperability, tackling common maritime security challenges and supporting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, according to The Tribune.

The series began in 1994 under the name Exercise Lion King and has since grown in scope and complexity into a significant bilateral engagement between the two navies, the paper noted. The 2024 edition was also staged at Visakhapatnam, with its sea phase off the port and in the Bay of Bengal.

That 2024 round, held from 24 to 29 October, gives a sense of the scale involved. Singapore's defence ministry said at the time that its navy sent the Formidable-class frigate RSS Tenacious with an embarked S-70B Seahawk helicopter, while India fielded the frigate INS Shivalik with an MH-60R Seahawk, a Sindhughosh-class submarine, a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and two MiG-29K fighters.

During that exercise the two navies held expert exchanges on submarine rescue and maritime air operations, then carried out gunnery firings, air defence and anti-submarine warfare serials at sea before ending with a sail-past, the ministry said. Neither navy has yet published a full list of the ships, submarines and aircraft taking part in this year's sea phase.

The start of SIMBEX coincided with the end of another Indian Navy drill. The navy said its trilateral IBSAMAR exercise with Brazil and South Africa had concluded in South Africa after ten days of harbour and sea activities, The Tribune reported, with crews from the three navies taking part in professional exchanges and joint training during the harbour and sea phases.