Royal Brunei Navy
The Royal Brunei Navy is the naval defence force of Brunei Darussalam. It is a small but relatively well-equipped force whose main responsibility is to conduct search and rescue missions and to deter and defend the Brunei waters against attack mounted by sea-borne forces.
The Royal Brunei Navy was established on 14 June 1965, the second unit created after The Royal Brunei Armed Forces. 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. 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 Royal Brunei Armed Forces. 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. 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.The Boat Company received 3 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.
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 Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu DiRaja Brunei. 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.
In 1971, the First Sea Battalion received two more coastal patrol craft, KDB Saleha and KDB Masna.
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 from the United Kingdom.
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
- Surveillance of the 200 nm EEZ
- Maritime Search & Rescue 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.
- Fleet
- Administration
- Training
- Logistics
Current and past fleet
| Class or name | Image | Builder | Type | Year entered service | Details | Ships |
| Lürssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack, | Offshore patrol vessel | 2011-2014 | OPV ordered from Lürssen Werft. Armament :
| 06 Darussalam 07 Darulehsan 08 Darulaman 09 Daruttaqwa | ||
| Itjihad class | Lürssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack, | Inshore patrol vessel | 2010 | PV ordered from Lürssen Werft. Armament :
| 17 Itjihad 18 Berkat 19 Syafaat 20 Afiat | |
| Mustaed class | Marinteknik Shipyard Tuas, | Fast attack craft | 2011 | FAC based on Lürssen Werft FIB25-012 design. Built in Singapore. Armament :
| 21 Mustaed | |
| Vosper Thornycroft, | Fast attack craft | 1978–1979 | FAC ordered from Vosper Thornycroft. Total of 3 ships. 1 in Brunei service and 2 donated to Indonesia. Armament : | P02 WaspadaP03 Pejuang P04 Seteria | ||
| Serasa class | Transfield Shipbuilding, Henderson, | Amphibious warfare craft | 1996 | Armament :
| L33 Serasa L34 Teraban | |
| Teraban class | Cheverton Workboats, Cowes | Landing craft utility | 1976-1977 | Unarmed and carries 30 tons of cargo | L31 Damuam L32 Puni | |
| KH-27 class | Inshore Patrol boat | 2018 | Armament :
| BT01-TDBT02-TD BT03-TD BT04-TD BT05-TD | ||
| 14.5-metre class | Singapore Shipbuilding and Engineering, | Inshore Patrol boat | 1987 | Used by Marine Police. Armament :
| PDB11 PDB12 PDB13 PDB14 PDB15 PDB63 PDB68 | |
| PDB 0-1 class | Singapore Shipbuilding and Engineering, | Inshore Patrol boat | 1987 | Used by Marine Police | PDB01 PDB02 PDB03 PDB04 PDB05 PDB06 PDB07 PDB08 PDB09 PDB10 PDB11 | |
| YFL | Cheverton Boatworks, Cowes, | Support launch | 1982 | Used as tug and dive tender | Burong Nuri | |
| FDB 512 class | Rotork Marine, Bath, Somerset | Inshore Patrol boat | 1978 | Armament :
| S24 Behagia S26 Selmat | |
| Bendeharu class | PT Pal Batam Shipbuilder, Surabaya, | Inshore Patrol boat | 1966 | Used by Marine Police. Armament :
| P21Benderharu P22 Maharajalela P23 Kemaindera | |
| Perwira class | Vosper Thornycroft, Portsmouth, | Inshore patrol boat | 1974-1975 | Singapore-built variant of Malaysian PX class police boats. 1 ship decommissioned in 1996. Armament :
| P14Perwira P15 Penyerang P16 Pemburu | |
| Saleha class | Vosper Thornycroft, Portsmouth, | Inshore Patrol boat | 1971 | Armament :
| P11Saleha P12 Masna | |
| Pahlawan class | Vosper & Company, Portchester, | Fast Attack Craft | 1966 | Armament :
| P01 Pahlawan | |
| Saunders Roe class | Westland, | Hovercraft | 1966-1968 | Unarmed | SR.N5 SR.N6 |
Others
- Personnel launches used for riverine patrols
- * 01 Aman
- * 02 Damai
- * 04 Sentosa
- * 06 Sejahteru
Historical equipments
Pahlawan-class patrol boat
- *KDB Pahlawan P-01
- *KDB Bakti
F2000 (''Nakhoda Ragam''-class) corvettes
The ships are armed with MBDA Exocet Block II anti-ship missiles and MBDA Seawolf surface-to-air missiles. The contract dispute is the subject of arbitration. Currently the Sultan of Brunei is intending to sell three corvettes built by BAE Systems for £600 million. 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 ship yard to find a new customer for the three ships, as of 3 May 2011 the vessels remain unsold and laid up at Barrow-in-Furness.
These ships have been purchased by the Indonesian Navy and renamed the Bung Tomo class.
| Pennant Number | Name | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Status |
| 28 | KDB Nakhoda Ragam KRI Usman Harun | BAE Systems Marine, Scotstoun, | 23 June 2001 | 11 July 2014 | Commissioned |
| 29 | KDB Bendahara Sakam KRI John Lie | BAE Systems Marine, Scotstoun, | 13 January 2001 | 18 July 2014 | Commissioned |
| 30 | KDB Jerambak KRI Bung Tomo | BAE Systems Marine, Scotstoun, | 22 June 2002 | 11 July 2014 | Commissioned |
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 ships. Persekutuan Pengakap Negara Brunei Darussalam visits the Naval base sometimes too.
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 soldiers of the Royal Brunei Navy are also sent overseas for advanced training, generally to Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, UK and United States of America.
Exercise SEAGULL 03-07, which 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 and patrol gunboat BRP Federico Martir, 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.