The long timeline for the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) to acquire its F-35B jets will put Singapore in a "good position" said Ng Eng Hen during the Committee of Supply debates on Mar. 2.

Ng was responding to a question from the Workers' Party Chair Sylvia Lim, who asked what he meant when he said in his earlier speech that the timelines for the purchase were useful, from MINDEF's point of view.

In his speech, Ng had provided an update on the purchase, saying that the government was in the "final stages" of the process after obtaining assent from the U.S. authorities.

The deal will see four new jets acquired by 2026, with an option to purchase eight more.

"A good position"

In reply, Ng said that by the time it came to 2026 to make a decision on purchasing more jets, the first four F-35B's would have been evaluated.

By this time, Ng believed there would be a "few thousand" F-35 and F-30B planes across the world, used by many different militaries, and said that's a "good position" for Singapore.

"In other words, there are many vested interests, many countries who plan their air defence systems based on that acquisition."

Early issues raised have been 'ironed out'

Ng added that new platforms would always have "design issues", whether an F-16 or an F-35B, but pointed out that the pilots and technical staff weren't worried.

"They are quite confident that the problem — the main problems — have been ironed out and, and that the platform will reach a steady-state."

He also said that issues related to maintenance and parts were logistical in nature, and added:

"What I meant was that its good that we're in no hurry and we have to allow the systems to mature. I think most of the issues that were raised initially when the F-35's procurement was in infancy would have been ironed out."

Final stages of the purchase

Lim also asked for greater clarity on which stage of the acquisition process Singapore was at, wanting to know if the purchase had in-principle approval, or if it had been confirmed.

Ng replied that MINDEF was in the midst of working out the "terms of the sales and purchase agreement", and it was in the "final stages".

This included aspects beyond the purchase itself, such as where the planes would be based during training exercises with U.S. Department of Defence.

He added that the current Administration supported the purchase when Singapore sent its letter of request, and while Congress can raise objections, they have not done so.

Replacing the F-16s

MINDEF originally announced its intention to purchase the F-35 jets in last year's committee of supply debates.

The planes are set to replace the Republic of Singapore Airforce's F-16s.

In this year's debate, Ng said that MINDEF had settled on the F-35B variant of the plane as it had the capability to "take-off from a shorter runway and land vertically, an important feature in land-scarce Singapore."

Top image from F-35 Lightning II Facebook page and gov.sg’s YouTube channel