SINGAPORE, July 13 -- Singapore and U.S. navies initiated a joint maritime warfare exercise at Changi Naval Base on Monday.

The 21st Singapore-U.S. Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise will last until July 24, according to a press release by the government.

This year's exercise focuses on honing conventional maritime warfare capabilities such as anti-air, anti-surface and anti- submarine operations, as well as maritime air and base defense operations.

The exercise will involve five ships, a submarine, a naval helicopter, a maritime patrol aircraft and fighter aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Republic of Singapore Air Force, while the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps are participating with three ships, a submarine, three naval helicopters and a maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. A total of 1,400 personnel from both countries will join the exercise.

The two countries have started the inaugural edition of the exercise in 1995. And this year, apart from a joint torpedo firing exercise, both navies will employ their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ( UAV) systems for conventional maritime warfare operations as part of Ex CARAT for the first time.

The RSN will deploy its ScanEagle UAV from the decks of the Victory-class missile corvettes RSS Vigour and RSS Valour, while the USN's FireScout UAV will be launched from the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth.