PUBLISHED ONJuly 23, 2026 12:35 PMBYKhoo Yi-HangThe Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) have successfully completed their eighth annual search and rescue exercise (Sarex), Singapore's Ministry of Defence (Mindef) announced on Thursday (July 23).
Held from July 17 to 23 at Kuantan Air Base in Malaysia, Sarex saw the RSAF's H225M helicopter and the RMAF's EC725 helicopter co-operate with each other alongside ground crew and medical teams.
Mindef said that the exercise involves participants working together, responding to an aerial mishap scenario off Pulau Tioman, Malaysia.
This year, a new component was introduced where search and rescue medical teams from both RSAF ad RMAF were trained regarding the end-to-end care for simulated casualties, from in-flight treatment to patients transfers.
Speaking at the closing ceremony at the air base on Thursday, RSAF's head of air operations, Brigadier-General (BG) Phua Jia Kai said that the exercise is a testament of the "close and enduring relationship" between the two countries.
"Our two countries share not only close geographical proximity, but also deep historical ties and longstanding defence relations," he said.
RMAF's air operations commander Lieutenant General Dato' Masro Kaliwon said: "The exercise's goals to enhance search and rescue co-operation, strengthen interoperability through the exchange of knowledge and experience, and foster closer ties between the two air forces have all been successfully achieved."
Sarex Malsing began in 2018 and has been a significant platform for enhancing professionalism and relations between both air forces, as well as fostering closer rapport and mutual co-operation among personnel, Mindef added.
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