MANILA, Philippines — Singapore’s Defence Ministry plans to order eight F-35A jets, which might bring the country’s Joint Strike Fighter fleet to twenty.
The F-35A purchase could be on top of earlier orders for 12 F-35Bs from the American defense company Lockheed Martin.
Addressing Parliament during Wednesday’s budget deliberations, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said his ministry desires to reap the benefits of the competitive price of the F-35As, which at the moment are “comparable” to Boeing’s F-15 jets.
“We now have to de-prioritize other projects for this chance, but we’ve done our calculations and we expect that is the very best time to place orders for F-35As,” he said, adding that accelerating the F-35 acquisition plan will put the Republic of Singapore Air Force within the “premier league.”
F-35As are built for conventional takeoff and landing, have dependable endurance, can carry higher capability payloads, and supply more operational flexibility, Ng explained.
Each the “A” and “B” variants are suitable for Singapore’s limited land spaces, the ministry has noted.
Singapore ordered 4 F-35Bs in a 2020 deal price an estimated $2.75 billion, then added eight more F-35B units in 2023. The aircraft are on target to reach in the course of the 2026-2028 time-frame.
If Parliament approves the present F-35A acquisition, Ng said the extra fighter jets would arrive by 2030, the identical yr Singapore’s military plans to retire its F-16 fleet. By the tip of the last decade, the Air Force would operate a combined fleet of F-15SG, F-35A and F-35B fighter jets.
The ministry has also proposed a SG$20.2 billion (U.S. $15 billion) defense budget — a rise from last yr’s SG$17.98 billion (U.S. $13.36 billion) allocation.
For several years Singapore has steadily allocated around 3% of its gross domestic product for defense spending, in accordance with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank. This consistency has allowed the country to upgrade its aircraft fleet in addition to modernize existing platforms.
The military had undertaken a large modernization push set to materialize in 2040.
“Today we’re reaping dividends of the sum we put up steadily over the past 20 years [on defense spending],” Ng said.
Singaporean leaders in the course of the budget deliberations expressed concerns over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, and economic disagreements between the U.S. and China.
“We’re all concerned that the U.S. and China can clash over Taiwan, and if that happens it’ll be a really bleak Asia for a really very long time,” Ng acknowledged. “I intend to make clear that if ever something similar happens to us here in Singapore, [the Ministry of Defence and the Singaporea Armed Forces] don’t plan to rely on one other country to come back to our rescue.”
Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.