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33rd Edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise SIMBEX-2026 Begins at Visakhapatnam

21 October 2026National

The 33rd edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX-2026) began at Visakhapatnam on 21 October 2026 and runs for six days to 26 October. The opening ceremony was held aboard the Indian Navy's INS Nilgiri and INS Kamorta, with the Republic of Singapore Navy represented by RSS Supreme, a Formidable-class stealth frigate, which arrived the same day. The drill has a harbour phase at Visakhapatnam followed by a sea phase in the Bay of Bengal covering anti-submarine, anti-air and surface warfare serials. SIMBEX is India's longest uninterrupted naval exercise with any foreign navy, running since 1994.

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SIMBEX started in 1994 as 'Exercise Lion King' and was renamed SIMBEX in 2005 | INS Nilgiri is the lead ship of the Project 17A stealth frigates and INS Kamorta of the Project 28 anti-submarine warfare corvettes | India's Eastern Naval Command is headquartered at Visakhapatnam, which also hosts the Navy's Submarine Command

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