The Five Power Defence Arrangements at Forty (1971-2011)

The Five Power Defence Agreements (FPDA) came into force in 1971 as a consultative forum and was initially conceived as a transitional agreement to provide for the defence of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore until these new states could fend for themselves.¹ The FPDA has evolved and adapted over the past forty years. It has developed a robust consultative structure, complemented by a standing multilateral military component, and a comprehensive exercise programme. The FPDA has gradually expanded its focus from the conventional defence of Peninsular Malaysian and Singaporean air space, through an annual series of Air Defence Exercises (ADEXs), to large-scale combined and joint military exercises² designed to meet emerging conventional and non-conventional security threats extending into the South China Sea.

As the author has argued elsewhere, the FPDA has become "the quiet achiever" and an important component among the plethora of multilateral security mechanisms making up Southeast Asia's security architecture.³ This chapter reviews the development of the FPDA over the last forty years with particular attention to its programme of exercises in the period from 2004, when its most recent evolution took place.

Background (1971-2002)

During the first decade of its existence, the FPDA conducted only a handful of exercises with operational command alternating between Malaysia and Singapore. Each partner decided the degree of resources that it would contribute.

During the 1980s, the FPDA exercise programme incorporated regular land and sea exercises. The latter were initially designated EX STARFISH and were later renamed EX BERSAMA LIMA. Towards the end of the 1980s, the FPDA went into the doldrums as the external powers reduced their participation in FPDA exercises. In 1988, the five Defence Ministers took stock of the situation and decided to revitalize the FPDA consultative process. As a result, it was agreed that separate meetings of the Chiefs of Defence and Defence Ministers should become permanent and convene every two and three years, respectively.

In March 1990, the Defence Ministers agreed to shift gradually from purely air defence arrangements to combined and joint exercises in which land and naval forces would play a greater role. The planning process became both combined and joint, involving staff from the three armed services of all five FPDA members.⁴ Air and maritime exercises were combined and designated EX STARDEX. In April 1997 the air and naval components were merged into one major exercise, EX FLYING FISH, the FPDA's first truly combined and joint exercise. The decade of the 1990s also witnessed the increase in the size of land force exercises that were designated EX SUMAN WARRIOR.

In July 2000, the fourth meeting of FPDA Defence Ministers laid the basis for perhaps the greatest transformation in the history of the FPDA. The Integrated Air Defence System was redesignated Integrated Area Defence System (IADS) to give prominence to joint capability.

Evolution of FPDA Exercises

The FPDA entered a new period of evolution and transformation as a result of ministerial decisions taken in 2003 and 2004. At the fifth FPDA Defence Ministers' Meeting, held in June 2003, the ministers agreed that the FPDA should enhance its ability to deal with emerging asymmetric threats. Thereafter FPDA exercises incorporated threats such as terrorism, piracy, protection of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), disaster relief, and smuggling of illicit drugs.

In June 2004, the second informal meeting of Defence Ministers directed that the FPDA should incorporate "non-conventional threat scenarios such as maritime security serials in scheduled FPDA exercises, and conduct additional exercises focused on maritime security, with the gradual inclusion of non-military agencies in such exercises".⁵

The 13th Defence Chiefs Conference, held in Singapore on 14 October 2010, approved the FPDA Exercise Concept Directive. This directive set out guidance for the development of future FPDA exercises and activities in order to strengthen interoperability and interaction. In particular, over the next two decades the FPDA will focus on the modernization of military assets, equipment, and services.⁶ The directive also set out guidance to enhance the FPDA's capacity to conduct conventional and non-conventional operations such as counterterrorism, anti-piracy...