May 22, 2024 |
SOUTHEAST ASIA ROUNDUP

 

By API Desk | Date 05-22-2024

 

Joint Minex Pandu ends

 

The six-day bilateral diving drills called Joijt Minex Pandu between the Indonesian Navy  (TNI AL) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) concluded on May 19. 

 

The drill, designed to counter underwater threats, saw over 200 sailors train to enhance mine-hunting,  clearance diving techniques, and shipboarding skills. Singapore’s defense ministry, in a statement, said the exercise also included live gunnery firing.

 

The defense ministry added that RSN’s other exercise with TNI AL, Exercise Eagly Indopura, is the longest-running bilateral exercise their armed forces have with a foreign counterpart. 

 

The RSN’s two Bedok-class Mine Countermeasure Vessels – RSS Bedok and RSS Punggol – and personnel from the Naval Diving Unit took part in the drills. TNI AL sent a dive team and two Pulau Fani-class Minehunters – KRI Pulau Fani and KRI Pulau Fanildo.

 

Singapore lifts grounding of F16 fighters

 

Singapore’s defense ministry has lifted the grounding of its remaining 59 F16 fighters fleet following the investigation of the training aircraft that crashed in an airbase in early May.

 

The investigation found the plane’s pitch rate gyroscopes gave the flight control computer erroneous inputs, which prevented the pilot from controlling the plane at take-off. The pilot ejected from the cockpit.

 

The defense ministry said that all pitch rate gyroscopes will be checked before clearing any flights and the aircraft’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, will look into the specific cause of the malfunction. 

 

This was the first F16 crash since 2004. The first crash claimed the life of the pilot during a night training mission in Arizona, USA, according to a local media report. 

 

 

Indonesia gets its fifth C-130J-30 transport

 

The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) has finally received its fifth and final  C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport from American aircraft maker Lockheed Martin. 

 

The Super Hercules will be used to boost TNI-AU’s disaster relief efforts in remote islands in case of volcanic eruptions, floods, and earthquakes. 

 

The aircraft was acquired through a Direct Commercial Sale contract with Lockheed Martin. The first batch was delivered in 2023, and the fourth aircraft arrived earlier this year.

 

The Indonesian Air Force operates about a dozen C-130B, C-130H, and civilian-standard L-100 aircraft. TNI-AU 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

Cambodia and its main ally China began 15-day military exercises, the most extensive military drill in the Southeast Asian country. 

 

More than 2,000 Cambodian and Chinese military — including three Chinese and 11 Cambodian ships — were involved in the regular “Golden Dragon” ground and sea maneuvers. 

 

Cambodian Armed Forces Chief General Vong Pisen said China has also provided new equipment and helped to upgrade military facilities, including the Ream Naval Base, a move that worries Washington and other Western states as it could become a major Chinese naval base.

 

Vong Pisen insisted that its constitution prohibits the deployment of foreign military forces in its territory. The defense ministry said that two Chinese corvettes were just “testing” the pier and were there to participate in the second phase of the Golden Dragon exercises, which includes maritime maneuvers near Ream base. 

 

The Golden Dragon succeeded the Angkor Sentinel, a canceled military exercise that Cambodia used to hold with the United States.