There’s an image that has been imprinted in the minds of the millions about Singapore, that it is a tiny yet wealthy city-state and an important Asian financial hub. But many are unaware of the fact that Singaporean armed forces are stronger than many regional forces, as it has one of the best navies, airforces and armies in the region.
Singapore’s navy, officially known as the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), in particular has been shaped over the years into a maritime force which is highly sophisticated and well-trained. An article on The National Interest ranked the RSN among the top five Asian navies, even when Indian Navy did not find a place in the list.
According to the aforesaid article, the RSN is a better navy than the Indian Navy in terms of quality, operation and policy-making, though the RSN lacks the experience, manpower and size of the Indian Navy. Arthur Waldron, an International Relations academic at the University of Pennsylvania, believes that if Chinese Navy, necessarily dividing the fleet, sends a taskforce to subdue the RSN at the Philip Channel, the narrowest part of the Strait of Malacca, the RSN would beat the Chinese taskforce.
Ambitious Procurement Plans
Singapore intends to build a navy that could protect its territories and economic interest from the potential hostility by any immediate larger neighbours, and more importantly a navy that could become lethal if combined with other regional and extra-regional navies (like Australia and Indonesia) against a greater navy (e.g. against Chinese navy). That is why, the RSN is currently on a spree to acquire more capabilities and next-generation platforms.
As part of its submarine force renewal program, the RSN is acquiring four Type 218SG submarines from Germany to improve the operational and combat capabilities of its submarine fleet. These new submarines will be having far more capabilities and durability — and are built to stay submerged about 50% longer — than those of the existing ones.
It’s worth mentioning here that submarines, unlike surface warships that have both peactime and wartime functions, is built to shoot and destroy targets as well as to conduct surveillance, even surveilling foreign coasts to gather vital intelligence. The very fact that a small city-state like Singapore has submarines in operation and is now renewing its fleet with even more capable submarines — shows how ambitious Singaporean navy has become about increasing its naval power.
Because of the larger capacity, these submarines have plenty of scopes for future upgrades, meaning that these submarines could be equipped with weapon systems such as long-range missiles to carry-out an offensive strike.
There’s more to the Singapore’s naval ambitions. Take for example the Joint Multi-Mission Ships (JMMSs), one of the RSN’s major new procurements. With full-length flight deck, these vessels would be almost 540 feet long with an estimated displacement of around 14,500 tons, and are expected to carry five medium and two heavy helicopters on a flight deck. What’s more, these vessels could potentially support limited operations of fixed-wing aircraft, including the F-35B warplanes which Singapore airforce is expected to purchase from the U.S. sometime in near future. Therefore, these vessels could potentially serve as aircraft carriers.
The RSN is also very well aware of the fact that wars these days are fought from a distant with the help of unmanned drones and unmanned vessels that carry cameras and weapons in order to see farther and respond quicker. Hence, the RSN plans to procure new vessels that will be having multiple unmanned air and surface vehicles to extend their reach and flexibility against threats. Take the eight new Littoral Mission Vessels (LMVs) for example. These LMVs will have a helicopter landing pad that will be able to carry an unmanned aerial vehicle. The aforesaid JMMSs and the new Multi-Role Combat Vessels (MRCVs) too will have unmanned air and surface vehicles.
Being Wealthy Helps
An Asian financial hub, the city-state of Singapore has a lot of wealth. The tiny landmass of the state and the already developed infrastructures allow the Singaporean government to allocate comparatively lesser wealth on infrastructures and other conventional sectors and to invest more on innovation and technology as well as defense and security. This is how the tiny state affords to make the quality defense procurements.
Singapore has been the Southeast-Asia’s largest military spender for several years now. Singapore was the top regional military spender in 2018 with an expenditure of US$10.8 billion and the Southeast Asian neighbour with the closest figures was Indonesia with an expenditure of US$7.4 billion. For 2019, Singapore has allocated US$11.4 billion for defense on its budget — something which amounts to about 19 percent of total government expenditures and around 3.3 percent of national GDP.
