5 Power Defence Arrangement's relevance 'stronger than it's ever been': UK Chief of Defence Staff

The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) defence partnership between Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom remains relevant in today's changing world, the defence chiefs of the five countries said at the 23rd FPDA Defence Chiefs' Conference (FDCC) held in Singapore on May 29, 2025.

Singapore's Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Vice Admiral (VADM) Aaron Beng, who chaired this year's forum, was joined by Australia's CDF Admiral David Johnston, Malaysia's CDF General Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar, New Zealand's CDF Air Marshal Tony Davies, and UK's Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin at the military forum that was last hosted by Malaysia in 2023.

This years meeting took place before the 2025 Shangri La Dialogue, a major defence forum taking place in Singapore from May 30 to Jun. 1.

"Continued commitment to the FPDA and its founding principles"

All five defence chiefs reiterated their commitment to the FPDA and its founding principles, emphasising the '3Rs' that guide the alliance's future outlook – Remit, Relevance and Reassurance.

Acknowledging that the five member countries are "relatively smaller countries" on the world stage, Beng reaffirmed his belief that they are "stronger together than alone".

The conference also highlighted the FPDA's key achievements in the past two years, including the successful conducts of Exercise Bersama Shield in 2024 and 2025, an annual integration exercise for FPDA air and maritime forces at the tactical-level.

Exercise Bersama Lima 2024, a tactical-level exercise involving FPDA combined and joint forces, including a land element, was also among the successful accomplishments discussed during the conference.

The defence chiefs also anticipated this year's iteration of Exercise Bersama Lima, which will include cutting edge warfighting serials like Australia's F-35 and the UK's Carrier Strike Group.

"The inclusion of next generation capabilities exemplifies the unity and strength of the FPDA and reaffirms the continued commitment of member-nations to strengthening the operational value of the FPDA exercises", Mindef said in a press release.

Remaining relevant in the changing world

Despite the five representatives stressing the FPDA's "significance as a transparent and constructive multilateral arrangement" in the region's security scene, the topic of its relevance was heavily discussed in the conference, as well as during the joint press conference held on the same day.

Beng noted that the FPDA is among the longest-standing regional security alliances in the region, having been established 54 years ago in 1971.

The grouping had "maintained a steady cadence of activities over this past year", including command post exercises, full troop exercises and meetings and exchanges.

Non-conventional elements of exercises are also employed by the FPDA to target contemporary security challenges, such as maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Australia's CDF Johnston added that the types of equipment used in joint training are also constantly evolving, as are the types of military platforms and capabilities the FPDA seeks to exercise, such as cyber security.

Beng also highlighted that the constantly changing types of threats are taken into account in keeping the FPDA relevant, such as risks against underwater digital information infrastructure.

The FPDA "will continue to look at emerging threats, look at the capabilities that all the nations have...and evolve our activities to meet the need", he added.

The defence chiefs disclosed that in order to constantly re-evaluate FPDA's progress and goals, a "stock take" is taken every five years.

Nonetheless, the UK's Radakin, responding to a question from Mothership, said that relevance "doesn't necessarily mean it has to be new", and that the group's relevance "is probably stronger than it's ever been".

The presence of all five defence chiefs together for the first time in 10 years, and the presence of an UK aircraft carrier taking part in a FPDA, the first time in 1997, suggests the grouping was "extraordinarily relevant" once again.

The FPDA and FDCC

The FDCC is the highest professional military forum of the FPDA and serves as a key platform for dialogue and exchange of views between defence chiefs of the five member-nations.

Set up in 1971, the FPDA aims to contribute to the external defence of Malaysia and Singapore.

The FDCC is hosted alternately between Singapore and Malaysia, and the last iteration was held in 2023.

Prior to the conference on May 29, the FPDA Defence Chiefs has called on Singapore's Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing.

Malaysia's CDF Mohd Nizam Jaffar also made an introductory visit to Singapore on May 28, calling on Chan and Beng before giving a speech at SAFTI MI as a guest speaker.

The leaders reaffirmed the warm and long-standing defence relations between Singapore and Malaysia, Mindef reported.

Top image via Chan Chun Sing/Facebook