Joint Minex Pandu ends
The six-day bilateral diving drills called Joijt Minex Pandu between Indonesian and Singaporean navies concluded on May 19.
More than 200 sailors from both sides participated in the exercise to enhance mine-hunting, clearance diving techniques, and shipboarding skills. The exercise focused on simulated mine threats, diving operations, and live gunnery firing, the Singaporean defense ministry said.
Singapore’s Maritime Security Task Force Deputy Commander, Colonel Chan Yeng Seng, Michael-John said the drills demonstrated the strong bilateral friendship between TNI AL and the RSN.
“Our navies engage each other in many areas and across multiple levels,” Colonel Chan said. “It is through the many years of working closely together, and strong friendships that we have built, that allow us to have a high level of mutual trust and interoperability.”
Singapore lifts grounding of F16 fighters
Singapore’s defense ministry has lifted the grounding of its fleet of F16 fighters after an aircraft on a training flight crashed in an air base early this month.
The defense ministry said investigators have found an explanation as to why the F16 crashed on May 8. It said the plane’s pitch rate gyroscopes gave the flight control computer erroneous inputs.
Singapore has a fleet of 60 F-16C/D fighters, including one that crashed.
The F16 crash was the first one for Singapore since 2004, when an F-16C went down during a night training mission in the U.S. state of Arizona, killing the 25-year-old pilot, according to local media.
Indonesia gets its fifth C-130J-30 transport
American aircraft maker Lockheed Martin has delivered its fifth and final C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport to the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU), boosting the heavy-lift capability of the Southeast Asian state.
The Indonesian defense ministry said the five new Super Hercules would enhance the Indonesian Air Force’s humanitarian capability to deliver relief to its remote islands affected by disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Three aircraft were delivered in 2023, while the fourth came in early 2024, the defense ministry.
The Indonesian Air Force operates about a dozen C-130B, C-130H, and civilian-standard L-100 aircraft. It also has nine refurbished C-130Hs transferred from Australia after the latter retired its fleet in favor of the C-130J in 2012.
Golden Dragon drills begin in Cambodia
Phnom Penh – Cambodia and its main ally China began 15-day military exercises as Beijing flexes its muscle in the Southeast Asian region.
More than 2,000 Cambodian and Chinese military were involved in the regular “Golden Dragon” ground and sea maneuvers. Three Chinese and 11 Cambodian ships also participated in the most extensive military drills in the Southeast Asian country.
However, Washington and other Western states have been increasingly worried over China’s involvement in building a new pier at the Ream base, which could become a major Chinese naval base at a strategically important location on the Gulf of Thailand.
The Golden Dragon exercises were held regularly when Cambodia canceled similar exercises with the United States, known as Angkor Sentinel.
Cambodia is China’s closest ally in Southeast Asia, while China is Cambodia’s most important ally and benefactor, with a strong influence on its economy.