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Singapore NATIONAL SECURITY
Armed Forces: In 1989 regular armed forces of
55,500:
army--45,000, air force--6,000, navy--4,500. Reserves
totaled
182,000, and 30,000 in People's Defence Force, a national
guard.
All males eligible for conscription at age eighteen; most
conscripts served twenty-four to thirty months active
duty, with
reserve obligation to age forty for enlisted personnel and
fifty
for officers.
Military Units and Equipment: Army composed of
one active
and one reserve armored brigade, three active and six
reserve
infantry brigades, two commando battalions, and seventeen
artillery
battalions. Equipment included light weapons, light tanks,
armored
personnel carriers, and 155mm howitzers. Navy had
corvettes,
missile craft squadrons, patrol squadrons, transport
ships, and
minesweepers. Major weapons Gabriel and Harpoon
ship-to-ship
missiles. Air force had twenty F-16 fighter-bombers on
order for
early 1990s, and in 1989 had estimated 125 combat aircraft
in 6
squadrons and 60 helicopters. Air defense provided by army
and air
force antiaircraft artillery and by Bloodhound 2, Rapier,
and HAWK
surface-to-air missiles.
Military Budget: In 1988 estimated at US$1.003
million,
6 percent of Gross National Product (GNP).
Foreign Military Relations: No formal military
alliances
or treaty relations, but participated in Five-Powers
Defence
Agreement with Britain, Malaysia, Australia, and New
Zealand.
Shared integrated air defense system with Malaysia.
Singapore armed
forces trained in or held joint exercises with Malaysia,
Indonesia,
Brunei, Taiwan, and Australia.
Police: In 1989 regular force of 7,000
supplemented by
3,000 conscripts assigned to police and 2,000 citizen
volunteers.
Additional forces provided by 300-member Port of Singapore
police
and Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation whose
2,000
armed guard and escort personnel had police powers. Prison
security
and security force reserve provided by 700-member Gurkha
contingent.
Data as of December 1989
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