The Royal Brunei Navy ( ms, Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei, abbreviated TLDB) is the naval defence force of

Brunei Darussalam Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

. It is a small but relatively well-equipped force whose main responsibility is to conduct

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

missions and to deter and defend the Brunei waters against attack mounted by sea-borne forces.Introduction - Royal Brunei Navy
- Retrieved 19 April 2007 The Royal Brunei Navy was established on 14 June 1965, the second unit created after The

Royal Brunei Armed Forces The Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF); ms, Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei, (ABDB), is the collective term for the military forces of the sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. They consist of the Royal Brunei Land Forces (RBLF), the Royal Brunei ...

. 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.

History

The Royal Brunei Navy was formed on 14 June 1965, four years after the formation of the

. 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).History - Royal Brunei Navy
- Retrieved 19 April 2007 The role of the Boat Section was solely to provide transportation of

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

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 Boat Company received 3 river

patrol boats A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

in 1966. These boats were named KDB ''Bendahara'', KDB ''Maharajalela'' and KDB ''Kermaindera''. All the ships were crewed by

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...

ans, led by a qualified

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

. In the same year, the strength of the Boat Company was enhanced with

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, ...

vessels type

SR.N5 The Saunders-Roe SR.N5 (or ''Warden'' class) was a medium-sized hovercraft which first flew in 1964. It has the distinction of being the first production-built hovercraft in the world. A total of 14 SR.N5s were constructed. While Saunders-Roe ...

, followed by SR.N6 in 1968.History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 2
- Retrieved 19 April 2007 The first

fast patrol craft Patrol Craft Fast (PCF), also known as Swift Boats, were all-aluminum, long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the United States Navy, initially to patrol the coastal areas and later for work in the interior waterways as part of the brown-wate ...

was accepted in 1968 and named KDB ''Pahlawan''. It became the first

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

for the Boat Company. 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 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).History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 3
- Retrieved 19 April 2007 In 1971, the First Sea Battalion received two more coastal patrol craft, KDB ''Saleha'' and KDB ''Masna''.History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 4
- Retrieved 19 April 2007 The First Sea Battalion was reorganised again on 1 October 1991 as the Royal Brunei Navy due to the growth of the armed forces in Brunei after

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

.History - Royal Brunei Navy, page 5
- Retrieved 19 April 2007 In 2019, the RBN unveiled the Digital Disruptive Pattern BDU in digital blue colors at the 58th anniversary celebration at the Bolkiah Garrison.

Roles and organisation

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 nm EEZ * Maritime

Search & Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations * Support of units of the RBAF operational activities * Provide support for other security agencies and ministries as ordered by Ministry of Defence of Brunei. The Royal Brunei Navy is divided into four main components as follows: * Fleet * Administration * Training * Logistics

Ships of Royal Brunei Navy

The current fleet of the Royal Brunei Navy is as follows:

Others

*Personnel launches used for riverine patrols ** 01 ''Aman'' ** 02 ''Damai'' ** 04 ''Sentosa'' ** 06 ''Sejahteru'' Fisheries and Industry/Primary Resources ministries also operate 16m patrol boats built by Syarikat Cheoy Lee Shipyards (delivered 2002)

Future acquisition

Patrol vessel * Fearless-class ** Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) also interested to procure some of the Fearless-class patrol vessel that have been retired from Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

Historical equipment

Pahlawan-class patrol boat

*KDB Pahlawan P-01 (Brunei’s first

Patrol Boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

) *KDB Bakti

F2000 (''Nakhoda Ragam''-class) corvettes

The Royal Brunei Navy aimed to undergo a large-scale modernisation, with the upgrading of the Muara

Naval Base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...

and the purchase of 3 British-built

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s from

BAE Systems Naval Ships BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The ships were armed with MBDA Exocet Block II

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...

s and MBDA Seawolf

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s. 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 BAE Systems Marine Limited was the shipbuilding subsidiary of BAE Systems, formed in 1999, which manufactured the full range of naval ships; nuclear submarines, frigates, destroyers, amphibious ships. In 2003 BAE Systems Marine was split into ...

yard at Scotstoun. These were completed but not delivered from BAE Systems Naval Ships in

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Cl ...

due to claims by the Royal Brunei Navy that the ships fail to meet the required specifications. The contract dispute was the subject of

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...

