http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Security/2008/01/11/comparing_three_ethnic_chinese_militaries/9698/
HONG KONG, China, China, Taiwan and Singapore all share the Chinese
language and culture. Yet due to their different positions in the
international sphere and the capabilities of their respective
military industries, the three have chosen very different military
strategies and weapons systems. It is interesting to compare the
three approaches.
First, in terms of military strategy, China is now gradually
transforming itself from the passive defense of the Cold War years
to today's active defense, with balanced offensive and defensive
capabilities. China's navy is also turning from coastal defense to
offshore defense.
The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are now under abnormal
adversarial conditions. Taiwan's strategic goal has changed from
staging large-scale counterattacks on mainland China to engaging in
a decisive battle away from Taiwan Island and establishing balanced
offensive and defensive capabilities.
Singapore's approach is proactive defense, typical of a small
country. Since Singapore is much better off than other countries in
the region, and it has a sensitive historical relationship with
Malaysia, Singapore's national defense policy has followed the
dual-track principle of diplomacy and deterrence.
While building up formidable military strengths to dissuade
potential enemies from reckless action, Singapore also tries to
reinforce its national defense through diplomatic ties, hoping it
will receive support from the outside world should the regional
situation deteriorate. Singapore learned from the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait that wealth does not equal peace.
The military strategies and doctrines of Singapore and Taiwan are
becoming increasingly close. Both are attempting to establish
effective deterrence against potential adversaries through building
up their military machines. Both also rely on the diplomatic or
even military involvement of world powers should they face a
protracted conflict.
By procuring large batches of arms and establishing special
military ties with the United States, both Singapore and Taiwan
hope to guarantee their own security, expecting that the United
States would come to their rescue should a major conflict
arise.
Singapore's practice of purchasing AIM-120C air-to-air missiles and
storing these weapon systems in the United States is clearly an
attempt to establish a tangible military alliance with the United
States and to integrate diplomatic deterrence with military
deterrence. If a conflict broke out, Singapore would inevitably ask
the United States to deliver the weapon systems stored on U.S.
territory, which would make it impossible for the United States to
remain neutral.
Taiwan's approach in recent years has been more or less similar.
For the same purpose, Singapore may also deposit the 66 Leopard 2A4
main battle tanks it procured from Germany in Australia, as a
tactic to contain the latest move of the Malaysian army to import
PT91M main battle tanks from Poland.
Secondly, Singapore hopes to win additional layers of protection
through its "diplomatic deterrence" strategy. Through reinforcing
its ties with Australia, Canada and the joint defense cooperation
among the five ASEAN countries, Singapore intends to implement the
strategy of multi-layered diplomatic deterrence; that is, using
different diplomatic deterrence strategies to deal with different
adversaries.
In recent years, Taiwan has also sought to weaken the dominance of
the United States in the dynamics of the Taiwan Strait and actively
expand its military exchanges with Japan, Australia and India, with
the same strategic objectives as Singapore.
Although China, Taiwan and Singapore all seek to balance their
offensive and defensive capabilities, Singapore's navy and air
force have the most advanced Western military technologies and the
most formidable attack power in comparison with Taiwan and China.
In other words, in implementing the strategy of balanced offensive
and defensive deterrence, the Singaporean military forces place
much greater emphasis on offensive operations than the Taiwanese
and Chinese forces.
Singapore's "active defense" strategy is probably influenced by
traditional British military ideology. Similar traces can be found
in the military strategies of fellow former British colonies India
and Pakistan. With the import of 12 plus 8 F-15ST fighters from the
United States, Singapore has become the first of the three
militaries to acquire joint direct attack munition bombs.
In addition, Singapore has acquired APG-63V3 active electronically
scanned array radar systems ahead of Japan and Korea. The
Singaporean air force is also equipped with 20 of the most powerful
AN-64D attack helicopters in the region.
Due to the differences in the combat capabilities of their
prospective adversaries, Taiwan and Singapore also have different
deterrence strengths. The powerful offensive weapon systems
mentioned above are already sufficient to give Singapore the
capability to paralyze the enemy through preemptive standoff
operations, which could be followed by diplomatic measures to
resolve the conflict.
Singapore's latest replacements of military equipment, particularly
in the navy and air force, show that the deterrence capability it
aspires to is not directed solely at Malaysia. Thanks to the
procurement of F-16 Block52 fighters and the KC-135R tanker, plus
the fact that four E-2C aerial early warning aircraft are already
in service, the Singaporean air force can now project its power
over almost all of Southeast Asia.
Singapore is already armed with 70 F-16 fighters, among which 62
are F-16 Block52s. These fighters are equipped with the Israeli
Python-4 and AIM120C AAM. The Taiwanese air force also dreams of
acquiring the F-16 Block52. Both the Singaporean and the Taiwanese
air forces are equipped with AGM-65G infrared-guided anti-ship
missiles.
Singapore is favored by the West and Russia and has experienced no
restrictions in the import of arms. Unlike Taiwan, Singapore has
access to diversified weapons sources. The Singaporean army is
equipped with Russian Igla (SA-1
ground-to-air missiles, for example.
As for military cooperation between Singapore and Taiwan, there has
been constant speculation and many unconfirmed reports about this.
Sources say that Singapore's batch of SA-18 missiles was actually
ordered by Taiwan. Both Taiwan and Singapore are now employing the
French-made La Fayette guided missile frigates (FFGs). The
Singaporean variant of the La Fayette and the same model of FFG
assembled indigenously are called the Delta Project, which has
undergone major upgrading, but the price is said to be less than
two-thirds the price Taiwan paid for its La Fayettes. Obviously the
two received far different treatment in their purchase deals.
As a matter of fact, Israel has close ties with all three of the
militaries under discussion. Singapore's ground forces, air force
and navy use a lot of Israel-made equipment. The Singaporean navy's
"Victory" class missile patrol boats are equipped with the Barak I
vertical launch surface-to-air systems made by Israel Aerospace
Industries/Rafael, while the F-16 Block52 fighters of the
Singaporean air force are equipped with Israeli-designed electronic
warfare systems.
As is widely known, both Taiwan and Singapore have acquired Gabriel
I surface-to-surface missiles from Israel's IAI. In addition,
Singapore has also purchased submarines from Sweden. In 1990,
Singapore received the first batch of two A17 submarines, and four
Sjoormen-class submarines were delivered to Singapore in 2004. The
Sjoormen submarine has a standard displacement of 1,130 tons. As a
result, Singapore has become the first country in Southeast Asia
with genuine underwater combat capability.
Since international attitudes toward Singapore have been the most
open and favorable, it has had the broadest training opportunities
for its military personnel. The pilots of the Singaporean air force
not only receive training in the United States, they also actively
participate in joint military exercises with India, Australia and
other countries, including joint naval and air force operations.
The Singaporean air force has even carried out confrontational
exercises in which the Su-30MKI fighter planes faced Singapore's
F-16 Block52s.