http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,240406,00.html?
Additional Mindef money will be spent on research and development
to enable the armed forces to fight a high-tech war
By David Boey
IN A year when every other Government ministry suffered a 2 per
cent cut in their budget caps, defence was spared.
And yesterday, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean spelled out how the
military will use its $8.62 billion to safeguard Singapore's
interests and transform itself to fight a new kind of warfare, in
which technology plays a paramount role.
In this, research and development is critical, with Mindef setting
aside for the first time an additional 1 per cent of its budget, or
an extra $86 million, to break new ground and explore the weapons,
tactics and capabilities it would need for wars of the
future.
This sum is on top of the regular 4 per cent to 5 per cent it
budgets annually for research and development, which this time can
amount to about $430 million.
While much of the research used to modernise the SAF is classified,
'some is in technologies one reads about on the war in Iraq,'
Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo told Parliament during a debate on his
ministry's budget, which is up 4.5 per cent from last year.
A selection of such cutting-edge technology will be on show later
this year at a defence exhibition here, to demonstrate its
importance in developing what RADM Teo called 'the third generation
SAF'.
At the heart of this 3G SAF is the use of defence technology to
deliver a deadly punch.
'Platforms, manned and unmanned, weapons and sensors that are fully
networked into such a fighting system will have their combat power
magnified many times.
'Tanks or ships or aircraft that are not, and which are capable of
operating only in the conventional way, may find that they are
merely targets,' said RADM Teo.
Responding to questions from more than 30 MPs, he also gave them an
update on how SAF guards the country against threats like
terrorism, how it stretches the defence dollar and the various ways
in which it looks after the welfare of its servicemen.
To underline his point on the new direction in modern warfare, RADM
Teo pointed to last year's Iraq war.
In it, just one precision-guided bomb was all that was needed to
destroy a target, compared to the 9,000 bombs that had to be
dropped during World War II.
In addition, a new-type of soldier is needed. He is Mindef's
'Advanced Combatman', a concept that envisions a heavily-armed
soldier wearing a helmet with a visor that can display text or
pictures.
He will also be equipped for night fighting. With a wrist-mounted
computer, he can communicate with his commander and control
unmanned vehicles fitted with cameras, to see beyond the next hill
or street corner.
But amid all these new projects, RADM Teo assured MPs the military
takes great care with every dollar spent.
This stringent approach has earned it a reputation as what
Britain's Financial Times calls a 'reference customer', one of a
handful of countries that stand out in the military world for its
proper procurement process.
Earlier, MPs like Dr Ong Chit Chung (Jurong GRC), chairman of the
Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Ms Irene Ng
(Tampines GRC) called for prudent spending.
Dr Ong said: 'We want the SAF to be a strong and mighty stallion
guarding the gateway to Singapore. We don't want a runaway horse
galloping away... allowing costs to escalate and spin out of
control.'
In reply, RADM Teo described Mindef's various cost-saving
measures.
He added: 'Ours is not a feast or famine approach. We do not
splurge in good times nor do we leave ourselves exposed in
difficult times.
'Defence is not an optional extra for Singapore - it is critical
for a small state for which there will be no second chance if we
lose the first battle.'