found this on one of my net search... any comments???
U.S. Builds an Asian Tiger Cub in Singapore
Strategic Forecasting, July 19, 2001
Summary
Singapore, better known for its electronics industry and financial
services than its defense posture, is steadily modernizing its
armed forces with the help of the United States to secure expanding
economic interests in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of
Washington's efforts to contain China through new military allies,
Singapore will transition from a small, inert power to one of the
principal military players in the Asia Pacific.
Analysis
Singapore, a city-state of 3.2 million people that likes to think
of itself as the Switzerland of Asia, has outlined plans to acquire
dozens of new attack helicopters, fighter aircraft, warships and
other long-range land, sea and air capabilities. These new tools
will help round out a steady military buildup begun in the
mid-1990s to help Singapore actively ensure regional
stability.
Singapore is the Asian region's third-largest financial center,
after Japan and Hong Kong. It has carved itself out a small but
lucrative niche in the semiconductor manufacturing industry,
producing 8 percent of the world market in 1999. Singapore is also
known for its stable political environment and strong legal system.
Moreover, unlike Switzerland, it has the vast opportunities of an
emerging Asia on its doorstep.
But the modernizing of Singapore's armed forces is transforming it
into a key link in the security chain that the United States is
building around China. Within the decade, Singapore will evolve
from a relatively neutral participant to a major regional player --
a development reminiscent of its days as a British military
fortress during World War II. Washington will not look solely to
Singapore to keep Beijing in military isolation, but the tiny
nation will once again play a vital role in regional security
affairs. 
Like Israel, Singapore lacks strategic depth and is outnumbered by
potentially hostile neighbors. Its defense strategy, therefore, is
two-fold: Build an offensive-minded security force that can strike
at potential enemies before they harm Singapore, and seek the
support and protection of the United States. 
Singapore, which spends $4 billion per year on defense, is well
positioned to acquire the weapons and technologies it needs. The
arsenal it is building will allow it to destroy enemies on the
ground, pre-emptively seize strategic territory, prevent rising
piracy and intervene quickly and effectively in Indonesia, Malaysia
and other likely trouble spots in the contested South China Sea.
On July 10, Singapore announced that it is seeking bids for up to
two dozen cutting-edge fighter jets, at an estimated value of $2
billion, to replace its ageing fleet of A-5 Skyhawks. The deal
would be signed in 2004, and Singapore is looking closely at
Boeing's F-15 Eagle and Lockheed Martin's F-16 Fighting Falcon,
according to Bloomberg.com. The U.S. Department of Defense this
month also made Singapore eligible for an additional 12
Boeing-built AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and related components
at an estimated cost of $617 million. Singapore currently has eight
of the tank-busting choppers.
In April, Singapore commissioned the RSS Persistence and the RSS
Endeavor, the last of four amphibious attack vessels being built to
replace Singapore's old County-class Landing Ship Tanks and Victory
class corvettes. The new amphibious ships, which can displace 6,000
tons and command a range of 5,000 nautical miles, are outfitted
with state-of-the-art communications and other automated tools that
allow Singapore to operate effectively alongside the United States
and other advanced militaries.
On land, the first indigenously designed All Terrain Tracked
Carrier (ATTC) was delivered to Singapore's army in May. The ATTC
"can transport troops and equipment over soft muddy ground and
difficult terrain impassable to other vehicles," making it useful
in a number of combat support and service missions, Deputy Prime
Minister and Defense Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam said March 8.
In tandem with its weapons purchases, Singapore is unfolding a
"total defense" strategy that includes alliances with like-minded
nations. So far this year, Singapore has conducted an
anti-submarine warfare exercise with India, dispatched soldiers to
participate in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in East
Timor, sent airmen to Canada for an air warfare exercise and hosted
a 16-nation mine-countermeasures exercise -- the largest in its
history. 
Perhaps most significantly, Singapore this year also allowed a U.S.
aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, to dock for the first time at
a new base designed for the large flattops. The navy has
increasingly used Singapore as a repair base for its smaller,
Pacific-based ships since it was kicked out of its Subic Bay base
in the Philippines in the early 1990s. Navy officials have been
pressing for permission to build a dry dock in Singapore to repair
aircraft carriers. 
The Kitty Hawk's March 22 visit to Changi Naval Base is telling.
Though Singapore's strategy pays homage first to national survival,
it also dovetails with U.S. efforts to contain China. The Kitty
Hawk's visit came immediately before an American spy plane was
downed in the South China Sea, leading to a standoff between
Washington and Beijing. Chinese leaders almost certainly viewed the
port visit as heralding yet another U.S. naval "base" in the
region, this time with direct access to the South China Sea. But
Singapore does indeed appear to be becoming a de facto U.S. base.
Singapore is not Washington's only potential ally in its quest to
contain China. Australia already has taken its place in the
anti-China security chain; Adelaide earlier this month called on
the U.S. Navy to help fix technical problems with its Collins-class
submarine development program.
Japan is also slowly taking on a greater security role at
Washington's urging. Navy officials tell STRATFOR that Washington
has its sights on other potential allies -- for instance, raising
the prospect of a return to Subic Bay and seeking ties to other
players, such as Thailand and Indonesia.
Though small, Singapore will play a sizeable part in the U.S.
strategy. Boasting an increasingly modern and highly capable
fighting force, working to better integrate its forces with those
of the United States, Australia and other regional militaries, and
located at one of the world's most strategic chokepoints -- both
economically and militarily -- it will emerge later this decade as
a front-line outpost in the escalating military confrontation
between the United States and China.
