Royal Brunei Navy

This article is about the Royal Navy of Brunei. For other Royal Navies, see Royal Navy (disambiguation).
Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei
Active 14 June 1965
Country Brunei
Branch Navy
Part of Royal Brunei Armed Forces
Commanders
Current
commander		 First Admiral Pg Dato Seri Pahlawan Norazmi Pg Hj Muhammad
Insignia
Naval Ensign

The Royal Brunei Navy (Malay: Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei, abbreviated TLDB) is the naval defence force of Brunei Darussalam. It is a small but relatively well-equipped force whose main responsibility is to conduct search and rescue missions and to deter and defend the Brunei waters against attack mounted by sea-borne forces.[1]

The Royal Brunei Navy was established on 14 June 1965, the second unit created after The Royal Brunei Armed Forces. The RBN is based in Muara, which is situated 4 km from Muara Town with the majority of the crews being Malays. Since 1977, The Royal Brunei Navy has been equipped with missile gun boats and other coastal patrol craft. All the ships names are prefixed KDB as in Kapal Diraja Brunei (Royal Brunei Ship in Malay). The Royal Brunei Navy has been commanded by First Admiral Pg Dato Seri Pahlawan Norazmi Pg Hj Muhammad since 13 March 2015.[1]

History

The Royal Brunei Navy was formed on 14 June 1965, four years after the formation of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. It was initially known as Boat Section of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. Its strength was only 18 in number, including one officer from the First Battalion who had attended a basic military course in Malaya in 1961 until 1964. This Boat Section was equipped with a number of aluminium boats, known as Temuai in Malay and Fast Assault Boats (FABs).[2] The role of the Boat Section was solely to provide transportation of infantry elements to the interior of Brunei. As the organisation expanded with the aid of stable economic growth, the Boat Section was renamed the Boat Company in 1966.[2]

The Boat Company received 3 river patrol boats in 1966. These boats were named KDB Bendahara, KDB Maharajalela and KDB Kermaindera. All the ships were crewed by Bruneians, led by a qualified commanding officer. In the same year, the strength of the Boat Company was enhanced with hovercraft vessels type SR.N5, followed by SR.N6 in 1968.[3]

The first fast patrol craft was accepted in 1968 and named KDB Pahlawan. It became the first flagship for the Boat Company.[3]

The Boat Company was reorganised as Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei (ALP AMDB or the First Sea Battalion, Royal Brunei Malay Regiment in Malay). It was one of the larger branches of Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei. During that time, the estimated strength of Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei was 42 personnel including an officer, while assets consisted of one fast patrol craft, 3 river patrol boats, 2 hovercraft vessels, fast assault boats, a few long boats and Temuai (aluminium boats).[4]

In 1971, Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei received two more coastal patrol craft, KDB Saleha and KDB Masna.[5]

Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei was reorganised again on 1 October 1991 as the Royal Brunei Navy due to the growth of the armed forces in Brunei after independence from the United Kingdom.[6]

Roles and organisation

The roles of the Royal Brunei Navy are:

The Royal Brunei Navy is divided into four main components as follows:[7]

Current fleet

The current fleet of the Royal Brunei Navy is as follows:[8][9]

Class or name Image Builder Type Quantity Year entered serviceDetails Ships
Darussalam class Lurssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack, Germany Offshore patrol vessel 4 2011, 2014 80-meter (260 ft) offshore patrol vessel ordered from Lurssen Werft
Bofors 57 mm, 'A' position
Thales Sting EO MK2 fire-control radar
Terma Scanter 4100 air/surface search radar
Zeiss MEOS II electro-optics
2 x Furano navigation radars
4 x Exocet MM40		 06 Darussalam
07 Darulehsan
08 Darulaman
09 Daruttaqwa
Itjihad class[10] Lurssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack, Germany Inshore patrol vessel 4 2010 41-meter (135 ft) patrol vessel ordered from Lurssen Werft, Rheinmetall MLG 27, 'A' position 17 Itjihad
18 Berkat
19 Syafaat
20 Afiat
TBD Marinteknik Shipyard Tuas, Singapore Fast interceptor boat 1 2011 Armed with 7.62 mm machine gun 21 Mustaed
Waspada class Vosper Thornycroft, Singapore Fast attack craft 3 1978–1979 206 tons full load - 2 MM38 Exocet, 30 mm BMARC-Oerlikon GCM-B01 AA and 2 7.62 mm machine guns; modernised 1990s; To be paid off once the Darussalam class comes into service, Waspada and Pejuang are to be donated to Indonesia as training vessels and renamed as KRI Salawaku (642) and KRI Badau (643).[11] P02 Waspada
P03 Pejuang
P04 Seteria
Perwira class Vosper Thornycroft, Portsmouth Inshore patrol boat 3 1974-75 Singapore-built variant of Malaysian PX class police boats; wooden hull; 1 ship decommissioned 1996; armed with 20 mm BMARC-Oerlikon B01 AA and 2 7.62 mm machine guns; To be replaced by Itjihad class KDB Perwira
KDB Penyerang
KDB Pemburu
Serasa class Transfield Shipbuilding, Henderson, Western Australia Amphibious warfare craft (LCM) 2 August 1996 Armed with 2 x 20 mm/90 calibre Oerlikon GAM B01 AA and 2 x 7.62 mm machine guns L33 Serasa
L34 Teraban
Teraban class Cheverton Workboats, Cowes Landing craft utility (Loadmaster-class LCM) 2 1976-77 Unarmed and carries 30 tons of cargo L31 Damuam
L32 Puni
? ? Small aluminium armed riverine patrol boat 17 1960s Armed with 7.62 mm machine gun; 4 retired ?
YFL Cheverton Boatworks, Cowes Support launch 1 1982 Used as tug and dive tender Burong Nuri
Bendeharu class PT Pal Batam Shipbuilder, Surabaya, Indonesia Patrol boat 3 Delivered 1991 12.7 mm machine guns; used by marine police P01 Benderharu
P22 Maharajalela
P23 Kemaindera
14.5-metre class Singapore Shipbuilding and Engineering, Singapore Patrol boat 7 1987 Armed with 7.62 mm machine gun and similar to Singapore Marine Police PT1-class boats; used by marine police PDB11
PDB12
PDB13
PDB14
PDB15
PDB63
PDB68
PDB 0-1 class Singapore Shipbuilding and Engineering, Singapore Patrol boat 11 1987 Used by marine police PDB01
PDB02
PDB03
PDB04
PDB05
PDB06
PDB07
PDB08
PDB09
PDB10
PDB11
FDB 512 class Rotork Marine, Bath, Somerset Patrol boat 2 ? armed with 7.62 mm machine gun 07 Behagia
10 Selmat

