Ghost Ships

In line with its vision to equip itself with the best of electronic warfare, the SAF has once again upgraded its steel workhorses. This time, an entire ageing fleet of missile gunboats to state-of-the-art frigates which are, quite literally, invisible to the untrained eye. With a total of 6 Formidable Class frigates under the Navy's command, our tiny Navy has, certainly, increased its capabilities by more than two-fold, since these 'ghost ships' would act as force multipliers during times of war. Let me show you why....


RSS Formidable

With an uncluttered appearance and an architecture that is strategically crafted, these new ships are built to reduce their radar signatures while out at sea. Most of its combat systems are hidden from view, thus allowing radar waves to be deflected away from the ship's body. So don't think that these are just simple frigates with aesthetic looks equipped with mere little guns on their bows. What's hidden beneath their deceiving skin would make our potential advesaries tremble with fear....

The frigates are equipped with highly-advanced combat suites, which are operating consoles that control all combat systems onboard. Such systems include the Active Low Frequency Towed Sonar (ALOFTS), an underwater sensor that is able to detect any long-ranged underwater threats, e.g torpedoes. There is also the Thales Herakles Multi-function Radar which provides all-round, long-ranged automatic search and tracking of both air and surface targets. In addition to the 76mm Naval Gun System, the ships are packed with Harpoon missiles which act as long-range anti-ship missiles. In the event that the ship gets detected by an enemy, the MBDA ASTER Anti-missile Missile System provides ample defence against aircraft and sea skimming anti-ship missiles.

Just as you are reading this, talks are going on between the SAF and their US counterparts to provide the already formidable Formidables with Sikorsky choppers, which would be able to conduct search and rescue missions, and act as additional 'eyes' in the skies, and, possibly, to perform search and destroy operations. Well....I'm guessing that with the addition of these choppers, more covert operations can be conducted by the SAF. Just imagine....a powerful chopper onboard an invisible ship. And inside this chopper are 15 of our elite combat troopers just waiting to infiltrate an enemy territory....waiting for that opportune moment......sneaky.....very sneaky.....

Map of Johore 

Cannons from hell.....

Ah yes.....the SSPH1 Primus....a self-propelled howitzer unique to the Singapore Armed Forces. For those who do not know, this, my friend, is our latest battle toy within our artillery ranks. A 30-ton toy to be exact, packed with enough ammunitions to obliterate an entire battalion of dumb fuck infantry men. You may have seen a couple of them trudging down City Hall on National Day but what you saw was only the tip of the iceberg....


The SSPH1 Primus

Proud to say, this armoured baby here is all-Singaporean, from head to toe. The Primus was developed jointly by DSTA (Defence Science and Technology Agency), ST Kinetics and of course, the SAF, to meet the operational requirements of the SAF. Armed with a 155m main gun, this howitzer can fire up to 6 rounds a minute, giving the enemy absolutely no time to run and hide. A fusion of the precision, range and firepower of the artillery, with the protection, speed and manoevrability of armoured vehicles, the Primus is a highly accurate, mobile artillery platform that will bolster the fighting capabilities of our armoured forces with its 'hide, shoot, scoot' capability. (MINDEF, Copyright 2005) In other words, with enhanced mobility, these howitzers can shoot, kill and fuck off, leaving the enemy lost and confused as to what the fuck just hit him, assuming he's still alive.

Although the SAF claims that the Primus is chocked with high-tech shit, they didn't really go into the specifics. Oh...you know...classified crap....Anyway, this howitzer takes a crew of 4, of which I assume, includes the commander, loader, gunner and driver. The fact that a loader is needed to manually load the rounds into the firing chamber makes me think. Hello? There exists auto-loading mechanisms out there somewhere. With such a mechanism, the loader can be scrapped, thus saving manpower within our man-scarce armed forces. Army 21 my ass! And to think that the SAF claims that this vehicle can fire up to 6 rounds a minute...whoaaaaa.....do you know how humungous an artillery round is?? The poor guy who's already squeezed into an armoured tin can must also work his feeble arms to the point of exhaustion......high tech, you were saying?

Anyway...I shall give credit when it is due.....you see....the Primus is really an awesome vehicle, considering that it is a moving howitzer that fires 155mm calibre rounds at up to 30km....now here's the interesting part. With a maximum firing range of 30km, a Primus, positioned at the northen tip of Singapore can easily pick off....ermmm well....hostile forces stationed at the Johore water-pumping stations at Kota Tinggi and Skudai. Remember that I once mentioned that any serious military action taken by Singapore would be to take control of the water-pumping stations, if ever some radical Malaysian politician cuts off our water supply? Well....it seems the Primus would just fit so snuggly into our defence plans. Coincidence? I don't think so.....

I've included a map of Johore above. Don't believe me? Go ahead...take a ruler and measure.....30km..... :)

Sounds of War

I wrote this poem when I was 16....

