Royal Brunei Navy

Royal Brunei Navy
Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei
Badge of Royal Brunei Navy
Founded	14 June 1965; 58 years ago (1965-06-14) (as the Boat Section of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces) 1 October 1991; 32 years ago (1991-10-01) (as the Royal Brunei Navy)
Country	Brunei Darussalam
Allegiance	Sultan of Brunei
Branch	Navy
Type	Military
Role	Naval warfare Search and rescue Law enforcement
Part of	Royal Brunei Armed Forces
Headquarters	Muara Naval Base, Brunei-Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Anniversaries	14 June
Equipment	See list
Website	Navy.MinDef.gov.bn
Commanders
Commander	Capt Sarif Pudin Matserudin (acting)[3]
Deputy Commander	Capt Khairil Abdul Rahman (acting)[1]
Fleet Commander	Capt Sahibul Bahari[2]
Chief of Staff	Cdr Azrin Mahmud[4]
Sergeant Major	WO1 Roslan Duraman
Insignia
Naval ensign
Naval jack

The Royal Brunei Navy, abbrev: RBN (Malay: Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei, TLDB) is the naval defence force of Brunei Darussalam. It is a small but relatively well-equipped military force whose main responsibility is to conduct search and rescue missions, and to deter and defend the Brunei waters against attack mounted by seaborne forces.^[5]

The forerunner of the Royal Brunei Navy was established on 14 June 1965; 58 years ago (1965-06-14), the second unit created after the formation of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF). The RBN is based and headquartered at Muara Naval Base, 4 kilometres (2 miles) from Muara Town, with the majority of the enlisted sailors 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). Captain Haji Mohamad Sarif Pudin bin Matserudin has been acting commander of the Royal Brunei Navy since 30 December 2022; 14 months ago (2022-12-30),^[3] succeeding First Admiral Pg Dato Seri Pahlawan Norazmi Pg Hj Muhammad who was appointed the RBN 12th commander on 13 March 2015; 8 years ago (2015-03-13).^[5]

History

Early history

The forerunner of the Royal Brunei Navy was formed on 14 June 1965; 58 years ago (1965-06-14), four years after the formation of the Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Askar Melayu Diraja Brunei, AMDB). It was initially known as Boat Section of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. Its manning strength was only eighteen personnel, including one officer from the First Battalion who had attended a basic military course in Malaya in 1961 until 1964.^[6]

This Boat Section was equipped with a number of aluminium boats, known as Temuai in Malay, and fast assault boats (FABs).^[6] 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.^[6]

The Boat Company received three 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.^[7] The first fast patrol craft was accepted in 1968 and named KDB Pahlawan. It became the first flagship for the Boat Company.^[7]

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 Royal Brunei Malay Regiment. During that time, the estimated strength of Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei was forty-two personnel, including an officer, while assets consisted of one fast patrol craft, three river patrol boats, two hovercraft vessels, fast assault boats, a few long boats, and Temuai (aluminium boats).^[8]

In 1971, the First Sea Battalion received two more coastal patrol craft, KDB Saleha and KDB Masna.^[9] The First Sea Battalion was reorganised again on 1 October 1991; 32 years ago (1991-10-01), as the Royal Brunei Navy, due to the growth of the armed forces in Brunei after independence from the United Kingdom.^[10]

F2000 corvette dispute

The Royal Brunei Navy aimed to undergo a large-scale modernisation, with the upgrading of the Muara Naval Base, and the purchase of three British-built corvettes from BAE Systems Naval Ships, Scotland. The ships were armed with MBDA Exocet Block II anti-ship missiles and MBDA Seawolf surface-to-air missiles. The contract was awarded to GEC-Marconi in 1995: 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 were completed but not 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;^[11] though opinion in the shipyard was that they were too complex for a small navy to operate.^[12] The contract dispute became the subject of arbitration.^[13] When the dispute was settled in favour of BAE Systems, the vessels were handed over to Royal Brunei Technical Services (RBTS) in June 2007.^[12]

