His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, recently graced a ceremony for the arrival of two new C295MW Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) aircraft for the at the Air Movement Centre in Rimba Air Force Base.
His Royal Highness’ arrival was greeted by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister of Defence Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi Haji Mohd Yussof along with Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Muhammad Haszaimi Bol Hassan, and Commander of the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Mohd Sharif Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim.
Also present at the ceremony were the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Services Commanders, Acting Joint Force Commander RBAF, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Senior Officers of the RBAF and a delegation from Airbus Defence and Space headed by Zakir Hamid, Head of Region Asia-Pacific and China.
His Royal Highness then proceeded to Bilik Merpati for a short briefing and video presentation from Airbus Defence and Space.
The event then commenced with a water salute ceremony to honour the arrival of the aircraft upon entering the Military Apron followed by a ‘Sujud Syukur’ performed by the C295MW aircrew, as a gesture of gratitude to Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala for a safe six-day long-range transit journey from the manufacturing factory in Seville, Spain beginning on 18 January 2024.
To bless the ceremony, a Doa Selamat was read by Commander Haji Ainolnizam Haji Ibrahim, RBN, Director of RBAF Religious Directorate (JAMA’AT).
His Royal Highness then was introduced to the aircrew involved and invited for a familiarisation tour of the C295MW aircraft, followed by a group photo session, pesambah presentation, luncheon and signing of the Royal Parchment.
The Air Transport project contract was signed by the Ministry of Defence, on behalf of the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, and Airbus Defence and Space on 2 December 2022 for the delivery of a fleet of four C295MW.
The arrival of the first two C295MW aircraft was the recent proceedings after the Customer Acceptance Test Ceremony was signed at Airbus Defence and Space in Seville, Spain attended by the Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister of Defence, Commander RBAF and Commander RBAirF.
The C295MW aircraft can carry various strategic and tactical transport missions, both regionally and internationally including Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuations), NEO (Non-combatant Evacuation Operations) and SAR (Search and Rescue operations), said Ministry of Defence in a statement.
The aircraft is also configurable to perform various roles such as Troop and Cargo Transport, VIP Transport, Freefall, Airborne Static Jumps, Cargo Drops and MEDEVAC.
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
