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Singapore Army

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Singapore Army

Singapore Army
Singapore Armed Forces Crest
Founded 12 March 1957
Country  Singapore
Branch Army
Size 72,000 (active, including 35000 conscripts)
500,000+ (reserve)
Part of Singapore Armed Forces
Motto Yang Pertama Dan Utama
('First and Foremost')
Engagements Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation,[1][2][3]
Iraq War
Operation Enduring Freedom (as part of NATO-led ISAF)
Commanders
Chief of Army Brigadier-General Melvyn Ong
Notable
commanders 		Winston Choo
Mancharan Singh Gill
Ng Jui Ping
Lim Neo Chian
Han Eng Juan
Lim Chuan Poh
Ng Yat Chung
Desmond Kuek
Neo Kian Hong
Chan Chun Sing
Ravinder Singh
Perry Lim

The Singapore Army (Chinese: 新加坡陆军部队, Malay: Tentera Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் தரைப்படை) is the Service of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) tasked with land operations. It is the largest of the three Services. The Army is primarily a conscript army that, in the event of war, mobilizes most of its combat power by calling up military reservists.

Contents

  • Strategic Doctrine 1
  • Organisation 2
    • Chief of Army (COA) 2.1
    • Combat Arms 2.2
    • Divisional and Non-Divisional assets 2.3
      • Combined-Arms Divisions 2.3.1
      • MINDEF Reserve (MR) NS Divisions 2.3.2
        • 2 People's Defence Force 2.3.2.1
        • 21st Division 2.3.2.2
        • 25th Division 2.3.2.3
        • 32nd Division 2.3.2.4
      • Non-Divisional Units, some appended to the General Staff 2.3.3
  • Equipment 3
  • Photo gallery 4
  • See also 5
  • References 6
  • External links 7

Strategic Doctrine

The mission of the Singapore Armed Forces is to deter armed aggression, and to secure a swift and decisive victory in case such deterrence would fail. Additionally, the Army is tasked with conducting peace-time operations in furtherance of Singapore's national interests and foreign policy. These range from disaster relief to peacekeeping, hostage-rescue and other contingencies.[4]

The Army views technology as a force-multiplier and a means to sustain combat power given Singapore's population constraints. Jointness across three branches of the SAF is integral to the Army's warfighting doctrine. Joint operations that the Army has undertaken with the Navy and Air Force include amphibious landings and critical disaster relief in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

The Army has a technically proficient, relatively well-educated draftee pool and officer corps (non-commissioned and commissioned) reflective of the population at large, and has sought to leverage this to ease its transition into a more sophisticated, networked fighting force.[5]

Combat readiness is a linchpin of Army policy, and military exercises up to divisional level are conducted many times yearly, simulating full-spectrum operations, up to and including full-scale war. Divisional war games are a combined arms, tri-service affair involving the Republic of Singapore Navy and Air Force. Because training space is limited in Singapore—artillery fire would quickly traverse the island—some military exercises are conducted overseas. Reservists periodically [6] train abroad, their units regularly evaluated for combat readiness.[5] The Army also trains bilaterally with some host nations, and military exchanges are frequent. Training is billed as "tough, realistic and safe," with a premium on safety, given the sensitivity of military deaths in a largely conscript army.[4]

Following the

Royal Brunei Armed Forces


Map of Southeast Asia
Royal Cambodian Armed Forces
Indonesian National Armed Forces
Lao People's Armed Forces
Malaysian Armed Forces
Myanmar Armed Forces
Armed Forces of the Philippines
Singapore Armed Forces
Royal Thai Armed Forces
Vietnam People's Armed Forces
  • Official website
  • Singapore Army Official Ranks Website
  • Ranks and Paramilitary Ranks of Singapore, accessed 23 October 2006.
  • Singapore Infantry Regiment pictures and info

