A U.S. Navy P8 Poseidon. New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins on May 31 said a P-8 Poseidon would be deployed to Singapore for the first time as part of the military drills undertaken by the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA).
| Photo Credit: AP

New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins on May 31 said a P-8 Poseidon would be deployed to Singapore for the first time as part of the military drills undertaken by the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), which the city-state is part of.

The FPDA is a series of bilateral defence relationships established by several multi-lateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the U.K.

Singapore is close to important submarine channels in Indonesia linking the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. The P-8 aircraft is the premier U.S. submarine hunter-tracker that is increasingly deployed in the region against China’s submarine patrols.

FPDA first took form in 1971 to safeguard the external defence of Singapore and Malaysia, amid the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore.

F-35 fighter jets from Australia and elements of the U.K.’s Carrier Strike Group are some of the next-generation capabilities that will be incorporated in future joint military drills under FPDA.

These ideas were discussed as defence representatives of the FPDA countries met for the 12th FPDA Defence Ministers’ Meeting (FDMM) in Singapore, where they agreed to include more high-end warfighting capabilities in exercises under the grouping.

The FDMM, which is the highest decision-making platform of the FPDA, is held every three years, with Singapore and Malaysia taking turns to host. This time round, the meeting is held on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, which kicked off on May 31 as well.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said his country will be contributing F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the “Bersama Lima” (Together Five) exercise to be held later this year.

The exercise is one of the regular exercises aimed at building the ability of FPDA countries to operate well together, as well as improving the proficiency of their air, maritime and land forces.

Pointing out that this will make it the first time a fifth-generation aircraft is to participate in Bersama Lima, Marles said: “It’s an example of what we are trying to do in terms of increasing the complexity of these exercises and the higher nature of them.”

It remains relevant 53 years on, as the FPDA countries see it as playing an important role as a “constructive and peaceful defence arrangement” in enhancing regional cooperation and strengthening military-to-military ties.

Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who hosted this morning’s meeting, said the FPDA will venture into building capabilities in “non-conventional” fields as well.

This comes as parties discussed the need to build capabilities in areas such as counter-terrorism, maritime security, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Malaysian Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin added.

The non-conventional needs are why future exercises intend to feature drones and unmanned aircraft, Mr. Ng said.