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The current Chief of Air Force is Brigadier General Ng Chee Khern ; one of the first F-16 pilots in Singapore. He took over office from Major General Lim Kim Choon who retired in March 2006 after serving in the position for a period of 5 years. OVERVIEW The backbone of the RSAF is formed by the Block 52/52+ F-16 Fighting Falcon s. These are armed with US-supplied AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles and LANTIRN targeting pods, laser guided munitions and the 52+ have Conformal Fuel Tank s for long-range strike. While initially having bought as many as 70 F-16 planes, the early Block 15OCU models will be given to Thailand in exchange for some training grounds. This would mean that the RSAF will operate only the Block 52/52+ models and as many as 62 planes in total. The initial Block15OCU aircraft are believed to be upgraded to "Falcon One" standard by Singapore Technologies before being donated to the Royal Thai Air Force . The RSAF also operates its aircraft in several overseas locations in order to provide greater exposure to her pilots. With F-16C/D Fighting Falcons, KC-135R Stratotanker s, AH-64D Apache s and CH-47SD Chinook helicopters based in the USA, Marchetti S-211 's and Super Puma helicopters in Australia and (T)A-4SU Super Skyhawks in France, almost one third of the inventory is based outside Singapore. In 1994 the RSAF started the modernization program for its fleet of approximately 40 operational (R) F-5 E and F-5F aircraft. The upgrade was performed by Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STAero) and the upgraded aircraft were designated (R)F-5S and F-5T respectively, operating from Paya Lebar Airbase. These upgraded F-5S/T might be capable of firing the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile but no live-firing has been done yet. The Fighter force of F-16C/D's and (R)F-5S/T's is supported by four KC-135Rs and KC-130Bs for In-flight Refuelling . Airborne Early Warning And Control (AEW&C) capability was introduced when in 1987 four E-2C Hawkeyes were delivered to 111 Sqn and coastal Surveillance is performed by five Fokker 50 MPA, armed with long-range anti-shipping Harpoon missiles and torpedoes. Singapore has ordered twenty AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters and after a long period of negotiations over the delivery of the sophisticated Longbow Radar , the first one was handed over on May 17, 2002, fitted with the Fire Control Radar. An extra batch of twelve Apaches was ordered in 2001, before the first delivery actually took place, so eventually the RSAF will operate 20 of those sophisticated attack helicopters. All initial 8 Apaches are based in USA . 3 of the Apache Longbow returned in January 2006 at the Minister of Defense 's request. Apart from the six CH-47D's delivered from 1996 on, a new batch of six aircraft was ordered in 1997, with an option of four extra airframes. At least 12 CH-47D have been delivered and in-service at Sembawang Airbase, it is believed that these have been upgraded to the SD standard prior to delivery. 8 of them were deployed in late December to January to support the relief efforts in Indonesia's Tsunami disaster. As of 24 January, 3 of them remain there while other assets have returned. The RSAF also helped in the Indonesian Tsunami Relief efforts. It was the first and one of the only countries to reach the affected areas. The RSAF deployed C-130Hs, CH-47SDs and AS 332Ms there along with three of the RSN's Landing Ship Tanks and SAF's vehicles and soldiers. On November 18th, 2004 it was announced the RSAF will be donating its remaining 7 F-16A/B's (3 Alphas and 4 Bravos) to the Royal Thai Air Force. The last 8th plane was lost in an accident. It is believed that they were handed over in late 2005. In return, the RSAF is given access to train on the Thai air base of Udon Thani for a set number of days each year. Also, after 31 years of operations, the RSAF officially withdrew its fleet of A-4SU Super Skyhawks from operational service on 31 March 2005. The A-4SUs' achievements included flying directly from Singapore to the Philippines, incorporating the RSAF's first air-to-air refuelling mission in 1986, as well as the excellent aerobatic display of the 'red and white' Super Skyhawks flown by the RSAF Black Knights during Asian Aerospace 1990. A month before its retirement, the SkyHawk squadron won the top honours in a strike exercise against its more modern F-16 and F-5 counterparts. AIRCRAFT AIRBASES
OVERSEAS DETACHMENTS (TRAINING)
FUTURE PLANS The introduction of a next generation fighter aircraft is also considered. In February 2003, Singapore joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) System Design and Development (SDD) Phase, as a Security Co-operation Participant (SCP). The first deliveries of the F-35 are not expected before 2015, but a replacement for some of the Skyhawks is needed by 2007. As a start, some 20 F-16D-52+ have been delivered from 2003 under project Peace Carvin IV. The RSAF has embarked on the Next Generation Fighter (NGF) programme to replace the aging A-4SU jets. The original list of competitors had been shortlisted to the final two - Dassault Rafale and the F-15SG Strike Eagle. The DSTA (Defense Science & Technology Agency) has been conducting detailed technical assessment, simulations and other tests to assess the final selection. On 6th September 2005, DSTA announced that the Boeing F-15T Strike Eagle had won the contract over the Rafale. The initial batch of orders will be between 8 to 12 aircraft with the same number of options. Eventually, as many as 40 to 60 aircraft may be procured in several batches. Depending on the status of the F-35 program, more F-15SGs may be bought and the upper limit, as disclosed by the RSAF, is 80 F-15SG aircraft in total. These will likely be based at the new Changi East Airbase. As part of the weapons package for the first batch of aircraft, the U.S. will sell Singapore 200 AMRAAM s (AIM-120C), 200 AIM-9X Sidewinder s, 50 GBU-38 JDAM s, and 30 AGM-154A Joint Stand-off Weapon s. The RSAF is expected to operate only two types of aircraft in the foreseeable future; the F-35s and F-15Ts. The RSAF also operates Air Defense assets in the form of SAMs and ADA. Some of which are permanently assigned to Army Division units. In January 2005, it was announced that 6 Sikorsky S-70B (international derivative of SH-60B Seahawk ) naval helicopters will be purchased, complete with anti-surface and anti-submarine sensors, sonars and weapons. These will be operated by RSAF pilots, with the Republic Of Singapore Navy operating the sensors and weaponry. They will based onboard the new ''Formidable'' class frigates. The first 4 to 8 AH-64D Longbow should also be delivered later in the year, after achieving pilot FOC. Air to air missiles in RSAFs inventory include the AIM-9 Sidewinder , AIM-9X Sidewinder, AIM-120C AMRAAM ,
AIM-7 Sparrow , and Python 3/4s missiles.
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