February 10, 2001 at 12:50 am
I know these two countrys are supposed to be allies, and they had (have?) a military pact together with Australia and New Zeland for the defence of the Malaya peninsula. RAAF F-18s together with Singaorean SAMs were stationed at Butterworth. However it is to my understanding that there has been ongoing tension between the Malaysian and the Singaporeans for some time now. RSAF fighters were denied use of Malaysian airspace for training some time ago, and the RSAF went to the vast Australian an US airspace for trng. Furthermore, with the RMAF getting MiG-29/F/A-18s, with the possibility of obtaining R-77 BVRs, Singapore asked to get AMRAAMS.
Singapore, one of the best defended countries in the world for its size now has F-16s and Apaches on order (among other stuff). If Malaysia gets Su-30MKM’s, what will Singapore get? They’ve got the dow for the F-22 and are very intrested in the JSF. What will happen?