KUANTAN – Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah today attended the final demonstration at the closing ceremony of the Jungle Falcon Exercises Series 1/2023, between the Malaysian Army (TDM) and the United Arab Emirates Land Forces (UAELF), at Felda Sungai Panching Selatan, here.
His Majesty was accompanied by his sons, the Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah and Tengku Arif Bendahara Tengku Muhammad Iskandar Ri’ayatuddin Shah.
Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Chief of Defence Force General Tan Sri Affendi Buang; Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail; UAE Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Lt General Eisa Saif AlMazrouei and UAE Ambassador to Malaysia, Khalid Ghanim Al Ghaith.
His Majesty, in his address, expressed pride in the cooperation and performance of the two defence forces involved in the joint exercise, which was described as excellent.
Al-Sultan Abdullah said that the training provides an opportunity to share knowledge and skills, and gives the UAELF the opportunity to gain experience in operating in tropical climates.
“I hope that this training will give us invaluable memories and we can be proud of the good execution, even though it took place in a palm oil plantation and not in the forest where we used to fight.
“I would like to thank the 4th Mechanised Brigade, as today I saw, for the first time with my own eyes, that the brigade is demonstrating its true capabilities,” said His Majesty, who also hoped that the good relations between the two countries can be maintained.
Al-Sultan Abdullah also spent time witnessing the demonstration of the final assault of the exercise and spending time with officers and personnel of both armed forces, as well as taking commemorative photographs.
The Jungle Falcon exercise is being held from July 4 to 16 in Kuantan and involves vehicles such as Adnan and Gempita armoured fighting vehicles, as well as the Pendekar tank led by the 4th Mechanised Brigade commander, Brigadier General Mohamad Rafi Mohd.
The exercise in the tropical climate involved 50 officers and 536 personnel of the 12th Battalion Royal Regiment (RAMD) (Mechanised), and 19 officers and 116 personnel of the UAELF 61st Infantry Battalion.
Malaysian Army Western Field Commander Lieutenant General Datuk Tengku Muhammad Fauzi Tengku Ibrahim and the head of Brigade Training UAELF Brigadier General Mohammed Khamis Mohammed Saif AlHassan closed the joint exercise.
The exercise is one of the approaches that enable the Malaysian Army to share capabilities, experience and knowledge with the UAELF’s military strategic partners in the field of conventional warfare.
Previously, the bilateral exercise between TDM and UAELF, namely Desert Tiger Exercise Series 6/2023, was conducted at Al Hamra Combat Training Centre in Abu Dhabi, from Feb 8 to 27 this year. – Bernama
