Missiles
An Israeli lesson
Few are assessing Hezbollah's missile war on Israel with greater
interest than Singapore. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Sep 6, 2006
With its military system modeled and trained along Israel's
'reservist army' concept, Singapore had more than a passing
interest on the Israelis' poor defence against the missile raids
from Lebanon.
For years Singapore has had its own effective missile capability,
but like Israel, Singapore is a small state - in fact much smaller
- and could be even more vulnerable to a sustained series of
missile attacks.
The Israeli-Hezbollah war proved how crucial air power and a
well-trained army remain in a modern war - but improved missile
technology could take away some of their effectiveness, as
Hezbollah has shown.
Many of the missiles that hit Israel are Katyushas, with a range of
10 miles, but they may be less relevant to Singapore since not many
countries can launch them to hit this country.
Two types, both capable of carrying nuclear or chemical warheads,
are more threatening: -
* A short-range missile with a distant of 50-150 miles,
and/or
* A long-range one that can hit 650 miles.
What happened to Israel has sparked off an urgent search for a
defence missile shield in United States and Israel - and Singapore
is watching the outcome with interest.
Last week the Republic of Singapore Air Force announced it would
set its sights on an anti-missile shield, with two options.
One, Singapore could either defend itself with anti-missile
missiles or, two, it could come under the sea-based missile defence
shield provided by US warships deployed to the region.
The Minister for Defence, Mr. Teo Chee Hean said Singapore's air
defences may need to address ballistic missiles.
"We don't expect that they will be a direct threat to us. But the
fact of the matter is that we are now within their range rings
when, prior to that, we were not.
"So this is something which, if we're prudent, we will take into
account,' he said.
The minister said Singapore was planning its third generation air
defence systems, good for another 20 years.
A total of 34 countries worldwide have some type of ballistic
missile or other, almost one-third of which are in Asia.
American success
Meanwhile, the US has announced that an interceptor missile
destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean last Friday in a
key test of the nation's missile defence system.
It was America's most realistic test of the systems that would be
used against an attack.
The 54-foot interceptor shot out of an underground silo at
Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast at 10.39
am, 17 minutes after the mock warhead was launched from Kodiak
Island, Alaska, an official said.
For Singapore, this is a big step forward, militarily
speaking.
By Seah Chiang Nee
-----------------
This does have implications for us,and for Malaysia,as it decreases
the ability of their ASTROS to attack and effectively harm
Singapores infrastructure,if properly implemented.
It is a powerful countermeasure to that possible threat.
Of course,there is always the threat of a saturation attack
designed to counteract the missile defence shield.
