DEFENDING THE EXPANDING FENCE WHITE PAPER 2011 NATION’S ROLES IN SOVEREIGNTY: WIDER HORIZONS A COMPREHENSIVE TRANSFORMATION “In this global era, the Royal Brunei Armed Forces is bound to confront various challenges, which require the Armed Forces to be more courageous and vigilant. It must continue to keep abreast with every development, and be prepared to face any eventualities."” His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s Titah (Royal Speech) in conjunction with the Opening Ceremony of the Defence Staff College Course on 25 November 2010 Defending the Nation’s Sovereignty : Expanding Roles in Wider Horizons is very much a contemporary document. It captures the security challenges currently and prospectively confronting the nation. It provides a clear roadmap as to how Defence policy initiatives and the actions and the capabilities of the RBAF will defend the nation and its interests in the future. At the same time, the conclusions that it reaches reflect the comprehensive transformation that has occurred in the RBAF since its original establishment as the Brunei Malay Regiment on 31 May 1961. * The then small infantry force of three companies had to wait three years until it was able to deploy to a home barracks. Modest naval and air mobility were introduced shortly afterwards but the force’s roles were confined primarily to the development and security of the nation itself. * It was ten years before the Boat Squadron gained a limited capacity to control coastal waters, a second infantry battalion was only formed in 1975, and a further five years elapsed before the Air Wing gained a second helicopter squadron. From the late 1970s, a series of significant enhancements occurred in the size, combat power and organisation of the armed forces. * The Navy acquired more formidable missile equipped patrol craft. * The Land Force's firepower and reconnaissance capability was boosted with the purchase of the Scorpion light tank and Rapier surface to air missile. " A fixed wing training capability complemented the Air Force’s establishing the foundations for a future air defence capability. new Bell 212 helicopters, The formal establishment of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces on 17 September 1991 with a distinct Land Force, Navy and Air Force reflected this new robustness and provided a clear framework for future development in each of the Services. What was missing from the equation was a more holistic approach maximising the overall effectiveness of what still remained a compact force to defend the nation and its interests. " The increasing complexity of post-Cold War strategic environment, necessity to more actively manage nation’s security interests, and prospective need to replace the the the the the forces’ major combat capabilities to maintain its operational effectiveness reinforced that need.