Tengah Air Base is set to grow, following news of its expansion into its surrounding areas on July 18. The air base will be taking on some of Paya Lebar Air Base's assets and facilities, which are due to be relocated there in 2030.

A military air base throughout its history, Tengah began its life as an airfield for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) known as RAF Tengah in 1939.

In those days, airfields were essentially flat, grassy, and open compounds for airplanes to take-off, land, and be based at. Tarmac runways would only be developed in later years to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] RAF planes lined up at Tengah in 1941. Source: Wikipedia[/caption]

During the Second World War, RAF Tengah was one of the Japanese forces' prime targets to attack in Singapore. On the morning of December 8, 1941, the first Japanese air raid was carried out on Singapore with RAF Tengah among their main targets. The airfield was bombed by planes from the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force based in Saigon (present day Ho Chi Minh City).

When the Japanese invaded Singapore in 1942, RAF Tengah was the first airfield to be captured by the Japanese army, following the British forces' hasty retreat from northern Singapore.

The Japanese would use the airfield during the Occupation from 1942 to 1945.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="686"] Aftermath of a Japanese air raid in Singapore. Source: NAS[/caption]

Following the war, RAF Tengah actively contributed to the defence of Singapore through the dark periods of the Emergency, and Indonesia's Confrontation with the formation of Malaysia.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Aerial view of RAF Tengah in 1953. Source: Wikipedia[/caption]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="775"] RAF planes at Tengah in 1950. Source: Wikipedia[/caption]

In 1971, the withdrawal of British troops in Singapore saw the air base handed over to the Singapore Air Defence Command, the forerunner of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

Presently, Tengah Air Base is home to squadrons of fixed wing aircraft, including F-16s fighter planes and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Black Knights, Singapore's military aerobatic team and a crowd favourite at the annual National Day Parade, are also based at Tengah Air Base.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Source: RSAF Black Knights Facebook[/caption]

In recent years, the RSAF would hold an alternate runway exercise known as Exercise Torrent along Lim Chu Kang Road, near Tengah Air Base. The exercise involves RSAF planes landing and taking off along a portion of Lim Chu Kang Road temporarily converted into a runway.

According to a defence expert quoted in TODAY, Tengah Air Base's expansion could mean that Lim Chu Kang Road would no longer be used as an alternate runway, which might mean the end for Exercise Torrent.

Top image from RSAF Black Knights Facebook.

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