RMAF Labuan ( ms, TUDM Labuan) is an air force base operated by the

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ms, Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia; TUDM; Jawi: ) was formed on 2 June 1958 as the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (; ). However, its roots can be traced back to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force format ...

( ms, Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia). It is located in

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capit ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. Near the coast of Sabah is a small archipelago called Labuan. East Malaysia li ...

. It is colocated with the

Labuan Airport Labuan Airport is an airport that serves the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia. The airport is or by road from Victoria (Labuan Town). It was planned for Labuan Airport to be a regional hub for connecting flights within the Association ...

History

RMAF Labuan starts from the deployment of one detachment to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, under the command of Group Captain S.J. Rawling. After the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, some personnel have been deployed to this airbase under the Air Force Borneo. At the early time, RMAF Labuan owned some of the Twin Pioneer for logistic and patrol role.

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...

in 1963 arouse the demand for this airbase to be upgrade as main airbase for Malaysia. From 1965, RMAF Labuan have seen a significant upgrade by the form of main administration branch, the expansion of existing detachment, the formation of new squadron and the commissioned of new aircraft. In 1966, RMAF Labuan received its first batch of

DHC-4 Caribou The de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou (designated by the United States military as the CV-2 and later C-7 Caribou) is a Canadian specialized cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. The Caribou was first flown in 1958 ...

to strengthen the No 8 Skn that already operates Twin Pioneer transport aircraft. The No 5 Skn that formed in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

also have been moved to the RMAF Labuan with their

Aérospatiale Alouette III The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by France, French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a relatively p ...

helicopter to provide rotorcraft element. Inauguration of the RMAF Labuan take place in 1968 by defence minister at that time. Nowadays, RMAF Labuan became an important airbase for RMAF for the direct access to the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

and to protect

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. RMAF Labuan now the base of the BAE Hawk 108 and BAE Hawk 208.

References

{{Airbases in Malaysia Buildings and structures in Labuan Royal Air Force stations of World War II in British Malaya

History

See also

References