The Five Power Defence Agreements (FPDA) came into force in 1971 as a consultative forum and not a treaty alliance. The FPDA was initially conceived as a transitional agreement to provide for the defence of peninsula Malaysia and Singapore until these new states could fend for themselves. The FPDA has evolved and adapted over the past forty years. As the author has argued elsewhere, the FPDA has become “the quiet achiever” and an important component among the plethora of multilateral security organizations making up Southeast Asia's security architecture.

The FPDA has developed a robust consultative structure, complemented by a standing multilateral military component, and a comprehensive exercise programme. The FPDA has gradually expanded its focus from the conventional defence of Malaysian and Singaporean air space, through an annual series of Air Defence Exercises (ADEXs), to large-scale combined and joint military exercises designed to meet emerging conventional and non-conventional security threats extending into the South China Sea. This chapter analyses the contribution of the FPDA's programme of exercises to regional security in the period from 2004 to the present when the latest evolution took place.

Background (1971–2003)

During the first decade of its existence (1971–81), the FPDA conducted only a handful of exercises. It was left up to each member to decide the degree of resources that it would contribute. The FPDA exercise programme evolved slowly. The operational command of FPDA exercises alternated between Malaysia and Singapore.

During the 1980s, the FPDA exercise programme evolved into staging regular land and sea exercises. In 1981, Australia hosted the first land exercise, Exercise PLATYPUS. Since 1981 the FPDA has conducted regular naval exercises. Initially designated Exercise STARFISH, they were renamed Exercise BERSAMA LIMA.

Towards the end of the 1980s, the FPDA exercise programme had become routine and predictable. The FPDA went into the doldrums as the forces committed by external powers began to decline. In 1988, the five defence ministers attended Exercise LIMA BERSATU and took stock of the situation and decided to revitalize the FPDA consultative process.