Forging Bonds: Singapore Air Force trains alongside American Airmen in Idaho desert skies

  • Published
  • By By Airman 1st Class Donovin Watson
  • 366th Fighter Wing
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho — The skies above Idaho came to life this September as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) launched Exercise FORGING SABRE (XFS) 2025 — an integrated largescale training exercise designed to enhance Singapore’s combat readiness and integrated strike operations.

Conducted at Mountain Home Air Force Base and surrounding airspace, this tenth edition of the exercise involved more than 800 personnel of the SAF, including the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), the Singapore Army, and the Singapore Digital and Intelligence Service.

This year’s exercise theme, “Integrated, Adaptive, Precise”, reflected the SAF’s ability to execute complex “sense and strike” missions in a realistic environment approximately 20 times the size of Singapore.

For the first time, SAF integrated both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, and performed live software updates during mission execution. This capability enhanced the SAF’s sense-strike effectiveness, adaptability, and resilience under contested and degraded operating environments.

While the exercise is planned and conducted by the SAF, Mountain Home Air Force Base provides the ideal training environment — airspace, infrastructure and training range access necessary for this complex exercise to occur.

The 428th Fighter Squadron, home to the RSAF’s F-15SG training unit stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, represents one of many enduring partnerships that enable Singaporean aircrew to train with U.S. aircrew year-round. Exercises like FORGING SABRE, build on our continued collaborative strategic partnership — ensuring RSAF Airmen maintain operational readiness for realistic complex battlespace scenarios. XFS gives the US and Singapore a continued focus on our enduring security cooperation and reinforces our commitment to support regional stability.