Royal Brunei Navy

The Royal Brunei Navy (RBN), natively known as (TLDB) is the naval force of Brunei. 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.

The forerunner of the RBN was established on 14 June 1965, the second unit created after the formation of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF). The RBN is based and headquartered at Muara Naval Base, from Muara Town, with the majority of the enlisted sailors being Malays. Since 1977, the RBN has been equipped with missile gun boats and other coastal patrol craft. All the ships names are prefixed KDB, as in (Royal Brunei Ship in Malay). Captain Haji Mohamad Sarif Pudin has been acting commander of the RBN since 30 December 2022, succeeding First Admiral Pengiran Dato Seri Pahlawan Norazmi who was appointed the RBN 12th commander on 13 March 2015. The annual anniversary ceremony of RBN's inception was place on 14 June every year.

History

Early years

The fourth anniversary parade was celebrated on 31 May 1965, and the unit was thereafter dubbed the Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (RBMR). Additionally, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah declared that the regiment will shortly be outfitted with swift patrol boats, armoured vehicles, helicopters, and hovercraft. The Boat Section was formed on 14 June 1965, four years after the formation of the RBMR. Its manning strength was only eighteen personnel, including one officer from the First Battalion who had attended a basic military course in Federation of Malaya in 1961 until 1964. Important military equipment, including motor gunboats, helicopters, and hovercraft, was acquired in 1966. On 12 March 1966, a Borneo Bulletin Report said that the RBMR was the only infantry unit in the world to get a modern SR.N5 hovercraft for use in combat. The Boat Section was equipped with a number of aluminium boats (natively known as ) and fast assault boats (FABs). The role of the 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. The company received three river patrol boats in 1966, consisted of , , and . All the ships were crewed by locals and led by a qualified commanding officer. As the RBMR's strength increased in 1967, things started to happen quickly. Vosper Limited of Portsmouth, UK, produced the fast patrol boat , which was put into service. In 1968, the strength of the Boat Company was enhanced with Westland Saunders Roe SR.N6 hovercraft. The first fast patrol craft was accepted in 1968 and named KDB ''Pahlawan''. It became the first flagship for the Boat Company.

The Boat Company was reorganised as the First Flotilla, RBMR, or natively known as (ALP AMDB). While visiting the Muara Base in 1969 to observe an air and sea rescue exercise, retired Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III hoisted the new ensign created for the flotilla under the command of the KDB ''Pahlawan'', which was initially launched in December 1966 by then Crown Princess Saleha.

During that time, the estimated strength of the First Flotilla was forty-two personnel, including an officer, while assets consisted of one fast patrol craft, three river patrol boats, two hovercraft vessels, FABs, a few long boats, and . and , named after Princess Masna Bolkiah, were purchased in 1970; however, they didn't arrive in Brunei until 26 January 1971. With a peak speed of , the wooden-hulled boats were outfitted with light machine guns on the bridge and Oerlikon 20 mm cannons fore and aft. A revised 1971 Brunei-UK Agreement transferred all internal security responsibilities from Britain to the Sultanate, with the UK solely being accountable for Brunei's exterior defense. The SR.N6 hovercraft was acquired in the same year. Under the new Army Enactment, new service regulations went into effect on 1 June 1971.

The British Army's tri-service regulations, which addressed offenses in the air force, navy, and army as well, served as the model for the new disciplinary regulations. The flagship KDB ''Pahlawan'', which was acquired by the RBMR Sea Wing in 1976, was instrumental in enabling the British-officered Brunei flotilla to become the most formidable indigenous naval group in the northwest Bruneian waterways. Equipped with surface-to-surface missiles, the , constructed in Singapore, was added to the fleet in 1978. Additionally, the flotilla located in Muara served well in counter-infiltration strategies against smaller warships.

Post-Independence

Before being taken out of service in 1980, the s saw service for more than fourteen years. The RBMR was renamed as the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), or , on 1 January 1984, as part of an attempt to reform the armed forces following independence. Since 1984, the flotilla also maintained its routine maritime training exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Republic of Singapore Navy, and the Royal Thai Navy. As Brunei's military forces grew, the First Flotilla was renamed again on 1 October 1991, becoming the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN). The RBAF was reorganised in 1991 as a result of Bruneian government's emphasis on the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governing maritime regulations and is enforced by numerous nations due to the growing significance of the maritime boundary issue.

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

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