SAF’s Extended Facilities in Australia Critical: Ng Eng Hen

The Straits Times

10 May 2016

Singapore’s A$2.25 billion (S$2.25 billion) plan to expand military facilities in north-eastern Australia will more than triple the training area that its troops currently use Down Under.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen revealed that the Republic will build a brand-new range where its big guns, such as long-range artillery guns and Apache attack helicopters, can fire live rounds. It is also planning a mock city with multi-storey buildings for soldiers to hone their urban warfare skills.

All in, the training space in Queensland’s Shoalwater Bay and Townsville will allow up to 14,000 men and their machines to train in an area 10 times the size of Singapore. Currently, some 4,000 troops conduct their field training every year in Shoalwater Bay, which is about thrice the size of Singapore.

… Defence analyst Richard Bitzinger told The Straits Times that the closer defence ties between Singapore and Australia show that the Republic is “increasingly concerned about an increasingly aggressive China”, especially in the South China Sea.

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