External links

Further reading
  • Tim, Huxley. Defending the Lion City: the Armed Forces of Singapore. Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pty LTD, 2000. ISBN 1-86508-118-3.
Bibliography
  1. ^
  2. ^
  3. ^
  4. ^ a b
  5. ^ a b Tim Huxley, Defending the Lion City, Allen & Unwin, 2000, p.65.
  6. ^ a b
  7. ^
  8. ^
  9. ^ http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/publications/cyberpioneer/news/2011/mar/28mar11_news.html
  10. ^
  11. ^
  12. ^
  13. ^
  14. ^
  15. ^ See also http://web.archive.org/web/20091027094953/http://geocities.com/mindef123/Army.html and Huxley, Defending the Lion City, 2000, p.123-6
  16. ^
  17. ^ Tim Huxley, Defending the Lion City, Allen & Unwin, 2000, p.124.
  18. ^ Tim Huxley, Defending the Lion City, Allen & Unwin, 2000, p.127. Huxley's source note on 32nd Division appears to refer to an article by defence journalist Prasun Sengupta (1992, p.76), but Huxley's bibliography is incomplete.
  19. ^
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w
  21. ^ http://www.janes.com/article/52871/singapore-commissions-peacekeeper-protected-response-vehicle
  22. ^
  23. ^
  24. ^
  25. ^ Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (27 January 2009). ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  26. ^
  27. ^ a b
Notes

References

See also

Photo gallery

Type Origin Quantity
Main battle tanks ~196
Leopard 2SG (120mm Rheinmetall L44 main gun)  Germany >196[19] (includes 30 spare tanks, excludes 10 Bergepanzer-3 Büffel ARVs[20])
Mechanized infantry Combat Vehicles / IFVs 857
Bionix II (30mm Bushmaster II chain gun/New armour)  Singapore 200[20]
Bionix 25 (25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun)  Singapore 200[20]
Bionix 40/50 (CIS 40mm AGL + CIS 50MG)  Singapore 300[20]
Terrex AV-81  Singapore 135[20]
Armoured Personnel Carriers/Reconnaissance Vehicles 1,335
M113A2 ULTRA 40/50 (CIS 40mm AGL + CIS 50MG)  United States /  Singapore 950[20]
M113A2 ULTRA OWS (25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun)  United States /  Singapore 50[20]
Cadillac Gage V-100/150/200  United States 30/40/200 (total 270 in reserves), 50 V-200s in use by the RSAF[20]
Peacekeeper PRV  Singapore 40[21]
MaxxPro Dash MRAP  United States /  Israel 15 in Afghanistan as part of International Security Assistance Force[20]
Multiple Rocket Launchers 18
High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS)  United States 18 launchers with 41 GMLRS Pod (246 rockets)[20]
Mortars ~62
81 mm ~?
Soltam M-65 120 mm towed mortar  Israel 50 (in reserves)[20]
Soltam M-66 160 mm towed mortar  Israel 12 (in storage)[20]
Howitzers ~400
25 pounder Mk II  United Kingdom 12 (as ceremonial/salute gun)
Soltam M-68 155mm/L33 Towed Howitzer  Israel 45 (in storage)[20]
Soltam M-71S 155mm/L39 Towed Howitzer  Israel 38 (in storage)[20]
M-114A1 155mm Towed Howitzer  United States 16 (in storage)[20]
FH-2000 155mm/L52 Towed Howitzer  Singapore 72
GIAT LG1 105mm/L30 Towed Howitzer  France 37 (in storage)[22]
SSPH Primus 155mm/L39 Self-Propelled Howitzer (SSPH-1)  Singapore 48 (not including 2× command post & 4× recovery vehicle)[20]
SLWH Pegasus 155mm/L39 Heli-portable Lightweight Howitzer  Singapore 54
Artillery-locating radar 10
AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar  United States 4[20]
AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radar  United States 3[20]
ARTHUR  Sweden /  Norway 3[20]
Armoured Engineers ~56
FV180 Combat Engineer Tractor  United Kingdom 36[20]
M60 Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB)  United States 12[20]
M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle (CEV) -165mm Demolition Gun  United States 8[20]
Bionix Counter-Mine Vehicle (Trailblazer)  Singapore ~?
Aardvark JSFU (Joint Service Flail Unit)  United Kingdom ~?
Field Engineers ~?
Panzerschnellbrücke 2 Leguan (Vehicle Launched Bridge)  Germany 10[20]
MAN 8x8 with Leguan Bridge Laying System  Germany ~?[23]
Foldable Longspan Bridge (FLB) ~?[24]
Projected Line Charge (PLC) ~?
Bionix AVLB  Singapore ~?
Bridging Engineers ~?
M3G Float Bridge  United States ~?
All-Terrain Tracked Vehicles ~700
Bronco ATTC (GPMG armed/120mm Super-Rapid Mortar)  Singapore ~400
Bandvagn 206 (GPMG armed)  Sweden ~300
Unmanned Vehicles ~?
Skyblade Mini-UAVs  Singapore ~?
Anti-Tank Rockets/Missiles ~4,000
Carl Gustav recoilless rifle  Sweden ~?[25]
SPIKE-LR  Israel 1,000[26]
Matador  Singapore /  Israel /  Germany ~3,000
Guards Vehicles ~400
Spider LSV with twin SPIKE ATGM  Singapore ~200
Spider LSV  Singapore ~200
Direct Fire Weapons ~500,000
SAR 21  Singapore ~150,000
SAR-21 Grenade Launcher  Singapore ~?
M16S1 local variant of M16A1 produced under license  United States ~200,000[27]
CAR-15 Carbine version of the M-16  United States ~5,000[27]
M203 grenade launcher  United States ~20,000
Ultimax 100  Singapore ~20,000
FN MAG 7.62 mm General Purpose Machine Gun  Belgium ~10,000
CIS 12.7 mm HMG  Singapore ~3,000
SIG Sauer P226 9 mm Pistol  Germany /   Switzerland ~?
H&K MP-5N 9 mm SMG  Germany ~2,000
FN P90 5.7 mm SMG  Belgium ~500
PP-2000 9 mm SMG ~?
FN Five-seven 5.7 mm Pistol  Belgium ~500
PGM Mini-Hecate 8.6 mm Long-Range Sniper Rifle  France ~100
H&K PSG-1 7.62 mm Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle  Germany ~?
Accuracy International L96A1 7.62 mm Sniper Rifle  United Kingdom ~?
Accuracy International L115A1 8.6 mm Long-Range Sniper Rifle  United Kingdom ~?
Steyr SSG 69 7.62 mm Sniper Rifle  Austria ~?
Brügger & Thomet APR308 7.62 mm Sniper Rifle   Switzerland ~?
M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System  United States ~?
Accuracy International Arctic Warfare AX50 Sniper Rifle  United Kingdom ~?
The SLWH Pegasus at the SAF Open House
The SSPH1 Primus at the SAF Open House
Spider LSV with SPIKE ATGM launcher extended
The Bionix AFV at Singapore Airshow 2008
Leopard 2SG of the Singapore Army upgraded with AMAP Composite Armour by IBD & ST Kinetics

