IN A world of rising international tensions, the PAP Government will keep protecting Singapore from existential threats.
This goes beyond upgrading Singapore’s sea, land and air military hardware with state-of-the art Invincible-class submarines and F-35A stealth fighters.
The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) is also strengthening defence relationships with our neighbours, and global powers.
It is also innovating defences against evolving threats like hacking, drone warfare and bioterrorism.
Here are three mighty defence enhancements for our nation’s safety.
Strengthening good defence networks with our neighbours and global superpowers
Source: Lee Hsien Loong, Ng Eng Hen / Facebook
Singapore continues maintaining good defence relations with its neighbours, as well as with global superpowers like the United States and China.
A 2019 Amendment to the historic 1990 Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore and the United States — signed by US President Donald Trump during his first term — is vital here for the Singapore-US relationship.
“It remains a cornerstone document for our military ties and engagements when we facilitate rotations of US ships and planes through our military bases in Singapore. Now the 2019 protocol of amendment extended the 1990 MOU another 15 years,” said Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen during Day 2 of the Committee of Supply debates (3 Mar).
“During my call with Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth — and it occurred very soon after his confirmation — we both reiterated and affirmed our commitment to this longstanding defense relationship which has benefited both Singapore and the US,” added Minister Ng.
Minister Ng also participated in similarly-friendly high-level exchanges with China’s military, such as co-chairing the Singapore-China Defence Ministers’ Dialogue this past May, dialogues with senior People’s Liberation Army commanders and calls with the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, General Zhang Youxia.
“During these meetings, we affirm the good military-to-military interactions that we have through various exercises and these high-level meetings, and we plan to step up further interactions,” said Minister Ng.
Meanwhile, Indonesia and Singapore will conduct an inaugural bilateral air patrol under the Indonesia-Singapore Defence Cooperation Agreement later this year.
Singapore and Thailand also co-introduced a paper on protecting the region’s critical underwater infrastructure like power, energy and communications grids during the recent ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting; Malaysia strongly endorsed this paper.
Improving Singapore’s military hardware on sea, air and land
Source: Ng Eng Hen / Facebook
The Singapore Armed Forces will procure two more custom-built Invincible-class submarines to defend Singapore’s coasts.
These state-of-the art vessels are highly-automated, durable in tropical waters and boast enhanced firepower.
They will add to Singapore’s ongoing first wave of four Invincibles currently in development.
Concurrently, the Navy will launch its first in a fleet of multi-role combat vessels (MRCV) later this year.
“The MRCVs are larger and have greater range than the Victory class corvettes; about three times further,” said Minister Ng about how they compare to Singapore’s existing fleet.
“The MRCV is actually not one ship, but a mothership with unmanned platforms,” detailed Minister Ng, adding that it has a suite of advanced sensors and combat systems.
These submarines and MRCVs will secure Singapore’s waters in a changing threat environment.
In the air, Singapore has confirmed the purchase of eight more F-35A stealth aircraft from the United States, and is establishing F-35 and F-16 fighter detachments in America’s National Guard bases.
“These moves reflect the strength of our defense relationship with the US and the continued commitment to a multi-decade partnership,” said Minister Ng.
On land, SAF soldiers will have the new infantry fighting vehicle Titan increasing their firepower; the Singapore edition of this wheeled vehicle will come enhanced with a 30-millimeter cannon upgrade, more capable Hi-MARS rockets and anti-unmanned aerial systems capabilities.
“So with these added large-ticket items for air, land [and] sea, the SAF as a relatively small military would have been transformed into a state-of-the-art military with platforms comparable to advanced militaries elsewhere,” said Minister Ng.
Innovating our defences against biological threats, hackers and drones
Source: Ng Eng Hen / Facebook
Singaporeans will also have more protection against unconventional emerging threats. A regional Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) defence centre will be built in SIngapore, as well as a highly-secure Biosafety Level 4 laboratory
“It will be certified as a maximum containment facility [MCF]. Highest grade to be able to handle bioagents that are deemed highly-contagious and lethal, such as the Ebola virus,” said Minister Ng about the laboratory.
“That MCF will provide us with the capacity [and] the capability to assess the nature of an outbreak. Isolate [and] identify the bioagent and develop early disease control measures,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CBR defence centre will complement ASEAN’s network of bioterrorism defence experts. Personnel will work closely with the Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Coordination Centre as well as international civilian and military agencies.
Additionally, the SAF will build up defenses against unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones.
“The SAF will build new counter-UAS capabilities. [A] suite of sensors, jammers, weapons solutions to detect and neutralise smaller UASs,” said Minister Ng. “A newly-established SAF counter-UAS Development and Ops Group will be responsible to guard against this threat in collaboration with other government agencies.”
This Group will also help find cost-effective solutions against UAV attacks.
As for digital threats, the SAF Digital Intelligence Service (DIS) can now stand up two new commands; the SAF C4 and Digitalisation Command, and the Defence Cyber Command.
The former will consolidate the SAF’s digital hardware and software capabilities. The latter will defend Singapore’s cyber space alongside government and industry partners.
“If anyone attacks our digital backbone, our essential services will be crippled,” said Minister Ng. “It will impact economic [and] social wellbeing, and will have a direct impact even on our security forces.”
All of these defence enhancements for Singapore — from military partnerships, to hardware upgrades to establishing capabilities against new threats — continue the decades-long tradition of the PAP Government continually securing Singapore’s very existence.
As Minister Ng concluded: “As the world around us becomes more unpredictable and changes, the more we need to keep the strongest commitment to strengthen our own defences.”
“We will continue to build a strong SAF to protect Singapore, and keep Singapore as a sovereign, independent nation, to ensure peace and prosperity for another generation.”