The day opens with shrieking jets
That blaze across the burning sun
Bombs of terror shake the earth
Infecting the people with horror and fear
A walk on the street can be a disaster
As rifles pump like nervous hearts
And bullets like needles, the metallic evil
Show the world the true feeling of pain
A blast from the east and another from the west
The cannons sound like noises from hell
But as the day closes, and as the war ends
A deafening silence fills the air
Ladies and gentlemen, my dear friends
I'd just like to tell you that the people are now dead

The Five Faces of Our Nation's Defence

If you still do not know, military defence is just one out of the five elements of Total Defence, a concept first enunciated in 1984 to 'unite all sectors of society - government, business and the people - in the defence of the country', which also includes psychological, social, economic and civil defence. After witnessing the recent National Day parade, I, for sure, am more than convinced of the power of Total Defence.



First up, psychological defence. Psychological defence is what drives our National Education programmes, which are primarily aimed at schools so that those little brats would not take Singapore's seemingly eternal bliss for granted. These programmes seek to convey various nationalistic messages such as 'We must ourselves defend Singapore. No one else is responsible for our security' and 'Singapore can be defended. United, determined and well-prepared we shall fight for the safety of our homes and the future of our families and children.' Such a notion psyches up the Singapore citizen and when war comes knocking on our doors, be sure that a large majority of Singaporeans would be prepared to defend their precious homeland.

On the other hand, social defence is intended to bolster Singapore's social cohesion in the face of present and future adversaties. With social defence, we are no longer Chinese, Malays, Indians or Eurasians, but Singaporeans who would stick together for better or worse. With social cohesiveness, we would deprive any potential aggressors of opportunities to exploit our racial differences. In May 1988, amid a contoversy over the arrest of political dissidents, our government claimed that 'foreign elements' were attacking Singapore's 'psychological and social defences' in the futile belief that these were the republic's weak links. Mmmm....I wonder who these dumb fucks were....

Thirdly, economic defence. Such a defence concept aims to ensure that Singapore's economy 'will not collaspe during war or under the cloud of war' Yes....this is a fact....our government has already drawn up contingency plans to enable factories and offices to continue functioning during times of war, when manpower and equipment are being utilized for military purposes. Apparently, under the Civil Resource requisitioning programme, the private sector will be expected to share its material and manpower resources with civilian and military authorities in times of war. Moreover, after Iraq overan Kuwait in 1990, our government ensured that oil was stockpiled in the face of a looming shortage. It is understood that, with rationing, our food stockpiles can provide for six months of consumption. By that time, the Singapore flag would already be flying on top of the Johore sultanate.

Lastly, civil defence. I think I've talked a lot about our military defence and its capabilities so I don't see the need to talk about such an obvious form of defence. Anyway, civil defence aims to 'protect civilian lives, lower casualty rate, minimize damage to property and pave the way for a return to normalcy' in the event of war. Due to our small size, high population density and the close proximity of civilian buidings to military installations, our civilian population is very vulnerable to war threats. As such, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is equipped and fully trained to meet any emergency with speed and efficiency, so that our soldiers at the frontline can be assured that every effort will be taken to protect their families and homes.

Now, please pray tell me.....Is there any government in the world that would have conjured up such an elaborate defence plan that involves the entire nation? Would a certain Dr Chee have thought of a better policy? Or maybe a more respectable Mr Chiam would have done a better job? Most probably, these clowns would have just cut our defence spending by half and feed us to our neighbourhood dogs.......so do yourself a favour.....support the PAP....for they will continue a reich that will last a thousand years.....

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing that took place on 6th Aug 1945. A grisly reminder to us mortals that we, as humans, are indeed capable of destroying ourselves at a snap of a finger. What power we wield....what genuises we all are. More than 140,000 innocent civilians died at the merciless hands of a single atomic bomb at Hiroshima and another 80,000 lives were taken, no thanks to another bomb at Nagasaki. Could the Americans have chosen another route to end the Pacific War in WW2? Or should they be honoured as saviours who had freed us from the tyranny of the Japs? Indeed such questions are difficult to anwer but let's take a look at the answers that history has provived.


A heavenly sight to behold....
A sight oblivious to the hell it created down below....

After the countless battles and island-hopping campaigns that the Yanks have fought in, the Americans have already lost hundreds of thousands of men. The Battle of Okinawa was, apparently, the last straw for then newly-appointed President Harry S. Truman. With the war in Europe having ended months before, the American families called for a swift end to the Pacific drama. However, to make matters worse, the Japs still would not surrender, despite knowing that a crumbling empire was already a foregone conclusion. Thus, armed with technology that no country possessed at that time, President Truman initiated the atomic strike and the rest is history.

Next to Vietnam, no topic in U.S foreign policy generates as much historical controversy as the continuing debate over the use of atomic bombs to end WW2. In today's Straits Times, Prof Hasegawa, Director of the Centre for Cold War Studies at the University of California blames both Stalin and Truman for not doing more to negotiate a Jap surrender. The prof even accused the Yanks of not liking the Japs back then. Apparently, such radical views remain unaccepted by traditional historians but this interesting article did end with a thought-provoking quote....

