Army strengthens ties with Singapore on Exercise Matilda

The Australian and Singapore Armies have strengthened ties through training during Exercise Matilda, which concludes today in South East Queensland.

 Around 40 soldiers from the Singapore Army participated in the two-week biennial exercise with their Australian Army counterparts from 8th/9th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, at Brisbane’s Gallipoli Barracks.

 7th Brigade Commander, Brigadier Andrew Hocking said the exercise focused on a number of key military practices, including urban operations and reconnaissance.

 “This exercise is a great example of Australian and Singaporean soldiers working together to plan and execute training missions in bush and urban environments. The training provided soldiers the opportunity to exchange tactics, enhancing our ability to work together in the future,”  Brigadier Hocking said.

 “Exercise Matilda is an important activity as we continue to build the mutual respect, friendship and cooperation with our Singaporean counterparts.”

 Exercise Matilda began with integration training across basic soldier skills including weapons, vehicles and tactics, before progressing to urban operations scenarios incorporating Singaporean Army intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.

 “The troops gained valuable knowledge from one another, which helped build our foundation warfighting skills and strengthen the bond between our two nations.”

 Australia and Singapore are close partners, and participate in a range of bilateral and multilateral exercises to increase interoperability each year. 

Imagery will be available at:  https://images.defence.gov.au/S20192778