S'pore gears up to face new security threats

wuming78 SG

quite a good article giving an overview of various security related initiatives and how they are interrelated

By Joshua Ho and Manjeet S. Pardesi

ALTHOUGH small, Singapore has developed a sophisticated armed force that has enabled it to deter and defend itself against any direct military threats. Singapore's deterrence strategy has been so successful, the prospect of war with its neighbours has now become unthinkable. There are three reasons for this success.

Firstly, a first-rate conventional armed force. Since Singapore's small size magnifies its strategic vulnerability, it has sought to gain strategic depth by getting weapons and systems to enhance its power projection capability to enable it to engage enemies beyond its borders if required.

For example, Singapore has a formidable air force equipped with F-16C/D fighter squadrons and aerial refuelling tankers to extend the reach of its fighters. The replacement of its ageing Skyhawk fleet will further cement the air force's strategic reach as it decides between Boeing's F-15 Strike Eagle, Dassault's Rafale or Eurofighter's Typhoon.

At sea, the French-designed Lafayette class frigates will greatly extend the operational radius of Singapore's navy. The stealth frigates, which will become operational between next year and 2007, will be multi-mission platforms with anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

Singapore's army has also acquired armoured personnel carriers and light tanks, including the Bionix family of infantry fighting vehicles.

Secondly, Singapore has developed a sophisticated defence industry. The refurbishment of the A4 and F5 aircraft, the building of the Landing Ship Tanks, and the development of the Bionix family of infantry fighting vehicles, all bear testimony to its sophistication.

Singapore is committed to further deepening that sophistication by engaging in collaborative projects with its counterparts in the United States, France, Sweden, Israel and South Africa.

This is aptly demonstrated by its participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme that allows it to have access to proprietary information, including flight simulations.

Thirdly, Singapore has consistently allocated a sizeable portion of its annual Budget to defence.

The Defence Ministry gets up to 6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), amounting to between US$4 billion (S$7 billion) and US$5 billion annually.

Of this sum, it has consistently spent 4 to 5 per cent on research and development. Among other things, the Defence Science and Technology Agency has used this money for an 'innovation fund initiative' that aims to fund start-up defence companies.

THE NEW STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT

DESPITE the success of Singapore's deterrence strategy, its security challenges have grown more complex and diverse recently.

Its strategic environment is now increasingly characterised by transnational threats, including terrorism. The arrests in December 2001 of 15 members of the extremist Jemaah Islamiah (JI) demonstrated that Singapore was a prime target of transnational terrorist groups. The rise of a global extremist Islamic ideology is creating new challenges for the multiracial, multi-religious nation.

The safeguarding of trade and energy security have also emerged as important challenges. Singapore's external trade is more than three times its GDP; any disruption of trade would have serious consequences for the country.

Aviation security and maritime security (against terrorism and piracy) have thus emerged as new challenges to Singapore's security. The security of the Malacca Strait, navigated by more than 200 ships daily and 800 oil tankers each year, is especially vital.

Since much of Singapore's energy needs are met by Middle Eastern oil, instability in that part of the world has a direct bearing upon Singapore's economy.

Singapore has tried to reduce this vulnerability by trying to meet its energy needs with natural gas from Malaysia and Indonesia. However, this has added pipeline security as well as the internal security of neighbouring countries to the city-state's security variables.

In this new strategic environment, Singapore's military may be called upon for 'military operations other than war'. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has committed three Landing Ship Tanks, medical teams, C-130s, military observers and logistics support to help restore peace and stability to Timor Leste, which was its most extensive deployment to date.

Singapore's air force (its C-130 aircraft) and navy (its Landing Ship Tanks) have also played support roles in the multinational reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Such operations are likely to increase in the future.

REVOLUTION IN MILITARY AFFAIRS

DEFENCE analyst Tim Huxley has termed Singapore's revolution in military affairs (RMA) as 'RMA-lite'. This is primarily because its annual defence budget is small compared to the US' US$400 billion.

Similarly, Mindef's defence research and development budget is only in the range of US$200 million to US$300 million, compared to America's, which is over US$50 billion. In comparison to a giant, Singapore is a midget.

Nevertheless Singapore's RMA is not without substance. It is about exploiting information technology to develop sophisticated capabilities; networking surveillance capabilities to obtain a comprehensive situation picture for decision-making; and enabling precise effects to be applied to targets of choice. Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has called the transformed SAF, the Third Generation (3G) Force.

Recognising that the traditional modernisation route may prove inadequate in confronting the new security environment, Mindef formed the Future Systems Directorate in February last year to promote innovation and challenge established military concepts.

Experimentation will be a key component of Singapore's RMA, with the directorate managing up to 1 per cent of the annual defence budget.

Highlighting the important role that experimentation is to play in the SAF of the future, Singapore launched its SAF Centre for Military Experimentation in November last year.

The centre will allow testing and experimentation of various tactical scenarios and operational concepts, and facilitate doctrinal innovation.

Besides experimentation, a key component of Singapore's RMA is integrated knowledge-based command and control (IKC2). This is intended as a complete solution for the conduct of integrated warfare. Network-enabled and knowledge-based systems will be introduced and duplicate systems will be eliminated. Command and control will become more integrated.

With its highly developed knowledge-based economy, well-educated workforce, and a very competent and sophisticated defence industry and R&D base, it is highly likely Singapore will succeed in its efforts at military transformation.

Indeed, so confident is it of success, Mindef announced last month that it would reduce the period of national service from 30 months to 24 months for those ranked corporal or higher.

Singapore's strategic environment was initially about state survival in a hostile environment.

Increasingly though, new transnational threats have come to the fore, implying that Singapore's security forces will have to be able to meet the full spectrum of threats - from conventional warfare to low-intensity conflict, including counterterrorism.

Singapore's technology-enabled military has allowed the nation to deter and defend itself against state-centric threats. The 3G SAF - or synonymously, Singapore's version of RMA - should also facilitate handling of transnational threats.

A key feature for tackling non-traditional threats is the need for inter-agency as well as international collaboration and cooperation. Singapore's investment in RMA technologies will have to take these into account. For example, surveillance technologies in the audio, visual and radio frequencies could easily be adopted by all national security agencies.

Similarly, the principles of IKC2, if not the technology itself, can be applied nationally to form a seamless national command and control architecture.

The movement in Europe to more open communications architectures can also be emulated in this region to facilitate greater international cooperation.

At the strategic level, Singapore has already made inroads to meet these challenges.

The establishment of a National Security Coordination Secretariat, led by a permanent secretary for national security and intelligence coordination, is a key initiative. The secretariat will report to the Prime Minister through the Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence, and will oversee national security policy coordination and planning and counterterrorism intelligence through the National Security Coordination Centre and the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre respectively.

Much more, however, has to be done at the operational level. The interconnectedness of internal and external security and the inadequacy of the so-called 'stovepipe approach' towards intelligence and security challenges, means that now, more than ever, Singapore needs to deal with security issues with Total Defence in mind.

The RMA may consequently have to widen its scope to examine if there are any innovations that can be applied beyond the military to other areas of defence - like in the spheres of the civil, economic, psychological and social defence.

Joshua Ho and Manjeet S. Pardesi are research fellow and associate research fellow respectively at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, working on the Revolution in Military Affairs programme.

--ST