Singapore for first time reveals extensive defense ties with Israel
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, September 12, 2000
TOKYO — For the first time, Singapore has detailed its extensive
defense relationship with Israel.
Singapore officials said Israel has launched several projects with their
country in research and development. These projects have upgraded anti-tank
missiles, simulators and electro-optics technologies.
The officials broke decades of silence in Singapore's relationship with
Israel during an address by Defense Minister Tony Tan. Tan, who is also
deputy prime minister, was launching a research and development facility on
Wednesday.
"Our defense industry collaboration with our Israeli counterparts has
enabled us to leapfrog into technologies such as electro-optics, training
simulators and anti-tank missiles," Tan said. "In anti-tank missile
technology for example, we collaborated with Israel to develop
state-of-the-art anti-tank
guided missile systems. These missile systems allow both fire-and-forget and
fire-and-observe modes of operation."
Tan praised the Israeli improvements to Singapore's weapons. He said the
fire-and-forget mode of the guided missile system employs "sophisticated TV
guidance technology and significantly increases the range of the missile."
He said the missiles are highly accurate and provide Singapore troops with
"the best possible all weather, day and night anti-tank protection."
Israel is a leading defense partner of Singapore, officials said. The
Jewish state joins such countries as Australia, France, Sweden, the United
Kingdom and the United States as partners in R&D.
Israel is one of three countries that have established joint technology
funds with Singapore, officials said. The other countries are France and
Sweden.
Tan said he cannot discuss many of the programs Singapore has with
Israel and other countries. He said such cooperation with increase over the
next few years.
"Many of these collaborative projects are classified and so I cannot
speak about them today," he said. "It is in the nature of defense technology
that there will be many secrets. We and our collaborating partners both
share and safeguard the technologies that we develop together in order to
protect the strategic interests of both parties."
Tan said Sweden helped Singapore establish research and development in
defense against chemical weapons attack. The cooperation with France, he
said, has increased significantly over the last few years. Last week,
Aerospatiale-Matra Missiles said it won a contract -- part of an estimated a
$700 million deal -- with Singapore for the supply of anti-ship missiles in
a project that includes research and development.
"One key technology that we are collaborating with France is in
stealth - the art and science of making military platforms less detectable
by radars and sonars," Tan said.