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

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ; Jawi alphabet, 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 formations of the British Royal A ...

(). It is located in the

Federal Territory of Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

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. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...

. It is collocated 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 International Airport to be a regional hub for connecting flights within ...

History

RMAF Labuan started with the deployment of one detachment of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, under the command of Group Captain S.J. Rawling. After the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, some personnel were deployed to this airbase under the Air Force Borneo. At that early time, RMAF Labuan owned some Twin Pioneer aircraft for logistic and patrol role. The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in 1963 aroused the demand for this airbase to be upgraded as a main airbase for Malaysia. From 1965, RMAF Labuan saw a significant upgrade with the formation of the main administration branch, the expansion of the existing detachment, the formation of a new squadron and the commissioning 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 STOL, short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. The Caribou was first flown in 1 ...

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

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

also 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 popular ro ...

helicopters to provide a rotorcraft element. RMAF Labuan was inaugurated by the defence minister at the time, in 1968. Nowadays, RMAF Labuan is an important airbase for the RMAF as it grants 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 South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

and protects

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. RMAF Labuan is now the base of the RMAF's BAE Hawk 108 and

BAE Hawk 208 The British Aerospace Hawk 200 is a British single-seat, single-engine, subsonic Light fighter, light multirole fighter designed for air defence, air denial, Anti-surface warfare, anti-shipping, interdiction, close air support, and ground attack ...

Squadron assigned

Main squadron

References

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

History

Squadron assigned

Main squadron

See also

References