Singapore Defence and Security Report Q4 2008

Singapore has consistently had one of the largest defence budgets in the Asia Pacific region. Given its small population base, the Singaporeans have focused on maintaining their spending on sophisticated and superior weaponry. In 2007, the government announced significant increases in spending, mainly on operating equipment. Overall spending rose 5.3% to SGD10.58bn in 2007. The Singaporean government has thus raised defence spending slightly higher than its typical 4.5%5% of the budget range. The navy now has three formidableclass frigates, some of the most advanced surface combatants in South East Asia. Led by its commanding officer, LtCol Seah Poh Yean, Singapore's third stealth frigate, with a length of 110 metres, is the second Singaporemade frigate. It has the most advanced antiair, antisurface, antisubmarine warfare capabilities.

Singapore's main security threats come from piracy in the crucial Malacca Straits and from regional terrorism. While generally enjoying good relations with its regional neighbours, tensions have emerged with its closest neighbour Indonesia. In particular, the first two quarters of 2008 have seen fraught negotiations over the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA). A signing of two landmark agreements the Extradition Treaty and the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) finally took place in Bali on the 28 April. The agreements were signed and witnessed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Both Prime Minister Lee and President Yudhoyono endorsed the need to further enhance cooperation, to take advantage of what is seen as 'an exciting new era in Asia'. President Yudhoyono said: 'The DCA has a wider scope, the benefits for both sides are now more clear. So we hope that this agreement will enable both sides to protect the professionalism of our cooperation in this area, as well as expanding it to the security of the Malacca Straight and in ASEAN.' He also commented that the Defence Cooperation Agreement will deepen and strengthen ties between the armed forces of both countries.

Singapore continues to develop and maintain key regional and US defence relationships. The Singapore Armed Forces the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard have just held their fourteenth annual USSingapore Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise focusing on conventional maritime competencies. The wideranging exercise covers operations that can take place during times of conflict and has a significant focus on conventional battles at sea, such as air defence and antisubmarine warfare. Some 1,400 men, 14 ships, planes, helicopters and a submarine took part this year, compared to just three ships from each navy and minimal air assets back in 1995 when it first began.

The Military ties between Brunei and Singapore have also been strengthened by jointexercises of this type. Recently, the two smallest countries in Southeast Asia engaged in the 6th Exercise Maju Bersama, a bilateral exercise between the Royal Brunei Land Forces and the Singapore Army. It aims to foster good relations between the two armies and enhance the skills as well as professionalism of the soldiers.