"There was a belief that dropping the bomb could accelerate the end of the war in ways that would greatly strengthen the American strategic position in Asia. The bomb was to announce to the world American superiority." Prof Mark Selden

How apt........how......apt.....

Keeping the status quo

As our National Day approaches, I await with anticipated breath, knowing that a gallant parade of our finest military personnel and vehicles would take centre stage at the Padang. A brillant display of our patriotism, national pride and a subtle reminder to any of our neighbours that they wouldn't want to fuck with us......with this in mind.....we have got to ask ourselves...why oh why....did our government build a military force from scratch and made it to be the most fearsome and powerful in South-east Asia?


National Day...a show of our cohesiveness,
unity and military might...

In the early days of the SAF, the initial doctrine called for the SAF to be primarily defensive-oriented, based largely on an infantry-dominated army. Our military strategy back then was commonly known as the 'poisonous shrimp' analogy because the idea was that any aggressor would find that the costs of invading Singapore would outweigh any conceivable benefits. This doctrine remained for a good 20-odd years but eventually, the government realized that such a strategy would not be able to deter an aggressor who is bent on walloping our asses. Such a doctrine would be deficient as we would only be able to deter the aggressor for a limited period of time before our allies came to our rescue. Oh hell no.....no way are we gonna depend on any of our allies for help....this little city-state has got to stand on its two feet and fend off any aggressor ON OUR OWN.

Thus, in the 90s, PM Lee (then Chief of Staff, General Staff), re-thought our long-standing military doctrine with a strategy which conveyed the message 'I may not completely destroy you but you will have to pay a high price for trying to subdue me, and you may still not succeed'. With such a radical view, we started working towards self-sufficiency and by reading my earlier posts, you would realize that Singapore has a military force capable of speading hell across any aggressor state.

Ever since our breakaway from the Federation of Malaya (as Malaysia was known back then), Singapore's government has always been fearful of the political disadvantage we would have in this part of the world, since we are really small and is largely dependent on neighbouring countries for natural resources. Ever concious of our vulnerabilities, we set out to build up our armed forces so as to tip the political scales in out favour. In a sense, our military strength has prevented war from breaking out, by maintaining a status quo among the ASEAN nations, preventing any larger countries from dominating us. This balance of power ensured Singapore's peace and security since our independence, and we would continue to seek such a regional balance, so that any potential adversary would never want to play with the idea of war with us. There will never be a Iraq-Kuwait scenario being played out in this region because I know, the long-term prosperity of this tiny island is, thankfully, in the safe hands of the patriots of the SAF.........

Clandestine Operations

What do Matt Damon, Pierce Brosnan and the MINDEF have in common? The answer is all three were or are involved in clandestine operations. Well....not exactly for Matt and Pierce who had acted in the Bourne and James Bond movie series respectively, but the MINDEF....well....they are for real.....

According to Mr Tim Huxley....yes and not me.....the primary strategic intelligence organization of the MINDEF is the Security and Intelligence Division (SID). Apparently it is being headed by a senior civil servant or a one-star general, with about 500 staff under them. These dudes have work that is almost unheard of. They live in a hush-hush world where top secret intelligence gathering is their utmost focus. The SID conducts clandestine activities, such as extensive human intelligence (HUMINT) operations in other South-east Asian countries, most notably our 'friendly' neighbour, Malaysia. Remember I once mentioned that the Malaysian government allegedly caught nine of our spies? Well....here's the skinny.....in the late 1980s, a major HUMINT operation was conducted by the SID with the aim of discovering details of Malaysian's defence procurement programmes. Apparently, the operation was a success and the 'spies' were able to penetrate into the Malaysian defence ministry and feed considerable amounts of classified information to Singapore. However, the kuku 'spies' got arrested by the Melayus, but the damn book did not give any details as to what happened to these brave souls.

Anyway, in the mid-1990s, the SID stretched their clandestine hand down under, as they kindda infiltrated the Australian defence ministry for crying out loud..... Eventually, the Aussies found out about it and Canberra became alarmed over such apparent Singaporean efforts to collect information on Australian defence capabilities. Seriously, why in the bleedy world would Australia be considered a military threat?? Apart from these God-forbidden activities, SID is, apparently, in cahoots with the National University of Singapore as well. The organization is presumed to be responsible for managing the analysis of imagery received from the satellite ground station operated by the NUS Centre for Remote Imaging. Well...according to Australian defence analyst Desmond Ball, Singapore possesses the most advanced electronic warfare capability in South-east Asia. In other words, even before a Malaysian ballistic missile hits us, hundreds of thousands of armed Singapore soldiers would be already waiting for the order to beat the crap outta those Melayus.....

So people....be careful of what you say....you don't wanna blabber about the sights and sounds of your stupid army camp to anyone...and especially to taxi-drivers. Who knows? The cabbie might just be a SID agent in disguise and will tengkat you if you reveal too much.....shhhhhhhh.....