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Royal Brunei Land Force

The requirement to deploy at short notice, and frequently to sustain, a land force presence is essential to Brunei Darussalam’s ability to provide a consistent and valued contribution to cooperative security operations. An organised body of professional soldiers under command can, in addition to providing a local security presence, undertake a wide spectrum of organisational and support roles.

In supporting other national security agencies, the Government intends to reinforce the capacity of the land force to protect specific infrastructure and assets, particularly in urban environments. This skill is important across the spectrum of contemporary challenges ranging from VIP protection through the restoration of services and counter terrorism to the military defence of key national infrastructures. Important tasks include guarding duties, control of movement, cordon and search, and immediate area patrolling. Self protection and the ability to apply precise and graduated firepower, ensuring economy of force and limiting collateral damage, will be essential in circumstances of direct military threat.

Strengthening the RBAF's capacity to make regular, and where appropriate concurrent, contributions to stability operations whether regionally or in support of the UN will be an important aspect of future capability development and deployment planning. The first line medical and engineering support capabilities of the land force will continue to be developed, increasing the force's potential to undertake disaster relief and reconstruction tasks. Building on recent peacekeeping operations, further strengthening the training and equipping elements of the land force to undertake small unit operations in difficult environments will be a priority.

High readiness assets are assigned to the Joint Force Commander who maintains the national surveillance picture, exercises operational command, and is the initial point of contact for other national and regional forces. The primary force elements currently maintained at full preparedness include an infantry company and associated tactical and support elements. The capacity to sustain forces once deployed is essential. With respect to ground force deployments, the provision of support services and, during extended commitments, the rotation of personnel is critical.

Transparency of the operational environment is essential to the early identification of security challenges and a timely response. The capacity of the RBAF to achieve this has been primarily focused at the tactical level. Expanding the force's capacity for more continuous broad area coverage to monitor developments along the nation's more remote land borders is the immediate priority for capability development. Coverage of potentially illegal activities across the nation's land borders is made difficult by their remoteness, the difficult terrain and the jungle canopy. A consistent high level of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) needs to be provided closely integrated with land force patrols. A sustained presence in specific areas may be required in response to specific intelligence.

Introducing an upgraded armored personnel carrier capability at company level with the ability to protect personnel against the range of threats, including improvised explosive devices, currently being experienced in peace operations will enhance the nation's ability to contribute to those collective tasks. It will also provide the nucleus for developing the skills and doctrine for the planned mechanisation of one of the battalions.

The ultimate responsibility of a defense force is, of course, to be prepared to go in harm's way if necessary to defend the nation and its interests. The RBAF has the capacity to respond to a range of lower level hostilities assessed to be the most likely strategic scenarios in the immediate future. At the same time, there are several important reasons why progressive enhancement of the force's capability in these areas is important. There is the ever present risk of either miscalculation or unexpectedly escalation in a tactical engagement. Developments in overall regional capabilities and the availability of sophisticated weaponry 10 non-stale actors leave no room for complacency. Units deployed for peace monitoring and stability operations need to be equipped with weapons for self protection, light weight body armour and tactical surveillance equipment. For collective security operations, force elements will operate most effectively together where they share similar levels of technology and have the flexibility to undertake a range of tasks.

The capacity of the land force for more significant engagements is, however, limited due to the extended operational life of its major combat assets. To improve its flexibility across the spectrum of conflict, including options for contributing to peace and stability operations and the ability to protect national assets and infrastructure, the land force is to be progressively hardened and its ability to deliver precision firepower upgraded.

To support system commonality, variants of the mobility armored personnel carrier will be considered to replace the existing light tank. That capability will be a valuable test bed for plans to develop a fully mechanised battalion, allowing the concept to be tailored to the particular characteristics of the nation's operational environment. The introduction of more comprehensive indirect firepower will be considered subsequently.

Introducing a comprehensive air defence capability is a complex task that cannot be achieved quickly. While the prospect of such a threat is currently remote, knowledge of unauthorised air movements is important to a wide spectrum of security challenges. Possessing the ability to identify and, ~ necessary, engage hostile aircraft provides a more secure environment for the conduct of a range of military operations.

A 2011 Defense White Paper published by the Ministry of Defense expressed interest in expanding the capabilities of the Royal Brunei Land Forces. This included the procurement of a replacement for the country's aging CVR(T) vehicle fleet, to include the Scorpion light tank. The plan also called for forming the replacement vehicles into an integrated mechanized battalion.

1 - BAE Systems was awarded a contract in the early 2000s to upgrade Brunei's CVR(T) fleet, including the Scorpion light tanks. This upgrade included the replacement of the vehicle powerpack with a Cummins 6BTA-5.9 engine. The first upgraded vehicles were delivered in 2003.

1 - This total includes some number of subvariants, such as armored recovery vehicles and ambulances.

2 - These vehicles had been placed in storage by 1995.