Equipment

  • Military Intelligence Battalion (1MIBN – 1st Military Intelligence Bn)
  • Commandos Battalion (1CDO – 1st Commando Bn)
  • Special Operations Task Force – joint task force consisting of the Naval Diving Unit, Commandos and the Special Operations Force
  • Aggressor Company – subordinate to TRADOC/ATEC, this company-sized detachment organizes itself according to the hypothesized enemy's order of battle and acts as the OPFOR in training evaluations. They are the 'red' opposing force in ATEC evaluations.
  • Armour Aggressor Company – Acts as the OPFOR against Armour formations.
  • Medical Response Force (MRF) – Company-sized counter-chemical and -biological warfare unit, staffed by combat medics.
  • Heavy Tank Battalion – 48 SAR
  • Armoured Brigade – 4 SAB

Non-Divisional Units, some appended to the General Staff

Tim Huxley speculates in Defending the Lion City that "the reorganisation of 1991 and 1995 left one armoured brigade, 4 SAB, outside the divisional structure, prompting speculation that it has been earmarked to form the core of a conceptualised new mechanised division." Huxley asserts that it was "initially codenamed as 32nd Division at the planning stage."[18] Beyond speculation, there is no indication that the division was ever constituted.

32nd Division
  • 11th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 14th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 63rd Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 65th Singapore Infantry Brigade

Organisation:

Also designated as Army Operational Reserve (AOR).

25th Division

Of the three infantry brigades, one is active and staffed mainly by career servicemen. Two are held in reserve, one tasked with heliborne operations, the other tasked with amphibious landings.[17]

  • 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 13th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 15th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • Divisional Artillery
  • 21st Signal Battalion
  • 21st Divisional Support Command
  • 18th Divisional Air Defense Artillery Battalion
  • Divisional Combat Engineer Battalion

Organisation:

Designated as Army Operational Reserve (AOR), the 21st Division is a rapid deployment force of highly mobile infantry (Singapore Guards) specializing in amphibious, heliborne, and maneuver warfare. The armoured and artillery components of the division are lightweight, amphibious, and rapidly deployable.