Others

Fisheries and Industry/Primary Resources ministries also operate 16m patrol boats built by Syarikat Cheoy Lee Shipyards (delivered 2002)

F2000 (Nakhoda Ragam-class) corvettes

BDF Nakhoda Ragam

The Royal Brunei Navy is a small coastal defence force tasked with patrolling Bruneian waters and defending the offshore oil industry. It is currently undergoing a large-scale modernisation, with the upgrading of the Muara Naval Base and the purchase of 3 British-built corvettes from BAE Systems Naval Ships, Scotland. The contract was awarded to GEC-Marconi in 1995 and the Nakhoda Ragam class OPVs were launched in January 2001, June 2001 and June 2002 at the then BAE Systems Marine yard at Scotstoun. These have been completed but have not been delivered from BAE Systems Naval Ships in Scotstoun due to claims by the Royal Brunei Navy that the ships fail to meet the required specifications.

The ships are armed with MBDA Exocet Block II anti-ship missiles and MBDA Seawolf surface-to-air missiles. The contract dispute is the subject of arbitration.[12][13] Currently the Sultan of Brunei is intending to sell three corvettes built by BAE Systems for £600 million. When the dispute was settled, the vessels were handed over to Royal Brunei Technical Services in June 2007.[14] In 2007, Brunei contracted the German Lürssen ship yard to find a new customer for the three ships, as of 3 May 2011 the vessels remain unsold and laid up at Barrow-in-Furness.[15] These ships have been purchased by the Indonesian Navy and renamed the Bung Tomo class.

Muara Naval Base

The administration of Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei moved to a new base at Jalan Tanjong Pelumpong Muara in 1974. This base is now known as the Muara Naval Base. The Muara Naval Base serves as the headquarters of the Royal Brunei Navy. The Naval Base was expanded in 1997 to include facilities to support three offshore support vessels.[16] Muara Naval Base is frequently visited by foreign warships, most notable are the frequent visits by Royal Navy ships.

Joint exercises and training

The Royal Brunei Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy co-operate with each other through an annual joint exercise, code-named Exercise Pelican.

Officers and soldiers of the Royal Brunei Navy are also sent overseas for advanced training, generally to Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, UK and United States of America.[17]

Exercise SEAGULL 03-07, which was held in Brunei from 2 to 10 September 2007 between the Royal Brunei Navy and their Philippine Navy counterparts. Participating ships include the Philippine Navy corvette BRP Rizal (PS-74) and patrol gunboat BRP Federico Martir (PG-385), and Royal Brunei Navy ships KDB Pejuang P03, KDB Seteria P04, KDB Perwira P14 and KDB Penyerang P16. They conducted series of drills, including Mine Clearance, Under Water Operations, Replenishment at Sea, Night Encounter Exercise, Boarding Exercise and Other Naval Tactical Exercises.[18]

Future orders

De-commissioned landing craft will be replaced by an as-yet-unidentified class of six heavy landing craft.[19]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Navy of Brunei.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Introduction - Royal Brunei Navy - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  2. 1 2 History - Royal Brunei Navy - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  3. 1 2 History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 2 - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  4. ↑ History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 3 - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  5. ↑ History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 4 - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  6. ↑ History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 5 - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  7. ↑ Organisation - Royal Brunei Navy - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  8. ↑ Fleet - Royal Brunei Navy - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  9. ↑ [The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World - Eric Wertheim - 15th Ed. 2007, p66-68]
  10. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/brunei/navy.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.bt.com.bn/news-national/2011/02/26/indonesia-get-brunei-patrol-ships
  12. ↑ Brunei and BAE Systems dispute ship acceptance Jane's 26 April 2005 - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  13. ↑ BAE Systems, Brunei OPV dispute nears resolution Jane's 8 September 2006 - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  14. ↑ "Shipyard deadlock ends". September 2007 News (Ships Monthly). September 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
  15. ↑ Story by ocnus.net
  16. ↑ page 15 GHD Annual Review 2002/2003
  17. ↑ Training - Royal Brunei Navy - Retrieved 19 April 2007
  18. ↑ Philippine Fleet Official Website. Exercise SEAGULL 03-07.
  19. ↑ Balikpapan-class landing craft heavy#cite note-WewakDODdecom-11
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