S'pore, Aussie troops in joint military exercise

They will conduct assaults in jungle terrain and urban setting in Exercise Trident

- Mike Yeo Correspondent

More than 1,900 personnel from the Singaporean and Australian forces are conducting a joint military exercise that will see soldiers from both countries coming ashore from ships before assaulting objectives inland.

Codenamed Exercise Trident, the training activity involves troops and vehicles being disgorged from the Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) landing ship tanks (LSTs), RSS Endurance and RSS Persistence, and then ferried ashore using fast craft utility (FCU) and fast craft equipment and personnel (FCEP).

Overhead, Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) CH-47F and H225M helicopters will be ferrying more troops ashore for the duration of the exercise, with AH-64D Apache attack helicopters providing air support and Heron I unmanned aircraft keeping watch over the proceedings and looking out for enemy movements.

This year's Exercise Trident, at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in Australia from Nov 6 to Nov 15, marks the first time in the exercise that participants will conduct assaults in jungle terrain and an urban setting.

In the first profile, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Australian Defence Force (ADF) troops will be ferried inland to a pre-determined landing zone on RSAF transport helicopters before an assault on a jungle objective occupied by the enemy.