Since its formation, the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) gone been through many changes and developments. Under its ruler, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah leadership, Brunei has shown its ability in contributing to maintaining regional and international peace. Cooperation continues to be further strengthened and improved especially through exchanges of visits and training exercises. The sultanate is proud that the RBAF, though small in size, is a well-trained and adequately equipped multi-service fighting force combining naval, air and land capabilities. The RBAF have recently formulated a vision for the 21st century, which included not only the process of procuring new equipment, establishing the necessary support facilities for the development of national defence, but also develop the manpower capability and enhancement of professionalism in the armed forces. With its "forward looking" plans to modernise and enhance capability to protect the security and sovereignty of Brunei, the RBAF plan to have a gradual development of the armed forces. It was also recently announced that the RBAF received an increase of allocation for the 2021/2022 defence budget. As one of the ministries to receive a large share of the national budget, the defence ministry is expected to focus on enhancing deterrence and response capabilities, promoting defence diplomacy and adopting a holistic approach to defence. The scope for national defence continues to widen and deepen with globalisation, economic interdependence, technological advancement, and the rise of various man-made and natural threats. Therefore the bulk of the recurring expenditure in 2021/2022 has been allocated to further strengthen RBAF's capacity in strategic capability projects and finance the maintenance of major assets such as ships, vehicles, aircraft and weapons. RBAF will also continue to make use of technology and innovation to support research.
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