Members of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force participated in a three-week joint exercise held in Malaysia.
Exercise Bersama Lima, which commenced on Oct. 4, saw troops from the U.K., Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand conduct combat air simulations, beach landings, jungle warfare training and coordinated naval gunfire support.
During the event, RAF’s XI (Fighter) Squadron also flew to Malaysia as part of a tri-service deployment. The squadron visited the Southeast Asian nation for the first time in 1945, after the end of the Second World War.
The nations are part of the Five Powers Defence Arrangements consultative military agreement, which aims to foster communication among member nations in case of an attack and maintain security in Southeast Asia. It was established in 1971 and since then has evolved into an Integrated Air Defence System for Malaysia and Singapore.
“Maintaining security in this region is of global significance and the U.K. detachment have integrated seamlessly with our Australasian and Southeast Asian partners to continue the development of our shared objective,” said Mark Robertson, wing and detachment commander for the Royal Air Force.