MORE THOUGHTS ON SINGAPORE'S F-35B

There have been more developments in Singapore’s F-35B Lightning II acquisition. Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen recently said that the city-state was in the “final stages” of buying the Lockheed Martin 5th Generation fighter.

- Ben Ho

When delivered around 2026, the aircraft will be based in the United States for in-depth evaluation and training. Singapore’s defence commentariat has been understandably abuzz over the F-35B decision since news of its procurement broke in January.

A commonly raised issue concerns the jet’s short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capability. Although I covered this in February’s column, a few additional points are in order. The F-35B’s STOVL capability means that the potential for dispersing fighters from regular airstrips and deploying them from austere ones is greatly multiplied. It is worth noting that during Exercise Torrent in 2016, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) deployed its F-15s and F-16s from Lim Chu Kang Road, which is a long stretch of road outside the main city near Tengah Air Base. During this exercise, road fixtures like bus stops and traffic lights were removed, and in their place, temporary airfield lights and other installations for runway operations were set up. All these occurred within 48 hours, and a 2.5 kilometre-long temporary airstrip was birthed.