Singapore and Brunei conclude six-day bilateral naval exercise
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The Singapore and Brunei navies have concluded their flagship bilateral exercise, which involved the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) F-16 fighter jets for the first time.
Two F-16s took part in air defence drills as part of Exercise Pelican, which was held from Monday to Saturday.
This was the 40th time that the exercise has been held since it began in 1979.
Exercise Pelican enhances mutual cooperation, understanding and interoperability between the navies of Singapore and Brunei, Singapore's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.
It underscores the close and longstanding defence ties between the countries, Mindef added.
During the exercise, the navies conducted a range of training activities from Thursday to Friday, including gunnery firing, air defence, manoeuvring and communication drills within international waters in the southern reaches of the South China Sea.
On Monday, the Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) fleet commander, Rear-Admiral Sean Wat, and the Royal Brunei Navy's (RBN) fleet commander, Captain Khairil Haji Abdul Rahman, co-officiated the opening ceremony of Exercise Pelican at Changi Naval Base, where they jointly unveiled a commemorative logo for the exercise's 40th edition.
In his opening remarks, RADM Wat said the exercise has come a long way since its inception.
"Both navies have derived good value from Exercise Pelican, and the exercise has remained a cornerstone of our bilateral relations," he said.
Commenting on the significance of Exercise Pelican, Captain Khairil said it is "living proof of RBN and RSN's relationship and remarkable friendship", adding that the exercise has evolved into a complex warfare serial.
This year's exercise also involved the RSAF's Fokker-50 maritime patrol aircraft, the RSN's Formidable-class frigate RSS Formidable and Victory-class missile corvette RSS Vigilance, as well as Brunei's Darussalam-class patrol vessel KDB Darussalam and Ijtihad-class fast patrol boat KDB Syafaat.
The last edition of the exercise, held in July 2020, was conducted in the Philippine Sea with no physical interaction between sailors from both navies due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
