S’pore top brass witness F-35B display

PHOENIX (ARIZONA) — The world’s most advanced warplane capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), staged a 16-minute aerial display for Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Defence Ministry (MINDEF) officials, stoking speculation among military observers that Singapore’s decision on whether to buy the JSF is imminent.

Dr Ng’s visit to the United States has taken him to Arizona, where about 700 Singapore Armed Forces personnel are staging Exercise Forging Sabre until Dec 17. The aerial display took place after Dr Ng and Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) chief Major-General Hoo Cher Mou were introduced to another F-35B on static display at Luke Air Force Base.

Dr Ng tried out the F-35B’s pilot helmet, which helps the pilot fuse information from various sensors, mounted a ladder to look at the cockpit and was briefed on the JSF’s nose-mounted sensors and design features.

The aerial display saw a second F-35B make a low level pass over the airbase at a low airspeed that fighter planes, apart from the US Marine Corps’ Harrier ground-attack planes, are not capable of performing. The finale saw the JSF pilot hover his aircraft almost in front of the Singaporean visitors. It then pivoted slightly to the left and dipped its nose forward before turning and resuming its flight in the previous direction before landing.

Asked about what he thought of the demonstration, Dr Ng said: “It’s a remarkable feat of engineering, (the programme for the plane) took a long time (and there were) some hiccups. But by all indications, speaking with those who are participating in the programme, the US Marines as well as the US Air Force, it’s now on a fairly smooth production rate. We saw if you’d like for the first time the F-35Bs, what you call a short take-off, a vertical landing B version, and it’s remarkable to see something of that size hover.”

But Singapore will not be rushed into a decision on the plane. “As I’ve said in Parliament, we are considering it, we are still evaluating it and we’ll take our time because our current fleet of fighter aircraft is sufficient for our needs,” Dr Ng said. “We are evaluating the F-35s to see whether they can complement and add to our fleet when we decide to modernise further. We are in no hurry. (The) F-15s will serve us but we are evaluating (the F-35s) seriously.”

At Exercise Forging Sabre, Dr Ng yesterday witnessed an integrated live-firing exercise, which involved fighter aircraft and helicopters from the air force and the army, orchestrated by a command post. The minister is due to visit Washington DC later this week for talks with Pentagon officials.