PUBLISHED ONSeptember 24, 2026 12:33 PMBYSean LerThe Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday (Sept 24) participated in a Five-Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) hosted by the Malaysian Armed Forces in Kuantan, Pahang.
In a news release on Thursday evening, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said the exercise builds the trust and confidence needed to strengthen interoperability and enhance the countries' ability to conduct combined operations.
Codenamed Exercise Suman Warrior, and now in its 34th edition, this year's land-focused exercise was held from Sept 14 to 24 at the Joint Warfare Centre.
MINDEF said about 150 participants from FPDA member countries — Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK — took part in a brigade command post exercise.
"The exercise focused on conventional operations and provided opportunities for participants to exercise command decision-making and staff procedures within a combined operations mission context."
Singapore's 18-man delegation was led by Senior Lieutenant Colonel (NS) Lim Kim Soon, who is the 3rd Singapore Infantry Brigade's chief-of-staff.
"The SAF's participation in XSW reflects our continued commitment to working closely with our partners to promote regional cooperation and professional exchange," he said.
FPDA is a collective defence agreement established in 1971 after British forces withdrew from the 'East of Suez', and is intended to safeguard the defence of Singapore and Malaysia.
It is characterised by regular exercises to ensure inter-operability, while also looking at ways to do more to counter emerging security threats.
Other FPDA exercises which the SAF participates in includes Exercise Bersama Lima and Exercise Bersama Shield.
Such exercises, MINDEF said, allows the SAF to demonstrate its continued commitment to contributing constructively to the regional security architecture.
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