In 2007, Brunei contracted the German Lürssen shipyard to find a new customer for the three ships, though by 2011 the vessels remained unsold and laid up at Barrow-in-Furness.^[14] These ships were eventually purchased in 2013 by the Indonesian Navy for £380 million, or half of the original unit cost, and renamed Bung Tomo-class corvettes.^[15]

Present day

Exercise SEAGULL 03-07 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.^[16]

In 2019, the Royal Brunei Navy unveiled the Singapore-based Force-21 manufactured Digital Disruptive Pattern (D2P) battle-dress uniform (BDU) in digital blue colours at the 58th anniversary celebration at the Bolkiah Garrison.^[17][18]

In April 2021, the RBN installed the Royal Brunei Navy Full Mission Bridge Simulator (RBN FMBS) to provide synthetic training for all sailors of the RBN.^[19]

Roles and organisation

Roles

The roles of the Royal Brunei Navy are:

• Deterrence against attack mounted by sea-borne forces;
• Protection of national offshore resources;
• Maintaining Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC);
• Surveillance of the 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres; 230 miles) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ);
• Maritime search and rescue operations;
• Support of units of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces operational activities;
• Provide support for other security agencies and ministries as ordered by Ministry of Defence of Brunei.

Organisation

The Royal Brunei Navy is divided into four main components as follows:^[20]

• Fleet
• Administration
• Training
• Logistics

Headquarters

The administration of First Sea Battalion 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. It was expanded in 1997 to include facilities to support three offshore support vessels.^[21] Muara Naval Base is frequently visited by foreign warships, most notable are the frequent visits by British Royal Navy ships. Persekutuan Pengakap Negara Brunei Darussalam visits the Naval base sometimes too.

Commander

Commander, Royal Brunei Navy

no.	portrait	name (birth – death)	term of appointment			ref.
			took office	left office	time in office
1		Mejar Jeneral Ibnu Ba'asith Apong (20 Jan 1942 – ???)	1965	1966	1 year	[22]
2		Kolonel Kefli Razali (6 Oct 1940 – ???)	22 Apr 1983	30 Sep 1986	3 years, 161 days	[23]
3		Leftenan kolonel Noeh Abdul Hamid (??? – 6 Aug 1988)	30 Sep 1986	30 Dec 1988	2 years, 91 days	[24]
4		Leftenan kolonel Shahri Mohammad Ali (??? – ???)	30 Dec 1988	1 Nov 1991	2 years, 306 days	[25]
5		Leftenan kolonel Abdul Latif Damit (25 Dec 1950 – ???)	1 Nov 1991	25 Jun 1993	1 year, 236 days	[26]
(2)		Kolonel Kefli Razali (6 Oct 1940 – ???)	25 Jun 1993	3 Feb 1995	1 year, 223 days	[23]
6		Kolonel Abdul Jalil Ahmad (??? – ???)	5 Feb 1995	13 Jun 2002	7 years, 128 days	[27]
7		Kolonel Joharie Matussin (??? – ???)	13 Jun 2002	16 May 2008	5 years, 338 days	[28]
8		First admiral Abdul Halim (24 Jan 1965 – ???)	16 May 2008	28 Feb 2014	5 years, 288 days	[28][29]
9		First admiral Abdul Aziz (23 Sep 1966 – ???)	28 Feb 2014	13 Mar 2015	1 year, 13 days	[30]
10		First admiral Norazmi Muhammad (??? – ???)	13 Mar 2015	19 Apr 2019	4 years, 37 days	[31]
11		First admiral Othman Suhaili (19 Apr 1970 – ???)	19 Apr 2019	31 Dec 2020	1 year, 256 days	[32]
12		First admiral Spry Serudi (25 Mar 1970 – ???)	31 Dec 2020	30 Dec 2022	1 year, 364 days	[33][34]
13		Captain Sarif Pudin Matserudin (26 Dec 1972 – ???) acting	30 Dec 2022	incumbent	1 year, 71 days	[3]

