By Thai Newsroom Reporters
SINGAPORE HAS NOW placed a purchase order for eight Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, confirmed an air force source yesterday (Feb. 28).
Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen has confirmed to lawmakers during yesterday’s budget debate that the eight F-35A fighters will add to a dozen F-35B jets whose purchase order had been earlier placed with the US combat aircraft manufacturer.
Given the permanent status as a major US ally in the Indo-Pacific region, Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country so far provided with the fifth-generation F-35A and F-35B multirole jets.
The average flyaway cost of an F-35A is currently estimated at US$82.5 million, compared to US$109 million for an F-35B, the air force source said.
Delivery of the 12 F-35B fighters for Singapore is reportedly due to begin in 2026 and that of the eight F-35A jets expected to start in 2030.
Given limited space for combat aircraft takeoffs and landings in the island republic, the Singapore air force is looking for the F-35s which need a very short distance on a runway for takeoffs and can manoeuvre vertical landings.
Lockheed Martin manufactures the fifth-generation Lightning II variants, namely the F-35A for the US air force, the F-35B for the US Marines and the F-35C for the US navy.
The Singaporean air force currently deploys squadrons of McDonnell Douglas F-15SQ Eagle jets and General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcon jets.
Singapore remains one of the vital chokeways in the Strait of Malacca as part of the Indo-Pacific region where the US Seventh Fleet remains on alert due to lasting tensions between China and Taiwan and between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s opportunity to land a squadron of F-35A multirole fighter jets is relatively slim, given the Southeast Asian country’s sustained double-faced diplomacy in dealing with world superpowers, according to former deputy National Security Council secretary-general Pongsakorn Rodchompu.
The US government has been largely concerned over the possibility that the state-of-the-art manufacturing, avionics and weapon systems applied with the air-supremacy fighter jet could be practically leaked out to China one way or another.
Nevertheless, the Thai air force is apparently inclined to choose between the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70/72 jet and Saab JAS 39E Gripen jet in place of the unlikely F-35.
CAPTIONS:
Top: The fifth-generation F-35A stealth fighter jet. File photo: Lockheed Martin and published by CNA
Front Page: Royal Australian Air Force F-35As flying alongside a Republic of Singapore Air Force multi-role tanker transport. Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long
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