SHAH ALAM: Jebat in India. Frigate KD Jebat is currently in India, at the Kochi naval base to be exact, undergoing the Operational Sea Training with the Indian navy. The OST is being conducted at the Indian Navy training command.

RMN has not issued a release on Jebat’s training sojourn in India but it appears that the ship and its crew had been seconded to the Indian Navy for the FOST. This is based on the ship’s very own Twitter feed which chronicled portions of its activities there.

KD Jebat getting ready to leave Lumut for Kochi. RMN picture

Based on the tweets, Jebat left Lumut bound for Kochi on Oct. 4 and arrived at its destination six days later. Kochi is located in the southern state of Kerala.

KD Jebat being received at the Kochi naval base, the Indian Navy training command.

The next day, the ship reported that Indian Navy’s training command head, the Flag Officer Commanding In Chief Vice Adm. Anil Kumar Chawla conducted a tour of the ship prior to the handing over ceremony to the command.

Indian Navy FOST conducting a tour of Jebat. With him on the right is the Jebat CO.

Further tweets revealed that Jebat’s crew was undergoing training with the Indian Navy from simulator to a survival course. I could be wrong but the FOST undertaken by Jebat is more like a refresher course for the ship’s company compared to the training exercises conducted at RIMPAC 2018 (KD Lekiu) and Eks Kakadu (KD Kasturi). For the record, Lekiu is currently involved in Exercise Bersama Lima 2018. Kasturi has not revealed its current location though the latest posting on its official social media page indicated it was also involved in Bersama Lima.

Jebat crew in the bridge simulator at the naval base.

I am not aware of any recent FOST conducted by a RMN ship with a foreign navy at its training command. Such training courses are usually conducted at Lumut, though I stand to be corrected of course.

Jebat crew undergoing survival at sea course.

The training is likely part of the greater interaction between Malaysia and Indian military announced previously by the previous PM. Perhaps there is something extra too.

#updated with the latest info on Kasturi

— Malaysian Defence

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