Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
have highlighted the ongoing tensions between China and countries including the
Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, with the US also
weighing in recently with its proposals for a bigger military presence in the
region.
Both
Vietnam and Malaysia are undergoing regional military build-ups, and the
Philippines doubled its defence budget in 2011 after pledging to conduct joint
military exercises with the US. Meanwhile, Brunei has not been complacent, with
additional spending and partnerships shaping the defensive posture of both the
nation and the region for coming years.
In late
May, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took a step closer
towards establishing a formal arrangement for a regional defence industry
collaboration during the eighth ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) held in
Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The defence ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam met
to discuss regional defensive needs and future defensive cooperation and
concluded the conference by agreeing to a three-year programme.
Defence budget boost
The
meeting followed a March announcement by Second Finance Minister Pehin Dato Hj
Abdul Rahman Ibrahim that the state would propose increasing the government’s
defence budget in the 2014/15 fiscal year. The budget for the Ministry of
Defence, unanimously approved later that month by the Legislative Council, is
set to rise by 39% in this financial year to $719m. Around 45% of the budget is
earmarked for payroll, while recurring expenses represent nearly 24% of the
total.
The
largest increase however come from the 32% earmarked for “special expenditure”,
which in 2013/14 represented only 9% of the budget. Special expenditure
includes materials and equipment procurement, with the hike a clear indication
that Brunei may purchase new military equipment in 2014/15.
A Royal
Brunei Air Force (RBAF) commander was among the first to speak up about the
intended use of a budget of around $183m. RBAF Commander Pehin Major General
Dato Mohd Tawih told local media in March, “We are in the process of looking
for an aircraft. But from which particular country, you will just have to wait
for the announcement.” The commander also declined to comment on what sort of
aircraft, though the RBAF has a fleet primarily comprising helicopters.
Training programmes
The
rise in budget may also lead to an uptick in the number of personnel being
trained with the government partnering with CAE, a Canadian aviation firm, for
the construction of a pilot training centre. The CAE Brunei Multipurpose
Training Centre is expected to be complete in mid-2014 and will be a regional
destination not only for pilot training but also for professionals in
healthcare and emergency management.
The
facility will house PC7 and Blackhawk attack helicopter simulators, which will
be used by the RBAF to improve the skills of its pilots as well as the only S92
helicopter simulator in the region for training professionals from the offshore
oil and gas sector. To date, eight countries have agreed to send helicopter
pilots to train at the centre.
The
Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) conducted
their annual bilateral naval exercise in early June. Exercise Pelican, as the
operation is called, is a programme aimed at deepening the interoperability of
the fleets of the RSN and RBN involving naval and helicopter units.
Medical and disaster response
The
increased focus on military spending and operations, has also led to a medical
and disaster response component. In May, the ASEAN Chiefs of Military Medicine
Conference (ACMMC) was held in Brunei to bring together the regional
authorities in combat medicine. The ACMMC, though focused on military medicine,
took on a theme of regional cooperation.
Lieutenant
Colonel Dr Mohd Hafizul Hj Mohd Hassan, RBAF chief medical officer and ACMMC
chair, highlighted the military medical partnership among ASEAN states. “In
recent times, we have witnessed remarkable military medical collaboration
between nations in response to major disaster in the Asia-Pacific region
whether in real-time or in exercises,” he told conference attendees. In the
same month, Brunei hosted the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) in
a bid to promote regional co-operation.
With
the regions’ militaries looking to collaborate, particularly in medicine and
disaster response, which have civilian applications, regional countries appear
to be also looking towards the peace-time benefits of military build-up.
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