Navy to showcase stealth frigates, marine aircraft off coast of Singapore

The Indian Navy’s topof-the-line stealth frigates and Boeing P-8I anti-submarine and maritime reconnaissance aircraft will take part in a six-day advanced exercise with the Singapore Navy from Malacca Straits to South China Sea this month. The exercise begins on May 18 and will continue till May 24 off the coast of Singapore.

South Block sources said INS Sahyadri, armed with land attack Brahmos missiles, along with state-of-the-art Kamorta missile corvette will participate in the International Maritime Review to commemorate 50 years of the Singapore Navy.

This event will be attended by Navy Chief Sunil Lanba even as top Indian defence companies such as Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Goa Shipyard, Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited, Ordnance Factory Board, Brahmos, and Larsen and Toubro participate in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX) to explore hardware export opportunities. The review and exhibition will be held between May 15-18.

On May 18, the two Indian ships will be joined by frigate INS Shivalik, tanker INS Jyoti and P-8I aircraft for bilateral exercises in the South China Sea with Royal Singapore Navy. The Singapore Navy will also field its top ships and maritime patrol fighter aircraft like F-15s in the event.

The exercises will be aimed at the defence of the strategic Malacca Straits, which is the main ingress to South China Sea.

Expanding their naval footprint, the Indian warships will make port calls at Djakarta, Kuantan port (Malaysia), Port Moresby, Surabaya in Java and Freemantle port in Australia.

Meanwhile, three Indian warships, led by guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai have reached Haifa in Israel on a goodwill mission.