Bersama Shield: UK military completes first of two major east Asia exercises

UK military personnel have joined allies for the first of two major exercises this year in East Asia. 

Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Tamar, a Royal Marines boarding team and RAF personnel all took part in Exercise Bersama Shield off the coast of Malaysia.

The two-week exercise is in support of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) – a set of defensive arrangements where Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK work together to enhance the defence of Malaysia and Singapore.

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The training saw a joint naval task group work on surface and anti-air techniques, plus live-firing drills.

Tamar worked closely with Singapore's RSS Valour and Malaysia's KD Selangor, while Malaysian fast attack craft played the role of the enemy during training to defend against attacks.

HMS Tamar, the fourth of the Navy's five new Offshore Patrol Vessels, is on a five-year deployment to the Indo Pacific alongside her sister ship HMS Spey. 

RAF personnel supported the aerial element of Exercise Bersama Shield, providing logistics, intelligence, communications and flight operations expertise.

A Royal Marines boarding team from 42 Commando were deployed to work closely with their counterparts from Singapore and Malaysia. 

The second FPDA exercise – Exercise Suman Protector – will be hosted by Singapore in the autumn. 

Signed in 1971, the FPDA is southeast Asia's only collective security arrangement.

The FPDA exercise programme has widened to include annual joint military exercises, co-operation on countering terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.