The navies of Republic of Singapore and the United States wrapped up the first iteration of a new exercise which took place between August 19 and September 2.
With the training space available in the waters off Guam, exercise Pacific Griffin provided the RSN with the opportunity to join the US Navy in advanced warfare training, across the full-spectrum of anti-submarine, anti-surface and anti-air warfare.
Planning for Pacific Griffin began in 2016. The exercise involved more than 850 personnel from Singapore and the United States.
Besides the frigates RSS Stalwart and RSS Supreme, the RSN also participated with landing ship tank RSS Endurance. Naval assets from the US Navy included the littoral combat ship USS Coronado, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Benfold, and underway replenishment oiler USNS Pecos. Supporting air assets included a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft and Hawker Hunter fighter jets, and a Republic of Singapore Air Force Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter embarked on RSS Supreme.
The RSN also took the opportunity to conduct unilateral live-firings on the sidelines of the exercise. A designated time-on-target Harpoon missile live-firing was conducted by the RSN. This involved both of the RSN frigates firing a missile each to hit the same target simultaneously. Separately, RSS Stalwart and a Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter embarked on RSS Supreme neutralised a simulated underwater threat during a torpedo firing exercise. The RSN was last in Guam in 2014 during the multinational group sail to Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise.