Fighter jets to ride the sky together

AFTER a 15-year hiatus, the ‘Cross Basing Exercise’ between the Royal Malay-sian Air Force (RMAF) and the Royal Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was revived during the ‘Exercise Bersama Lima 2013’.

Malaysian Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said the reintroduction of the exercise showed that the country’s military operations had grown stronger over the years.

“We have now got enough aircraft and it is a clear reflection of the maturity between both countries, which is backed by three other nations Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom under the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA),” said Zulkifeli during the exercise’s launch at the RMAF base in Butterworth, Penang, on Friday.

The mission is to exercise ‘Mutual Cross Deployment’ between the two air forces involving aircraft and personnel to Changi Air Base Ease in Singapore and Kuantan Air Base in Pahang. It will involve five Hawk Mk 208 aircraft from RMAF’s Squadron 6 and five F-16 jets from RSAF Squadron 140.

Singapore Chief Defence Force Lieutenant-General Ng Chee Meng said the exercise enabled the airmen from the two countries to interact.

“Part of the FPDA mandate is to actually have more of its members such as the soldiers, airmen and sailors interact.

“Having our pilots stay in the Kuantan air base and the Malaysian airmen in our air base in Changi, promotes people-to-people understanding and friendship,” Lt-Gen Ng said.

The ‘Exercise Bersama Lima 2013’, which will be held until Nov 21, is the first major exercise hosted by Malaysia in the FPDA’s joint programme involving air, maritime and land forces from Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and United Kingdom.

FPDA is designed to enhance regional security and foster cooperation among its member countries.

As part of the exercise, the Command Post Exercise will be held at the Butterworth Air Force Base and the Field Tactical Exercise will be carried out in South China Sea.

It will involve a total of 2,000 personnel, 68 aircraft, 10 ships and a variety of support elements from FPDA member nations.