THE ADF has participated in Exercise Flying Fish 2003 (FF03) –
a large-scale operational and tactical military exercise involving
five countries – held in Malaysia and Singapore.
Operating out of Royal Malaysian Air Force Bases Butterworth and
Kuantan, P-3 Orion crews from No. 92 Wing, F-A/18 Hornet crews
from No. 77 Squadron and personnel from No. 114 Mobile Control
and Reporting Unit made up the deployed RAAF contingent.
Members of 92WG Detachment A and No. 324 Combat Support Squadron,
permanently located at Butterworth, also provided support to the
exercise held from June 9-July 9.
Organised under the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) between
Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom,
more than 4000 personnel participated in the annual exercise –
the most complex conducted since the FPDA’s inception 30
years ago – which included 66 aircraft from 18 different
flying squadrons, 27 ships, four diving teams, a British Army
commando unit and ground-based air defence units.
FF03 was the first time a full credible scenario was produced
in an FPDA exercise, with a fictitious Red nation established
using two islands in the South China Sea, off the Peninsular Malaysia.
The inclusion of land and logistic components added to the realism
of the scenario, which also included for the first time an operational
level of warfare as well as a tactical level.
At the closing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, the Commander Integrated
Area Defence System, Air Vice-Marshal Roxley McLennan, said FF03
had succeeded in “catapulting FPDA into the future”.
All participating nations agreed that the exercise had been a
big success, and as a result, future FPDA exercises will also
be run at the operational level.
The combination of tactical training for individual units and
challenging operational level training for commanders will ensure
FDPA continues to provide advanced, rewarding exercises globally
into the future.
The first FPDA exercise for 2004 will be Bersama Shield.
