Military Drills: Drones, fifth-generation fighter planes, and surveillance aircraft will all be used in the region this year as part of increasingly sophisticated military exercises that Australia, Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore have decided to conduct.
On the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum in Singapore on Friday, defense ministers from members of the 53-year-old Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) made the statement. Tensions between major countries are rising along with the frequency of military drills in Asia.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles stated, “We are increasing the assets that we are bringing to bear in exercises so (at) Bersama Lima later this year, Australia will be contributing F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the first time.”
Every year, the five powers conduct a military drill known as Bersama Lima, which translates to “Five Together” in Malay. Last year, Malaysia hosted it.
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According to Reuters, Marles stated that implementing increasingly complex exercises was an indication of the FPDA’s growing aspirations. As part of the exercises, Judith Collins, the minister of defense for New Zealand, announced that a P-8 Poseidon would be sent to Singapore for the first time.
As the top U.S. submarine hunter-tracker, the P-8 is being used more frequently in the area to counter China’s submarine patrols.
Important undersea routes that connect the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea are located close to Singapore in Indonesia.
The FPDA, according to Marles, is “not about China,” but rather “our desire to work closely together.” Drones and other “non-conventional” components would be included in this year’s drills, according to Malaysia’s Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
Director general for security policy Paul Wyatt, a spokesman of the United Kingdom, stated that the country had explored integrating the tour with the FPDA’s drill schedule and that the country planned to send an aircraft carrier to the area in 2025.
