Singapore to buy four United States F-35 Joint Strike Fighters

Singapore

SINGAPORE will be seeking to buy four United States F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft with the option to buy eight more, as part of efforts to build the next-generation Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Friday.

In his speech during the debate on his ministry's budget, Dr Ng said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) will issue a letter of request to the US for an initial acquisition of four F-35s, with the option of a subsequent eight if Singapore decides to proceed.

As required by US law for foreign military sales, the US Congress must approve the sale of F-35s, Dr Ng said, adding that Singapore has the endorsement of both the US Administration and the Department of Defense for its proposed purchase.

He cited how US President Donald Trump wrote to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last month welcoming Singapore's plans to acquire the F-35.

"During my meeting with Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan at the Munich Security Conference two weeks ago, he also said that the US was greatly appreciative of Singapore's decision," said Dr Ng.

He added that the unit price of the F-35 JSF has been falling with "healthy" orders from the US and 10 other countries, including the UK, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

The current unit price of the F-35 ranges from US$90 million to US$115 million, which is comparable to what Singapore paid for its F-15SGs. He added that the total cost of ownership of a fleet of F-35s, including maintenance costs, will also be similar to the F-15SGs, and that Mindef will continue to work with the Department of Defense to optimise the costs.

Mindef said in January that the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Defence Science and Technology Agency have concluded that the air force should first purchase a "small number" of F-35 JSFs for a full evaluation of their capabilities and suitability before deciding on a full fleet, as the replacement for Singapore's ageing F-16s.

The F-35 JSFs and upgraded F-15SG fighter jets will form the RSAF's line-up of fighter jets post-2030, said Dr Ng, as he outlined steps to build the next-generation SAF of 2030 and beyond. For instance, he said, more advanced ships like the multi-role combat vessels, which can deploy unmanned air and sea drones, will replace the current fleet of missile corvettes by 2030.

There will also be a more protected and mobile army with platforms such as the next generation Armoured Fighting Vehicle, set to be delivered this year as replacement for the M113 Ultras, and upgraded Leopard tanks.

Coastal homeland security efforts will also be enhanced. The SAF's network of optical sensors and coastal radars will be expanded, said Dr Ng, adding that unmanned surface vessels will be used for patrols starting next year.

"In all, the next-generation SAF of 2030 and beyond, with this full complement of assets in air, land and sea, will be able to defend Singapore for another generation. This is the SAF that will take us into and guard our future. This is the SAF on air, land and sea with which the next generation of Singaporeans will celebrate for SG75," he added.

Dr Ng also said that the SAF will invest more into building training facilities, such as the 88 ha area training area about the size of Bishan, dubbed Safti City, which is "taking shape and on schedule".

More roads and bridges are being built so that motorised and mechanised troops in army vehicles can start training there this year, he said.

First announced in March 2017, the facility in western Singapore will complement traditional terrain with urban scenarios, with more than 200 buildings of different heights and types, to better train soldiers in a wide variety of operations in realistic settings, such as counter-terrorism and disaster relief operations.

On the cyber front, Dr Ng revealed that the SAF will tap national servicemen (NSmen) with information technology (IT) expertise as a result of their civilian jobs or training, following efforts to recruit cyber security specialists and to train full-time national servicemen (NSF) in the Cyber NSF scheme.

Defence Cyber Incident Response Teams will also be set up to respond to cyber incidents within the defence sector.

Separately, Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How announced that more SkillsFuture courses will be made available for NSmen to boost their employability.

They will soon be able to subscribe to some 3,000 courses with the S$350 in credit given to each of them. This is an increase from about 200 online courses offered by local universities and polytechnics currently available to them.

The wider selection of courses, planned to be introduced by mid-2019, will include SkillsFuture courses that focus on "emerging domains" such as data analytics and cyber security. There will also be online courses offered by SkillsFuture-approved training providers such as online learning platform Udemy.

In terms of exposure to future careers, customised SkillsFuture advice workshops, held four times a year for NSFs, are also on the cards. Aimed at preparing NSFs for the workplace transition, these workshops will be conducted at the Enhanced Career and Education Fair (ECEF), in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore, People's Association and Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).