SIMBEX-2026: 33rd India-Singapore Maritime Exercise Concludes

The 33rd edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise, known as SIMBEX-2026, came to a close on 26 October 2026. The Indian Navy was the host this year and ran the drills out of Visakhapatnam on the country's eastern seaboard. The exercise pairs the Indian Navy with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and is among the longest-running naval engagements India keeps with any partner in South East Asia.

How the exercise was organised

The programme was split into two stages. The harbour stage, held in port, was built around subject matter expert exchanges, visits by sailors to each other's decks, professional interactions, planning conferences and sporting fixtures between the two crews. The sea stage followed in the Bay of Bengal, where the warships worked through maritime interdiction operations, anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare and anti-surface warfare drills, together with seamanship evolutions and cross-deck flying, in which a helicopter from one navy lands on the other navy's ship. Both stages were aimed at sharpening coordination and interoperability, that is, the ability of two fleets to operate as one at sea.

Ships and aircraft on the water

Singapore sent RSS Supreme, a Formidable-class stealth frigate, which sailed with an SH-70B helicopter embarked. India fielded the indigenously built stealth frigate INS Nilgiri and the anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kamorta. Air support came from P-8I and Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk advanced jet trainers and MH-60R helicopters.

Talks alongside the drills

Colonel Bertram Ang, Fleet Commander of the Republic of Singapore Navy, called on Rear Admiral Vishal Bishnoi, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, during the engagement. The two officers traded professional views on widening maritime cooperation between the countries and took up matters of common interest.

The Ministry of Defence described the exercise as a platform that has steadily built bilateral maritime cooperation, operational interoperability and professional contact between the two navies. It added that the drills showed the resolve of both countries to strengthen maritime security and keep the Indian Ocean Region stable.