Rank structure

Commissioned officer

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Royal Brunei Navy[35] v t e
	Laksamana armada		Laksamana		Laksamana madya		Laksamana muda		Laksamana pertama		Kepten		Komander		Leftenan komander		Leftenan		Leftenan madya			Leftenan muda

Enlisted

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Royal Brunei Navy[35] v t e																													No insignia
	Pegawai waran 1						Pegawai waran 2		Bintara kanan		Bintara												Laskar kanan				Laskar muda		Prebet/Soldadu

Equipment

The current fleet of the Royal Brunei Navy is as follows:^[36][37]

class or name	image	builder	type	year entered service	details	pennant no., ship name
offshore patrol boat
Darussalam class[38]		Lürssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack,  Germany	offshore patrol vessel	2011-2014	80 metres (262 ft) OPV ordered from Lürssen Werft. Armament: 1× Bofors 57 mm Mk3 2× Oerlikon 20mm/85 KAA 4× Exocet MM40 Block 3	06 Darussalam 07 Darulehsan 08 Darulaman 09 Daruttaqwa
Inshore patrol boat
Ijtihad class[39]		Lürssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack,  Germany	patrol boat	2010	41 metres (135 ft) PV ordered from Lürssen Werft. Armament: 1× Rheinmetall MLG 27 mm gun 2× 7.62 mm machine gun	17 Itjihad 18 Berkat 19 Syafaat 20 Afiat
Fearless class		ST Engineering,  Singapore	patrol vessel	2023	Formerly commissioned into the Singapore Navy, later gifted to Brunei in March 2023.[40][41] Armament: 1× Oto Melara 76 mm gun 4× STK 50MG 12.7 mm (0.50 in) HMG Mistral missile EuroTorp A244/S Mod 1 torpedoes	95 As-Siddiq 96 Al-Faruq
fast attack craft
Mustaed class[42]		Marinteknik Shipyard Tuas,  Singapore	fast attack craft	2011	27 metres (89 ft) FAC based on Lürssen Werft FIB25-012 design. Built in Singapore. Armament: 2× 7.62 mm machine gun	21 Mustaed
Waspada class[43]		Vosper Thornycroft,  Singapore	fast attack craft	1978–1979	37 metres (121 ft) FAC ordered from Vosper Thornycroft. Total of 3 ships. Decommissioned April 2011. 1 in Brunei service and 2 donated to Indonesia as KRI Salawaku (642) and KRI Badau (643). Armament: 2× Oerlikon 30 mm GCM-BO1 2× Aérospatiale Exocet MM38 (removed)	P02 Waspada
landing craft
Serasa class		Transfield Shipbuilding, Henderson,  Australia	amphibious warfare craft (LCM)	1996	Armament: 2× 20 mm/90 calibre Oerlikon GAM B01 AA 2× 7.62 mm machine guns	L33 Serasa L34 Teraban
Damuan class		Cheverton Workboats, Cowes,  England	landing craft utility	1976-1977	unarmed, carries 30 tons of cargo	L32 Puni
support vessel
–		Cheverton Boatworks, Cowes,  England	support launch	1982	used as tug and dive tender	Burong Nuri

Others

Personnel launches used for riverine patrols

• 01 Aman
• 02 Damai
• 04 Sentosa
• 06 Sejahteru

Fisheries and Industry / Primary Resources ministries also operate 16 metres (52 ft) patrol boats built by Syarikat Cheoy Lee Shipyards (delivered 2002).

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 sailors of the Royal Brunei Navy are also sent overseas for advanced training, generally to Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, and United States of America.^[44]

Gallery

See also

• Royal Brunei Armed Forces
• Royal Brunei Air Force
• Royal Brunei Land Forces

References

Further reading

• "Remembering Brunei's naval ships". AsiaOne.com. The Brunei Times / Asia News Network. 18 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017.

External links

This page was last edited on 10 March 2024, at 14:48