FPDA Exercise Suman Warrior 2025 Strengthens Multinational Land Interoperability in Asia-Pacific

FPDA Deepens Regional Land-Warfare Cohesion at 33rd Exercise Suman Warrior in New Zealand

Mohd Hanif Ismail - : Nov 19, 2025 - : 10:48 am

To read the full article, please log in or enter your email below:

In a clear demonstration of its enduring relevance, the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) successfully executed the 33rd Exercise Suman Warrior (XSW) from 3 to 13 November 2025 at Linton Military Camp in Palmerston North, New Zealand. This brigade-level Command Post Exercise (CPX), anchored in conventional land operations, brought together around 140 personnel from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom to strengthen interoperability and foster shared operational approaches.

Hosted by the New Zealand Army, XSW 25 centred on realistic scenarios that challenged command, staff, and logistics functions under pressure. According to the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), each participant nation fielded its own battle group that devised tactical responses using 90 m² floor-models and subsequently wargamed their plans through a simulation programme. This method not only tested planning and decision-making processes, but also enabled cross-national learning in a controlled but demanding environment.

The exercise’s Singapore contingent, consisting of 24 personnel led by Lieutenant Colonel Bani Faizal, Commanding Officer of the 730th Battalion (Singapore Guards), underscored Singapore’s commitment to regional defence cooperation. Lieutenant Colonel Bani noted that working alongside fellow FPDA partners enhances trust, mutual understanding, and professional expertise — foundational elements for sustaining long-term defence ties.

From Australia’s perspective, the exercise reinforced Canberra’s dedication to collective security in the Indo-Pacific. About 35 Australian Defence Force personnel, including specialists in civil-military cooperation and medical support, took part, according to the Australian Department of Defence. Vice Admiral Justin Jones, Chief of Joint Operations, remarked that Suman Warrior 2025 underlined Australia’s “enduring commitment to working with our regional partners … in support of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

The UK’s participation, though smaller in number, reflects longer-term strategic ties with the FPDA. London has steadily reaffirmed its involvement in the grouping, including through its Carrier Strike Group in related exercises. Meanwhile, Malaysia and New Zealand, represented through their respective land formations, leveraged the CPX to sharpen staff processes and reinforce shared doctrine in high-tempo planning cycles.

Beyond the exercise itself, XSW 25 must be viewed in the broader context of FPDA’s evolving posture. At the 23rd FPDA Defence Chiefs’ Conference in May 2025, defence leaders reaffirmed the “3Rs” — Remit, Relevance and Reassurance — as guiding principles for the grouping’s future. They also endorsed a five-year roadmap to deepen both conventional and non-conventional defence cooperation, including protecting critical undersea infrastructure.

Indeed, the FPDA is expanding its training ambit. Earlier in 2025, Exercise Bersama Shield brought together approximately 800 personnel, 30+ aircraft, and seven surface warships to simulate high-end warfighting, including cyber and information warfare elements. Meanwhile, Exercise Bersama Lima 2025 saw even greater scale and sophistication, with the integration of next-generation platforms such as Australia’s F-35s and the UK’s Carrier Strike Group — reinforcing how the FPDA is modernising to meet emergent strategic challenges.

From a regional security perspective, XSW 25 reaffirmed the FPDA’s role as a cornerstone of defence cooperation in Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific. That the exercise was hosted in New Zealand — one of the more geographically distant FPDA members — also emphasises the truly multinational character of the partnership. New Zealand’s hosting role not only strengthens bilateral ties but signals its willingness to contribute to collective defence through capacity-building rather than just force projection. As Colonel Mike van Welie of the New Zealand Army put it, such exercises “allow us to sharpen tactics, develop the most effective battle plans and learn from each other to stay at the cutting edge of warfare.”

In sum, Exercise Suman Warrior 25 showcased how the FPDA continues to adapt: combining legacy commitments in conventional land warfare with modern, flexible training modes. As geopolitical competition intensifies in the Asia-Pacific, the exercise underscores the FPDA’s persistence as a constructive and relevant pillar of regional stability.