Three decades of close cooperation and partnership between RAAF and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) were celebrated on October 13 with an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the RSAF Pearce Detachment.
Formed in March 1993 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Singapore and Australian governments, the detachment comprises 130 Squadron and Standards Squadron which train pilots, weapon systems officers, and flying instructors on the Pilatus PC-21 at RAAF Base Pearce.
In the time since, the RSAF Pearce Detachment has achieved over 200,000 flying hours and graduated more than 1000 aircrew.
During the ceremony, Chief of Air Force Air Marshall Robert Chipman and RSAF Chief of Air Force Major General Kelvin Khong unveiled a commemorative plaque. Singapore Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad unveiled a 30th anniversary tail flash design on a RSAF Pilatus PC-21.
The proceedings concluded with a combined flypast of Pilatus PC-21 aircraft from the RSAF Pearce Detachment and 2 Flying Training School as well as two BAE Hawk 127s from 79 Squadron.
RSAF Commanding Officer of 130 Squadron Lieutenant Colonel Goh Seow Hong said this milestone symbolised the strength and depth of the bilateral defence relationship between the countries and ties between the two air forces.
“All pilots in RSAF today would have passed through 130 Squadron at the Pearce Detachment in the course of their training,” Lieutenant Colonel Goh said.
“Many of us have forged close friendships with our RAAF counterparts over the years, and this has added to the strength of the people-to-people ties between our defence establishments.”
Commander Air Force Training Group Air Commodore David Strong said there had been many fantastic engagements with RSAF over the 30 years.
“It’s been an unwavering, strong relationship and RAAF Base Pearce represents an amazing opportunity for us to train and be increasingly interoperable,” Air Commodore Strong said.
“We’re both going after innovations and technology that allow us to achieve greater capability, and with us partnering into the Pilatus PC-21 system, we are going to make it even better together.”
An exchange program of qualified flying instructors runs regularly between 2 Flying Training School and RSAF’s 130 Squadron, which enables cross-pollination of ideas, strengthens relationships and allows the two units to better cooperate.
