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The 'Singapore Army' (Chinese: 新加坡陆军部队, Malay: ''Tentera Singapura'') is the land forces and one of the three services of the Singapore Armed Forces.

Contents

Capabilities

Organisation

Classification by formations

Classification by divisional and non-divisional assets

Combined-Arms Divisions

Non-divisional units

Equipment

See also

In popular culture

Reference

External links

Capabilities

The Singapore Army focuses on leveraging technology and weapon systems as "force-multipliers". It has some of the most advanced military hardware in the South-East Asia region. The Singapore Army is capable of conducting amphibious operations with a highly developed logistics force, across all three services of Army, Navy and Air Force, as seen in the relief work in Aceh after the 2004 Christmas Tsunami.
Aside from hardware, the Singapore Army heavily invests in its "software". Largely made-up of tertiary-educated conscripts and professional regulars, the army has a good breed of soldiers, able to receive high levels of training, both in theory and practise.
To equip all soldiers with practical fighting experience, large-scale exercises, up to Division level are conducted several times a year, exposing almost every fighting unit to full-spectrum, full-scale war scenarios. Some of these exercises also involve the Air force and Navy, in order to familiarise its troops with its combined arms, tri-service operations. Due to space constraints, such exercises are usually conducted overseas unilaterally. Bilateral training and exchanges are also common between friendly nations. The Singapore Army also professionally conducts "tough, realistic and safe training in order to fulfill the Army’s mission."
The Singapore Army is currently undergoing the transformation into a 3rd Generation [1] fighting force. The SAF's evolution into its 3rd Generation involves combining advancements in technology and training while using networking to integrate the tri-services into an integrated fighting force. This will provide even greater operational-readiness and flexibility during war and peace time.

Organisation

The Army is headed by the Chief of Army (COA), currently Major General Neo Kian Hong. Assisting him are the Chief of Staff-General Staff (COS-GS), Brigadier General Hugh Lim U Yang, and the Commander, Army Training and Doctrine Command. There are also six functional departments and an NS Affairs Department (NSAD) dealing with National Service issues, collectively known as the General Staff, an Inspectorate and an NS Affairs Department (NSAD) dealing with National Service issues. The six functional departments handle personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics, plans and training respectively. Each department is headed by an Assistant Chief of the General Staff (ACGS). Also advising the COA are the Senior Specialist Staff Officers (SSSOs): Infantry, Guards, Armour, Commando, Artillery, Engineers and Signals.

Classification by formations

The army consists of the following 'Combat Arms', which are integrated with one another to form the 'Divisional and Non-divisional assets':

★ Armour

★ Artillery

★ Combat Engineers

★ Commando

★ Guards

★ Infantry

★ Signals
These are bolstered by 'Combat Service Support Units' which consist of the following:

★ Army Intelligence

★ Army Medical Services

★ Army Maintenance and Engineering Support

★ Army Supply and Transport

★ Singapore Armed Forces Ammunition Command

Classification by divisional and non-divisional assets

Combined-Arms Divisions

The main components of the Army are its '3 active Combined-Arms Divisions':
'3rd', '6th' and '9th' 'Div'. They include both active and reserve units, all of which can be mobilised in phases.
There are other divisions, which are entirely made up of former conscripts in reserve status.
Each division comprising:


★ 1x Armoured Brigade (4 Armoured Battalions, 1 Engineers Company, 1 Signal Company, 1 Reconnaissance Company; all SAF combat "regiments" are of battalion size, similar to the "regiments" in the British Army; for example, 42 SAR stands for 42nd Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment.)

★ 2x Infantry Brigade (3 Infantry Battalions, 1 Engineers Company, 1 Signal Company, 1 Reconnaissance Company)

★ 1x Signal Battalion

★ 1x Artillery Battalion

★ 1x Combat Engineers Battalion

★ 1x Air Defense Battalion

Non-divisional units

★ 1x Military Intelligence Battalion (1MI - 1st Military Intelligence Bn)

★ 1x Active Commandos Battalion (1CDO - 1st Commando Bn) and 1x Reserve Commando Battalion

★ 2x Active Guards Battalion (1 Heliborne & 1 Beach Deployment) - (1GDS, 3 GDS - 1st and 3rd Guards Bn)

★ Unknown number of elite "Special Operations Forces (SOF)" trained by United States Special Forces Operational Detachment- DELTA Force and Naval Diving Units whose members undergo training conducted by the United States Navy SEALS.

