Singapore, Brunei conclude 6-day bilateral naval exercise
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SINGAPORE - 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 of the 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 the exercise has been held since it began in 1979.
Exercise Pelican is an annual exercise that enhances mutual cooperation, understanding and interoperability between the navies of Singapore and Brunei, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.
It underscores the close and long-standing 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, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) Fleet Commander Rear-Admiral (RADM) Sean Wat and Royal Brunei Navy (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 from its inception.
"Both navies have derived good value from Exercise Pelican, and the exercise has remained a cornerstone of our bilateral relations," he added.
Commenting on the significance of Exercise Pelican, Captain Khairil said: "Ex Pelican to me is a living proof of RBN and RSN's relationship and remarkable friendship.
"Exercise Pelican has evolved to a complex warfare serial, in which this year for the series of Exercise Pelican will include the participation of F-16 fighters from the Republic of Singapore Air Force."
This year's exercise also involved the RSAF's Fokker-50 maritime patrol aircraft, 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 Philippines Sea with no physical interaction between sailors from both navies due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
