[5] The forerunner of the RBN was established on 14 June 1965, the second unit created after the formation of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF).

Additionally, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah declared that the regiment will shortly be outfitted with swift patrol boats, armoured vehicles, helicopters, and hovercraft.

Its manning strength was only eighteen personnel, including one officer from the First Battalion who had attended a basic military course in Federation of Malaya in 1961 until 1964.

Vosper Limited of Portsmouth, UK, produced the fast patrol boat KDB Pahlawan, which was put into service.

The Boat Company was reorganised as the First Flotilla, RBMR, or natively known as Angkatan Laut Pertama, Askar Melayu Diraja Brunei (ALP AMDB).

[12] While visiting the Muara Base in 1969 to observe an air and sea rescue exercise, retired Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III hoisted the new ensign created for the flotilla under the command of the KDB Pahlawan, which was initially launched in December 1966 by then Crown Princess Saleha.

[13] With a peak speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), the wooden-hulled boats were outfitted with light machine guns on the bridge and Oerlikon 20 mm cannons fore and aft.

A revised 1971 Brunei-UK Agreement transferred all internal security responsibilities from Britain to the Sultanate, with the UK solely being accountable for Brunei's exterior defense.

The flagship KDB Pahlawan, which was acquired by the RBMR Sea Wing in 1976, was instrumental in enabling the British-officered Brunei flotilla to become the most formidable indigenous naval group in the northwest Bruneian waterways.

[18] When the dispute was settled in favour of BAE Systems, the vessels were handed over to Royal Brunei Technical Services (RBTS) in June 2007.

[17] In 2007, Brunei contracted the German Lürssen shipyard to find a new customer for the three ships, though by 2011 the vessels remained unsold and laid up at Barrow-in-Furness.

[19] These ships were eventually purchased in 2013 by the Indonesian Navy for £380 million, or half of the original unit cost, and renamed Bung Tomo-class corvette.

Launched on 6 January 2011, KDB Darulaman, the third Darussalam-class OPV, was the first to be put into the water for its acceptance testing in the harbour and at sea before to its August 2011 delivery date.

The Waspada-class fast attack craft and Perwira-class patrol boat, which had served the Sultanate for forty years, were scheduled to be replaced by these modern platforms.

[24] During the Exercise RIMPAC 2014 naval exercise, which was hosted by the United States Navy, the RBN's Darussalam-class OPVs, KDB Darussalam and KDB Darulaman, fired their MBDA Exocet MM40 Block II anti-ship missiles for the first time in the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), which is located 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) north of Kauai.