For those who believe that Singapore's air force conduct
training around the limited air space over
Singapore, try digesting the following:-
Whenever Tan Kah Han, a lieutenant colonel in the Singapore Air
Force, takes off to the north for training in his F-16C jet
fighter, he faces an immediate problem: Climbing at 540 kilometers
per hour, he has barely 45 seconds to avoid crossing the border
with Malaysia, less than three kilometers away.
Taking off to the south from their base at Tengah is not much
easier for Colonel Tan and other pilots of F-16s, Singapore's most
advanced combat aircraft. In no more than two minutes, they must
turn into a narrow corridor that takes them to one of only two
relatively extensive training areas available to Southeast Asia's
largest and most potent air force.
One, over the Indonesian island of Sumatra, is the result of an
agreement with the Indonesian government; the other, over
international airspace in the South China Sea, is jointly
administered with Malaysia, which in 1998 — in one of a series of
disputes between the two countries — alleged that low-flying
Singapore military planes were spying and banned them from its
airspace.
Officials say that as a small but prosperous island-state in the
middle of an increasingly turbulent region, Singapore must maintain
a strong defense force. But keeping it well-trained and
combat-ready is a constant challenge.
"Our airspace is very small and congested with aircraft because
we are a busy civilian aviation hub," said Colonel Tan. "So we have
to be very disciplined in sticking to our airspace limits."
Singapore, with a total land area of just 660 square kilometers
(264 square miles), has a correspondingly small section of
airspace, making it impossible to give air force pilots any
extensive training or flying experience within national boundaries.
Such factors, combined with erratic tropical weather conditions,
are severe constraints.
Largely as a result, at least a quarter of Singapore's force of
about 150 planes and helicopters is stationed abroad at any one
time, mainly in the United States, France and Australia. Short-term
flight training for Singapore military pilots is done in Indonesia,
South Africa, Bangladesh, Brunei, New Zealand and Canada.
Faced with competing demands for land for industry, business,
housing and recreation in Singapore's thriving economy, the
50,000-strong army and 200,000 reservists also face a space crunch.
They, too, have to train and exercise overseas regularly, mainly in
Australia, Brunei, Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand.
The Singapore defense minister, Tony Tan, said during a budget
debate in March that the Singapore military "trains regularly in
about a dozen countries all over the world."
Analysts say that the costs involved in transporting troops and
equipment over long distances, and of paying for foreign training
rights, are a significant part of Singapore's annual military
spending of about 7.4 billion Singapore dollars ($4.1 billion), or
about 5 percent of gross domestic product.
The need to move army and air force components regularly over
long distances has been cited by officials as one of the main
reasons for the recent acquisition of new military equipment. It
includes four locally built, missile-armed naval transports, each
displacing 6,000 tons and carrying two helicopters. It also
includes delivery of two of four long-range KC-135R tanker and
transport aircraft ordered from the United States. These tankers
can refuel any of the Singapore Air Force's fighters while they are
flying.
Tim Huxley, who directs the Center for South-East Asian Studies
at the University of Hull in England, said that Singapore's range
of international military links and activities was the most
extensive of any Southeast Asian state.
"The Singapore armed forces have benefited not just through
access to realistic overseas training, but also from widespread
exposure to combat-experienced Western armed forces' operational
doctrine," he said. "The extremely close collaboration between the
Singapore Air Force and the U.S. armed forces is the most obvious
example of this."
Twenty-four of Singapore's 30 F-16C and F16D fighters are on
long-term detachment at two U.S. Air Force bases in the United
States. Some of Singapore's CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters
and KC-135 tankers are also based in the United States.
To take advantage of better weather and extensive flying space,
Singapore several years ago shifted its entire basic jet training
unit to the Australian Air Force base at Pearce, near Perth, in
Western Australia. Around the same time, it reached a separate
agreement with Australia to station 12 of Singapore's Super Puma
helicopters for 15-years at the Australian Army's Oakey base, in
the state of Queensland.
"Increasingly close defense relations with the United States,
Australia, New Zealand, Britain and France have helped to anchor
these friendly powers' regional security presence in Singapore,
improving the city-state's security by complicating the
calculations of likely aggressors," said Mr. Huxley, the author of
a recent book on the Singapore military.
Eighteen of Singapore's 50 upgraded A4-SU Super Skyhawk
fighter-bombers, along with about 200 Singapore Air Force personnel
and 140 family members, are stationed at the Cazaux air base in
southwest France. The planes and crew rotate every two years.
The deployment, first agreed to between the French and Singapore
governments in 1998, was extended last year to 2018, from 2002.
Singapore is the only nonmember of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization that is allowed to undertake long-term military
training in France, officials said.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/17/news/17iht-t4_23.html
