| The Royal Brunei Air Force |
As one of the smallest countries in the world, covering an area of only 5.770 square km, Brunei is located on the
South China Sea surrounded by East Malaysia (Serawak).
Despite it's size and a population of just over 320.000 citizens, Negara Brunei Darussalam,
which is the countries full name, is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Brunei’s economy is almost totally supported by the export of crude oil
and natural gas, and the countries economy is so steady that there are no taxes.
Brunei became a British protectorate in 1888, and it still is. The Royal Air Force therefore has a detachment of 3
Bell 212HPs forming 7th flight, at Brunei International Airport. Despite such wealth, Brunei does not operate a huge defence force. The military
force consists of Army, Navy, Police and Air Force.
The Royal Brunei Airforce was formed by decree of the Sultan on October 1, 1991. The Air Force consist of 4 squadrons with the majority of the helicopter fleet stationed at a group of hangars west
of the runway of Brunei IAP. A smaller second camp on the east side of Brunei International Airport houses the rest of the Air Force fleet.
Three Nurtanio/Casa CN235s in the Maritime Patrol conversion have been due for delivery for quite some time
and it remains unclear when they will actually be delivered.
Brunei has a long ongoing intention to purchase six BAE Systems Hawk Mk. 200’s and four Hawk Mk.100s. The
intention to buy these aircraft goes back as far as the mid eighties but still has not materialized.
The current fleet consists of 10 Bell 212s, 1 Bell 214 ST, 2 Sikorsky S-70L, 4 Sikorsky S-70A,
5 MBB Bolkow 105CB, 4 Pilatus PC-7 Mk2, 2 Bell 206B and one IPTN produced CN235-110M.
|
| |
Photo: Anonymous
Photo: Christoph Kugler
| More |
You can find more about the Brunei Air Force on these pages. On the Order of Battle page we show you where the
main bases of the tudb are. A map of Brunei is available. Click on an airbase to see what's there to be found. Also we present links to
Microsoft's Expediamaps services: with each airbase you can find a link to a map of the airbases' neighbourhood .
And of course we present you some links to other Brunei Aviation Pages
Order of Battle
The Database
Links to Related Websites
|
|
|
|
