AIR FORCE



The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has the ability to project power far beyond its borders. The fast jet fleet is headed by 24 Boeing F-15SG Strike Eagles featuring Raytheon’s APG-63(V)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The F-15s are supported by 60 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters that are to undergo a midlife upgrade likely to include AESA radar expected to be supplied by either Northrop Grumman or Raytheon.

Singapore has investigated the feasibility of acquiring Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning-II multirole combat aircraft and it has contributed financially to the programme as a Security Cooperation Participant. No order has been placed, but Singapore could be interested in up to 75 aircraft with the ‘Bravo’ short-take off/vertical landing type ideal for a territory with a shortage of runways.

A request for information for aerial refuelling tankers to replace four ageing Boeing KC-135R Stratotankers was issued in February 2012. The Boeing KC-46A and Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) are the obvious contenders. Another RSAF requirement set to attract attention at the 2014 Singapore Air Show is the anticipated replacement of five Fokker 50 maritime patrol aircraft.

Singapore ordered four Gulfstream G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft fitted with Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta EL/W-2085 Phalcon radar, with all aircraft delivered to the RSAF’s 111 Squadron in 2011. They achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC) in April 2012. These aircraft have a nine-hour endurance and their arrival allowed the retirement of four Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes which had been used for the airborne early warning mission. Elsewhere ST Aerospace is upgrading ten Lockheed Martin C 130B/H Hercules turboprop freighters, with the first delivered to the RSAF in September 2010. The Hercules fleet will gain a 20-year life extension and feature a glass cockpit with modern navigation equipment. Work should conclude on this programme in 2014.

The RSAF opted for a dozen Alenia Aermacchi M-346 aircraft for its advanced jet training programme with the first arriving in August 2012. The M-346s are based in Cazaux, southwest France and ST Aerospace manages this programme. Meanwhile, the RSAF operates all the country’s military helicopters including six Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk maritime support rotorcraft used aboard the navy’s ‘Formidable’ class frigates. They entered service with 123 Squadron, Singapore’s first ever naval helicopter squadron, in January 2011. The Seahawks feature L-3’s Helicopter Long-Range Active Sonar (HELRAS) dipping sonar and Whitehead A244S torpedoes. The Seahawks achieved FOC in May 2012. Two more S-70B Seahawks are believed to have been ordered in February 2013 with delivery expected in 2016. The RSAF also flies 20 Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters.

The RSAF is the most impressive user of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in Southeast Asia. The RSAF’s UAV Command was established in May 2007 and 116 Squadron has operated the Elbit Hermes 450 Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) UAV since 2007, while 119 Squadron formally transitioned to the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1 MALE in May 2012. The latest development is the acquisition of Insitu ScanEagle UAVs for the navy with this fee-for-service contract being revealed in July 2012. The ‘Victory’ class corvette RSS Valiant has been fitted with the ScanEagle’s Skyhook arresting system to this end. Meanwhile, six army units have operated the ST Aerospace Skyblade III tactical UAV since 2010.

The island’s air defences were enhanced by the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ SPYDER-SR (Surface-to-air PYthon-5 and DERby Short-Range) Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) to replace the 30-year-old BAE Systems Rapier short-range SAM system. The truck-mounted SPYDER-SR has an eleven-nautical-mile (20-kilometre) range, and the first examples were unveiled in mid-2011. In September 2013, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) confirmed the Eurosam Aster 30 medium-range SAM had been selected to replace six batteries’ worth of Raytheon MIM-23 I-HAWKs SAMs.

NAVY


The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) features one of the region’s most capable fleets. The latest news concerns the 2 December 2013 announcement that the MINDEF had ordered two Type 218SG conventional submarines from ThyssenKrupp of Germany. The customised Type 218SG features an Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) system that greatly boosts its ability to stay underwater for prolonged periods of time, but few other technical details are known regarding this new class. Both boats should be delivered from 2020 and, along with two existing ‘Archer’ class boats they will form the RSN’s underwater fleet.

Arrival of the Type 218SG will allow the progressive retirement of ‘Challenger’ class submarines built in the 1960s. The second 1,500-ton ‘Archer’ class submarine, RSS Swordsman, was commissioned on 30 April 2013. The ‘Archer’ class was acquired second-hand from Sweden, and they underwent refitting to configure them for tropical service. Serving with 171 Squadron, they carry a Stirling Mk III AIP system.

In January 2013 ST Marine was contracted to design and build eight Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to replace the incumbent ‘Fearless’ class. The 80-metre (262 feet)-long, 1,150-tonne Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV) design will be built at ST Marine’s Benoi Yard. Deliveries should occur between 2016 and 2018 and Sagem of France is developing the fire control system for the vessels’ gun. An RSN spokesman told the Asian Military Review that, “The LMVs will ensure better sea-keeping in high sea states, plus they will possess a high level of automation and decision support systems to enable leaner crew manning.” These vessels will be the launch customer for the Thales Netherlands NS-100 S-band (2.3-2.5/2.7-3.7 gigahertz) ship-borne surveillance radar.

Upgrades are currently occurring on several RSN ships. Sensor and weapon systems of six ‘Victory’ class missile corvettes are being modernised to meet evolving operational demands, with the outfit of several vessels already completed. Additionally, Thales is enhancing the sensors of ‘Bedok’ class mine countermeasure vessels, including the installation of an integrated mine-countermeasure combat system, mine information system, hull-mounted sonar, expendable mine disposal system and towed synthetic aperture sonar. The first upgraded vessel tested its mine disposal system in mid-2012. Furthermore, the navy pioneered the use of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) with its first operational deployment of the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Protector in 2005.

