177 soldiers participating in Suman protector exercise

GEMAS: A total of 177 soldiers from the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) nations are participating in the 12-day Suman Protector Exercise which began yesterday.
Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) chief General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor said the objectives of the exercise were to strengthen interoperability between FPDA nations and enhance staff planning skills in Joint Operational Training of a Combined Joint Task Force.
"This is the third series of the exercise after it was held in Butterworth in 2007 and in Singapore in 2012. We believe that it's not the number but the outcome of the exercise that we want to achieve and it will be something interesting for us to move ahead concerning our cooperation under the FPDA," he told the media after officiating the Exercise Suman Protector 2017 Opening Ceremony at the Syed Sirajuddin Camp here today.
The FPDA, signed in 1971, involves defence cooperation between five Commonwealth countries – Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand – in the event of a threat of armed attack on Malaysia or Singapore.
The word "Suman" is derived from the names of the nations – Singapore, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Exercise Suman Protector is a complex Tier 3 multi-level Command Post Exercise hosted in turn by Malaysia or Singapore, and assisted in turn by Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom. — Bernama