21st Division
  • HQ 2 PDF
  • HQ 21 Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • HQ 22 Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • HQ 26 Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • HQ 27 Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • HQ 29 Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • HQ 32 Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 8th Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (8 SIR)
  • 9th Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (9 SIR)

Organisation:

2 People's Defence Force (PDF) is responsible for homeland security, including that of key civilian installations and infrastructure. 2 PDF is also responsible for the coordination and secondment of military resources to civilian agencies in the event of a civil emergency.[16]

2 People's Defence Force

MINDEF Reserve (MR) NS Divisions

Under the Division-NCC affiliation, NCC East District is affiliated to the 9th Division/Infantry.

  • HQ 9th Singapore Division
  • 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 12th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 56th Singapore Armoured Brigade
  • 9th Division Artillery
  • 9th Divisional Support Command
  • 9th Signal Battalion

Organisation:

9th Division/Infantry (motto: "Forging Ahead) consists of the following subordinate units:

Under the Division-NCC affiliation, NCC Central District is affiliated to the 6th Division.

  • HQ 6th Singapore Division
  • 2nd Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 9th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 54th Singapore Armoured Brigade
  • 6th Division Artillery
  • 6th Division Support Command
  • 6th Division Engineers
  • 6th Divisional Air Defence Artillery Battalion
  • 6th Signal Battalion

6th Singapore Division (motto "Swift and Deadly") consists of the following subordinate units:

Under the Division-National Cadet Corps (NCC) affiliation scheme, NCC West District is affiliated to the 3rd Division.

  • HQ 3rd Singapore Division
  • 3rd Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 5th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 24th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 30th Singapore Infantry Brigade
  • 8th Singapore Armoured Brigade
  • 3rd Division Artillery
  • 3rd Division Support Command

3rd Singapore Division (motto: "Foremost and Utmost") consists of the following subordinate units:

The Army's main organizational components are its Combined-Arms Divisions, of which there are three:[14] the 3rd, 6th and 9th Divisions.[15] They include both active and reserve units that are operationally ready, all subject to mobilization orders in the event of war.[6]

Combined-Arms Divisions

Divisional and Non-Divisional assets

  • Army Intelligence
  • Army Medical Services
  • Army Maintenance and Engineering Support
  • Army Supply and Transport
  • Singapore Armed Forces Ammunition Command

These are bolstered by Combat Service Support Units comprising the following:

The Army consists of seven Combat Arms, from which are derived Divisional and Non-divisional units:

Combat Arms

Years in Office COA Formation Post-COA Career
2015 — Melvyn Ong Guards
2014 —
2015 		Perry Lim Guards Chief of Defence Force
2011 —
2014 		Ravinder Singh Signals President,
ST Kinetics
2010 —
2011 		Chan Chun Sing Infantry Acting Minister, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
2007 —
2010 		Neo Kian Hong Guards Chief of Defence Force
2003 —
2007 		Desmond Kuek Armour Chief of Defence Force
2000 —
2003 		Ng Yat Chung Artillery Chief of Defence Force
1998 —
2000 		Lim Chuan Poh Infantry Chief of Defence Force
1995 —
1998 		Han Eng Juan Armour Chief Executive,
Land Transport Authority
1992 —
1995 		Lim Neo Chian Guards Chief Executive Officer,
Jurong Town Corporation
1990 —
1992 		Ng Jui Ping ? Chief of Defence Force

Chief of Army (COA)

The Army is headed by the Chief of Army (COA). Assisting him are the Chief of Staff, Army General Staff[8] and Commander, TRADOC (Army Training and Doctrine Command).[9] There are six branches of the General Staff (G1-G6), a National Service Affairs Department (NSAD) dealing with National Service issues, and an Inspectorate. The six branches handle manpower (G1), intelligence (G2), operations (G3), logistics (G4), planning (G5) and training (G6) respectively. Each department is headed by an Assistant Chief of the General Staff (ACGS). Also advising the Chief of Army are the Senior Specialist Staff Officers (SSSOs) of the various formations (Infantry, Guards, Armour, Commandos, Artillery, Engineers and Signals).[10][11]

Singapore Army – major combat units
Singapore Army
Flag of the Singapore Army
Components
Organisation
History and Traditions
Military history of Singapore
Equipment
Weapons of the Singapore Army
Personnel
Singapore Armed Forces ranks

Organisation

[7]

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