Rear-Admiral (RADM) Ng Chee Peng, Singapore’s chief of navy, told the Asian Military Review that disruption to the island’s sea lanes would have severe implications. “Freedom of navigation and continued access to sea lines of communication is of particular importance to Singapore, where trade is 3.5 times our gross domestic product,” he explained. Half the world’s shipping by tonnage and half the world’s oil tankers sail through the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca and Singapore annually.

RADM Ng added that, “we recognise that no single agency or country, no matter how well resourced, can respond effectively to the plethora of maritime security threats on its own.” Thus in 2009 the RSN established the Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF) that enhances awareness of the regional maritime situation through information-sharing with national and international maritime agencies. Security was further strengthened when the National Maritime Security System (NMSS) was created in 2011. Led by the RSN the NMSS is a whole-of-government framework that tightens integration among agencies such as the Police Coast Guard, Singapore Customs and the country’s Maritime and Port Authority.

Singapore conducts coordinated sea and air patrols in the Malacca Strait with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand under the Malacca Strait Patrols initiative, as well as coordinated sea patrols in the Singapore Strait with Indonesia under the ambit of the Indonesia-Singapore Coordinated Patrol. RADM Ng said that, “the cooperation with our neighbours has helped to improve the maritime security situation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Cooperative efforts between Singapore and Indonesia have also seen a decrease in the number of sea robberies from a high of 27 in 1992 to just three in 2012.” Significant was the US Navy’s maiden deployment of a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to Singapore in 2013. To this end the USS Freedom was based at Changi Naval Base from April until November 2013. Eventually four LCS vessels will be located in Singapore to provide the United States with a strategic presence in Singapore’s locale.

ARMY

Singapore has assumed near-independence in terms of armoured-vehicle production specifically through ST Kinetics (STK). Introduced in 1999 the Bionix Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) appears in several variants: the Bionix 40/50 has a one-man cupola with a 40 millimetre (1.6 inch) automatic grenade launcher and .50-cal machine gun; Bionix 25 with 25mm (one-inch) ATK M242 cannon in a two-man turret; and Bionix II with 30mm (1.2-in) ATK Mk44 Bushmaster II cannon. An estimated 720 Bionix vehicles are in service. The Singapore Army also has Bionix recovery, bridge-laying and mine-clearing variants.

The STK Terrex eight-wheel-drive vehicle reached FOC in mid-2011, with production beginning via a contract for 135 vehicles to equip three infantry battalions. By early 2013, the initial order had been fulfilled and another contract was believed to have been placed. The 24-tonne Terrex is fully amphibious, and the Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) variant is armed with an EOS R-600 Remote Weapon Station (RWS). A gunshot detection system is mounted on some vehicles, and the Terrex is fitted with a high-tech Battlefield Management System (BMS) from ST Electronics. Additionally, the Command, Control and Information System (CCIS) synchronises dismounted infantry troops fitted with the Advanced Combat Man System (ACMS) to higher headquarters. Singapore has other Terrex types planned: Anti-Tank Guided Missile (using the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Spike missile); Command, Medical; Pioneer (with obstacle-clearing blade and gap-crossing Heavy Short Trackway Bridge); Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA); and STrike OberveR Mission (STORM) for artillery observers. The Terrex was one of four shortlisted vehicles in the US Marine Corps Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC) requirement before the project was frozen in 2013.

Singapore also owns some of the region’s most capable tanks. Taking advantage of a German sell-off, Singapore procured 96 Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tanks (MBT), 30 of which were spare-parts donors. They were immediately put through an upgrade programme engineered by IBD Deisenroth Engineering. The resulting Leopard 2SG is fitted with IBD’s Evolution suite that boasts fourth-generation Advanced Modular Armour Protection (AMAP), plus steel slat armour installed on the hull, turret rear and flanks. An Active Protection System (APS) from ADS Gesellschaft of Germany is likely to equip the vehicles but has not been seen publicly to date. Singapore has also inducted Leopard 2 Armoured Recovery Vehicles, Armoured Vehicle-Launched Bridges and Armoured Engineering Vehicles. It is believed Singapore desires a new light tank to replace its retired AMX-13 fleet too.

In late 2009 the army took delivery of the first of 18 Lockheed Martin High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). These truck-mounted 227mm (nine inch) rocket systems with 70km (44 mile) range became operational with the 23rd Battalion in September 2011. In November, Singapore requested the sale of 88 Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) pods and associated rockets from Lockheed Martin. Meanwhile, STK is conducting feasibility studies on a 155mm (6.1 inch) Advanced Mobile Gun System based on an eight-wheel-drive chassis. The conceptual 28-tonne vehicle offers improved mobility compared to STK-produced tracked Primus self-propelled and Pegasus towed howitzers.

STK has achieved export success with its small arms and ammunition. For example it unveiled 40mm medium-velocity rounds in 2010 that have a 50% longer range than existing low-velocity rounds. STK has also sold Bronco tracked vehicles to Thailand and the UK. In September 2011 STK won a $54 million contract to supply its second-generation Spider Light Strike Vehicle (LSV) to the Singapore Army with deliveries concluding in 2014. Patrick Choy, executive vice president of international marketing at ST Engineering, revealed the LSV has achieved export sales although he could not disclose client identities because the vehicles are typically used by special forces.

The army is believed to have remaining requirements for light reconnaissance vehicles, body armour, SAMs and Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS). This demonstrates the SAF’s resolve, despite already possessing regional dominance in military equipment, to continually improve its capabilities.