Fab five’s furious firepower

Volume 11, No. 56, November 16, 2006
By Cpl Mike McSweeney

BLUE and red forces battled in the waters, air and cyberspace of the South China Sea during the recent Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) exercise.

Australian Army participant WO2 Lisa Flynn said Singapore hosted Exercise Bersama Padu, which also included New Zealand, Malaysia and the UK, in September.

“It was mainly to exercise the FPDA to conduct joint operations in a multi-threat environment for the defence of Malaysia and Singapore,” WO2 Flynn said.

She said the exercise was also held to enhance interoperability and strengthen relationships between the defence forces of the FPDA nations.

“They wanted to develop the FPDA joint headquarters concept, develop lines of communications between components at a lower operational level and verify the FPDA doctrine,” she said.