. When the dispute was settled, the vessels were handed over to Royal Brunei Technical Services in June 2007. In 2007, Brunei contracted the German

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradi ...

ship yard to find a new customer for the three ships, though by 2011 the vessels remained unsold and laid up at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 t ...

. These ships were eventually purchased by the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol ...

and renamed Bung Tomo-class corvettes.

Muara Naval Base

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. Muara Naval Base is frequently visited by foreign warships, most notable are the frequent visits by British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

ships. ''

Persekutuan Pengakap Negara Brunei Darussalam The Persekutuan Pengakap Negara Brunei Darussalam, the national Scouting organization of Brunei, was founded in 1933, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1981. It began with 12 Scouts in 1933, in 1961 it had 322 ...

'' visits the Naval base sometimes too.

Joint exercises and training

The Royal Brunei Navy and the

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the naval service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any sea-borne threats, and the protection of its sea lines of communications, that would comp ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, UK and

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Exercise SEAGULL 03-07, which was held in Brunei from 2 to 10 September 2007 between the Royal Brunei Navy and their

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an ...

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.

Museum

KDB Maharajalela (P-22) is on display at ''Muzium Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei'' or Royal Brunei Armed Forces Museum,

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB; Jawi: بندر سري بڬاوان; ) is the capital city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei-Muara District, the s ...

Military ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...

Other ranks

The rank insignia of

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s and

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States mi ...

Gallery

File:US Navy 050808-N-4772B-038 A pair of Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) divers are lowered from the rescue and salvage ship USS Safeguard (ARS 50) during familiarization dives.jpg, Royal Brunei Navy divers are lowered from rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard (ARS-50) during familiarization dives on August 8, 2005. File:Warships barrow dock.jpg,

KDB Nakhoda Ragam (28) KRI ''John Lie'' (358) is a Bung Tomo-class corvette, ''Bung Tomo''-class corvette in service with the Indonesian Navy. She was originally built for the Royal Brunei Navy and launched as KDB ''Nakhoda Ragam''. ''John Lie'' is named after Indonesi ...

, KDB Bendahara Sakam (29) and KDB Jerambak (30) sitting outside BAE Scotstoun, Scotland on September 2, 2007. File:US Navy 070803-N-7706C-003 Royal Brunei Navy personnel stand at parade rest as the guided-missile frigate USS Jarrett (FFG 33) pulls into Muara, Brunei as part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2007.jpg, Royal Brunei Navy personally salute stance as

USS Jarrett (FFG-33) USS ''Jarrett'' (FFG-33), was the twenty-fifth ship of the guided missile frigates, was named for Vice Admiral Harry B. Jarrett (1898–1974). Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California on 23 January ...

pulls into Muara Port, Brunei during CARAT 2007. File:US Navy 080818-N-1635S-011 Members of the Brunei Special Forces rush towards the pilot house of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83).jpg, Members of the Brunei Special Forces rush towards the pilot house of USS Howard (DDG 83) during a visit, board, search and seizure exercise on Aug 18, 2008. File:US Navy 090805-N-2725D-059 U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Harris, from Clinton, Utah, directs personnel from the Royal Brunei Navy.jpg,

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

directs Royal Brunei Navy Personnel aboard USS Crommelin (FFG-37) during CARAT 2009. File:US Navy 100506-N-7643B-169 A sailor from the Royal Brunei Navy posts watch on a passage way during a visit, board, search, and seizure exercise aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mellon (WHEC 717).jpg, A Royal Brunei Navy sailor watch as Passage way aboard USCG Mellon (WHEC-717) during CARAT 2010.

References

{{Authority control

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...