Brunei defense budget surges by 32%, with focus on intel, targeting

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Brunei, a small Southeast Asian sultanate bordered by Malaysia, is significantly raising its 2024 defense budget amid concerns over how to protect its territory.

In the coming fiscal year, the government has allotted 796.3 million Brunei dollars (U.S. $594 million) for defense. This represents a 31.6% jump over last year’s allocation of 605.2 million Brunei dollars.

This rise in military spending heavily surpasses the 5.5% increase in overall government outlays during the fiscal 2024/2025 time period.

When the budget was discussed at the Legislative Council on March 2, the secondary defense minister, Halbi bin Mohammad Yussof, warned Brunei faces a complex and unpredictable security landscape. (The country’s sultan serves as the primary defense minister.)

“The Ministry of Defence and Royal Brunei Armed Forces are actively working to improve intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, where a new system will be used in the near future,” Halbi said, without providing specifics. “Attention is also focused on the ability to monitor and detect underwater threats to ensure an effective response in maintaining the territorial integrity of Brunei.”

The International Trade Administration, which is part of the U.S. Commerce Department, notes opportunities for American defense contractors in Brunei, having updated this information Feb. 22.

“Brunei has stated its intent to acquire new defense equipment, including surface/maritime surveillance radar, airspace surveillance platforms, maritime patrol aircraft, fixed-wing transport aircraft, medium-range air defense systems, and related assets,” the organization’s website reads. “Military services may also be interested in non-lethal equipment, which may be procured through vendors registered with the Ministry of Defense.”

Brunei considers tensions in the South China Sea , where it and several other nations dispute territorial ownership, as a major security challenge. It also identified other threats in its 2021 defense whitepaper, including regional and global instability; terrorism, extremism and transnational crime; cyber and technological threats; natural disasters; and “the influence of major power dynamics in the region.”

“Tensions over overlapping claims, [and over] illegal fishing, and the security of sea lines of communication (SLOC) from those who seek to exploit internationally recognised laws, all have placed continued and growing demands on Brunei Darussalam’s security forces to secure and police its sovereign maritime borders and territory,” the document noted, using the formal name of the country.

Two C295MW tactical transport aircraft entered service with Brunei on Feb. 14, 2024, with two more units still to come. (Airbus)

Brunei has already filled some maritime surveillance gaps. It received Insitu-made Integrator drones in 2022 and subsequently set up its first drone unit, No. 39 Squadron.

Furthermore, the Navy received two refurbished Fearless-class patrol vessels in 2023. Singapore donated these secondhand, 500-ton vessels.

Another important purchase in December 2022 was four Airbus C295MW tactical transport aircraft. The first two aircraft were commissioned Feb. 14, with the manufacturer Airbus saying they would “strengthen the country’s air capabilities, and can be deployed on a wide range of missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, medical evacuations, noncombatant evacuations as well as search and rescue operations.”

In addition to new equipment, Brunei’s military plans to carefully husband its current assets.

“The replacement, upgrading and service life extension programs for capability systems and infrastructure will be done in stages based on the level of priority, before moving on to new acquisitions in the future,” Halbi said.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——与马来西亚接壤的东南亚小型苏丹国文莱，由于担心如何保护其领土，大幅提高了其 2024 年国防预算。

在即将到来的财政年度，政府已拨款7.963亿文莱元（约合5.94亿美元）用于国防。这比去年的6.052亿文莱元拨款增加了31.6%。

2024/2025 财年期间，军费开支的增幅远远超过了政府整体支出 5.5% 的增幅。

3月2日，在立法委员会讨论预算案时，国防部第二部长哈尔比·本·穆罕默德·优素福警告说，文莱面临着复杂且难以预测的安全形势。（该国苏丹兼任国防部长。）

哈尔比表示：“国防部和文莱皇家武装部队正积极致力于提升情报、监视、目标获取和侦察能力，不久的将来将启用一套新系统。”但他并未透露具体细节。“同时，我们也重点关注水下威胁的监测和探测能力，以确保在维护文莱领土完整方面做出有效应对。”

美国商务部下属的国际贸易管理局指出，美国国防承包商在文莱有很多机会，该信息已于 2 月 22 日更新。

该组织网站上写道：“文莱已表明有意采购新的国防装备，包括水面/海上监视雷达、空域监视平台、海上巡逻机、固定翼运输机、中程防空系统及相关资产。军方也可能对非致命性装备感兴趣，这些装备可通过国防部注册的供应商采购。”

文莱认为南海局势紧张，该国与其他几个国家在南海存在领土争端，这是文莱面临的一项重大安全挑战。文莱在其2021年国防白皮书中还列出了其他威胁，包括区域和全球不稳定；恐怖主义、极端主义和跨国犯罪；网络和技术威胁；自然灾害；以及“该地区主要大国动态的影响”。

该文件指出，“由于领土主张重叠、非法捕鱼以及海上交通线安全受到那些试图利用国际公认法律的人的侵害，所有这些紧张局势都对文莱达鲁萨兰国的安全部队提出了持续增长的要求，要求其维护和巡逻其主权海上边界和领土。”这里使用了该国的正式名称。

两架C295MW战术运输机于2024年2月14日交付文莱，另有两架即将交付。（空客）

文莱已经填补了一些海上监视方面的空白。2022年，文莱接收了Insitu公司生产的Integrator无人机，随后组建了其第一个无人机部队——第39中队。

此外，海军于 2023 年接收了两艘翻新的“无畏”级巡逻舰。这两艘二手 500 吨级舰艇由新加坡捐赠。

2022年12月，另一项重要采购是四架空客C295MW战术运输机。前两架飞机于2月14日交付使用，制造商空客公司表示，这些飞机将“增强该国的空中能力，并可部署于各种任务，包括人道主义援助和救灾行动、医疗后送、非战斗人员撤离以及搜救行动。”

除了购置新装备外，文莱军方还计划谨慎使用现有资产。

“能力系统和基础设施的更换、升级和延寿计划将根据优先级分阶段进行，然后再进行未来的新采购，”哈尔比说。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。