-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Singapore's military buildup U.S. assists city-state improve defenses to help deter China ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Editor's note: In partnership with Stratfor, the global intelligence company, WorldNetDaily publishes daily updates on international affairs provided by the respected private research and analysis firm. Look for fresh updates each afternoon, Monday through Friday. In addition, WorldNetDaily invites you to consider STRATFOR membership, entitling you to a wealth of international intelligence reports usually available only to top executives, scholars, academic institutions and press agencies. © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Singapore, better known for its electronics industry and financial services than its defense posture, is steadily modernizing its armed forces with the help of the United States to secure expanding economic interests in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of Washington's efforts to contain China through new military allies, Singapore will transition from a small, inert power to one of the principal military players in the Asia Pacific. Singapore, a city-state of 3.2 million people that likes to think of itself as the Switzerland of Asia, has outlined plans to acquire dozens of new attack helicopters, fighter aircraft, warships and other long-range land, sea and air capabilities. These new tools will help round out a steady military buildup begun in the mid-1990s to help Singapore actively ensure regional stability. Singapore is the Asian region's third-largest financial center, after Japan and Hong Kong. It has carved itself out a small but lucrative niche in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, producing 8 percent of the world market in 1999. Singapore is also known for its stable political environment and strong legal system. Moreover, unlike Switzerland, it has the vast opportunities of an emerging Asia on its doorstep. But the modernizing of Singapore's armed forces is transforming it into a key link in the security chain that the United States is building around China. Within the decade, Singapore will evolve from a relatively neutral participant to a major regional player – a development reminiscent of its days as a British military fortress during World War II. Washington will not look solely to Singapore to keep Beijing in military isolation, but the tiny nation will once again play a vital role in regional security affairs. Like Israel, Singapore lacks strategic depth and is outnumbered by potentially hostile neighbors. Its defense strategy, therefore, is two-fold: Build an offensive-minded security force that can strike at potential enemies before they harm Singapore, and seek the support and protection of the United States. Singapore, which spends $4 billion per year on defense, is well positioned to acquire the weapons and technologies it needs. The arsenal it is building will allow it to destroy enemies on the ground, pre-emptively seize strategic territory, prevent rising piracy and intervene quickly and effectively in Indonesia, Malaysia and other likely trouble spots in the contested South China Sea. On July 10, Singapore announced that it is seeking bids for up to two dozen cutting-edge fighter jets, at an estimated value of $2 billion, to replace its ageing fleet of A-5 Skyhawks. The deal would be signed in 2004, and Singapore is looking closely at Boeing's F-15 Eagle and Lockheed Martin's F-16 Fighting Falcon, according to Bloomberg.com. The U.S. Department of Defense this month also made Singapore eligible for an additional 12 Boeing-built AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and related components at an estimated cost of $617 million. Singapore currently has eight of the tank-busting choppers. In April, Singapore commissioned the RSS Persistence and the RSS Endeavor, the last of four amphibious attack vessels being built to replace Singapore's old County-class Landing Ship Tanks and Victory class corvettes. The new amphibious ships, which can displace 6,000 tons and command a range of 5,000 nautical miles, are outfitted with state-of-the-art communications and other automated tools that allow Singapore to operate effectively alongside the United States and other advanced militaries. On land, the first indigenously designed All Terrain Tracked Carrier (ATTC) was delivered to Singapore's army in May. The ATTC "can transport troops and equipment over soft muddy ground and difficult terrain impassable to other vehicles," making it useful in a number of combat support and service missions, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam said March 8. In tandem with its weapons purchases, Singapore is unfolding a "total defense" strategy that includes alliances with like-minded nations. So far this year, Singapore has conducted an anti-submarine warfare exercise with India, dispatched soldiers to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in East Timor, sent airmen to Canada for an air warfare exercise and hosted a 16-nation mine-countermeasures exercise – the largest in its history. Perhaps most significantly, Singapore this year also allowed a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, to make a port call for the first time. The navy has increasingly used Singapore as a repair base for its smaller, Pacific-based ships since it was kicked out of its Subic Bay base in the Philippines in the early 1990s. Navy officials have been pressing for permission to build a dry dock in Singapore to repair aircraft carriers. The Kitty Hawk's March 22 visit to Changi Naval Base is telling. Though Singapore's strategy pays homage first to national survival, it also dovetails with U.S. efforts to contain China. The Kitty Hawk's visit came immediately before an American spy plane was downed in the South China Sea, leading to a standoff between Washington and Beijing. Chinese leaders almost certainly viewed the port visit as heralding yet another U.S. naval "base" in the region, this time with direct access to the South China Sea. But Singapore does indeed appear to be becoming a de facto U.S. base. Singapore is not Washington's only potential ally in its quest to contain China. Australia already has taken its place in the anti-China security chain; Adelaide earlier this month called on the U.S. Navy to help fix technical problems with its Collins-class submarine development program. Japan is also slowly taking on a greater security role at Washington's urging. Navy officials tell STRATFOR that Washington has its sights on other potential allies – for instance, raising the prospect of a return to Subic Bay and seeking ties to other players, such as Thailand and Indonesia. Though small, Singapore will play a sizeable part in the U.S. strategy. Boasting an increasingly modern and highly capable fighting force, working to better integrate its forces with those of the United States, Australia and other regional militaries, and located at one of the world's most strategic chokepoints – both economically and militarily – it will emerge later this decade as a front-line outpost in the escalating military confrontation between the United States and China. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? 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