★ 1x Aggressor Company - Under TRADOC/ATEC, this Company bases itself on the Aggressor Orbat and varies slightly from the normal Infantry Company, with a platoon specialising in Armour Simulation using normal vehicles. They are the Red Force for ATEC evaluations. Also known as OPFOR.

★ 1x Medical Response Force Unit (MRF) - Counter Chemical and Biological Warfare Unit

★ Reserve Divisions

Equipment

Type	Amount
'Main Battle Tanks'	~200
Leopard 2A4 (120mm Rheinmetall L44 main gun)	132
Centurion Mk 3/Mk 7 (105mm L7 main gun)	~100 [1]
'Light Tanks'	~450
AMX-13SM1	~350
'Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicles / IFVs'	~700
Bionix II (30mm Bushmaster II chain gun/New armour)	200
Bionix 25 (25mm Bushmaster chain gun)	~300
Bionix 40/50 (40mm AGL + 0.5in HMG)	~300
'Armoured Personnel Carriers/Reconnaissance Vehicles'	~1570
M113 ULTRA 40/50 (40mm AGL + 0.5in HMG)	~700
M113 ULTRA OWS (25mm Bushmaster chain gun)	~300
'Howitzers'	~300
M71 155 mm Towed Howitzer	38+
FH-88 155 mm/39-Cal Towed Howitzer	54+
FH-2000 155 mm/52-Cal Towed Howitzer	54+
GIAT LG1 105 mm Towed Howitzer	60+
SSPH Primus 155 mm/39-Cal Self-Propelled Howitzer (SSPH-1)	54+
Pegasus 155 mm Self-Propelled Lightweight Howitzer	54+
'Armoured Engineers'	?
Combat Engineer Tractor	?
M60A1 Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB)	?
'Field Engineers'	?
Vehicle Launched Bridge (VLB)	?
Foldable Longspan Bridge (FLB)	?
Projected Line Charge (PLC)	?
Bionix Launched Bridge	?
'Bridging Engineers'
M3G Bridge	?
'All-Terrain Tracked Vehicles'	~800
Bronco ATTC (GPMG armed/120mm Super-Rapid Mortar)	~500
BV206S (GPMG armed)	~300
'Mortars'
81 mm, 120 mm	?
'Anti-Tank Rockets/Missiles'	~4000
Spike-LR MANPACK	300
Matador	~3000
'Guards Vehicles'	400
Spike LSV with Twin SPIKE ATGM	200
Spider LSV	200
'Direct Fire Weapons'	~400,000
SAR-21	>150,000
M16S1 M16 variant produced locally under license; for all intents and purposes, similar to the M16A1	>200,000
CAR-15 Carbine version of the M-16 (Converting to SAR-21)	>5,000
M203 40 mm GL	>20,000
Ultimax 100	>20,000
FN MAG 7.62 mm General Purpose Machine Gun	>10,000
CIS 12.7 mm HMG	>3,000
Sig-Sauer P226 9 mm Pistol	?
H&K MP-5N 9 mm SMG	>2,000
FN P90 5.7 mm SMG	~500
FN Five-Seven 5.7 mm Pistol	~500
PGM Mini-Hecate 8.6 mm Long-Range Sniper Rifle	~100
H&K PSG-1
Accuracy International L96A1
Accuracy International L115A1
Steyr SSG 69

See also

★ Singapore Armed Forces

★ Republic of Singapore Air Force

★ Republic of Singapore Navy

★ Singapore Armed Forces ranks
;(Non-SAF)

★ Armour (Mechanized forces)

★ Artillery

★ Combat engineers

★ Commando

★ Infantry

★ Signals

In popular culture

===Fictional television programs===

★ ''Army Series'' (新兵小传), 11 March 1983

★ ''Honour and Passion'' (宝家为国), 24 July 2007

Reference

1. The Military Balance 2005-2006 (Military Balance), Christopher Langton (Editor), , , Routledge, , , page 296. This covers the numbers, not the gun replacement and new codename.

External links

★ Singapore Army Official Website

★ Singapore Army Offical Ranks Website

★ Ranks and Paramilitary Ranks of Singapore, accessed 23 Oct 2006.