SINGAPORE – The five countries in the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) will be putting up a flypast and a naval vessel display off Marina South on Monday (Oct 18) to mark the pact’s golden jubilee this year.
The defence pact, established in 1971, involves Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Britain.
The commemoration will come at the end of Exercise Bersama Gold 2021, a two-week field training event featuring about 2,600 troops from the five nations, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Thursday.
Among the highlights were a “contactless” maritime drill in the southern parts of the South China Sea in international waters, anti-air and anti-submarine exercises, gunnery firings and manoeuvring drills.
The FPDA’s 50th anniversary display will be live-streamed on Mindef’s social media platforms on Monday at noon.
The display over the waters off Marina South will feature assets from the five nations, added Mindef.
The flypast will start with planes from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) flying in a delta formation.
Fighter aircraft, maritime patrol planes and helicopters from the five countries will then perform a combined flypast.
Finally, the RSAF’s F-16 and F-15SG aircraft will put up an aerial salute to commemorate 50 years of friendship and close defence ties among the FPDA nations.
The naval vessel display will feature Australia’s HMAS Canberra, Malaysia’s KD Lekiu, New Zealand’s HMNZS Aotearoa, Singapore’s RSS Steadfast and Britain’s HMS Diamond.
