That ability to spend a longer time on air combat patrols will come in useful, as the RSAF has had to stage more of such patrols over Singapore since 9/11. Events that saw RSAF fighters prowl Singapore's airspace, fully armed and ready for air defence missions, include the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, the International Olympic Committee meeting here, and also Singapore's 40th National Day.
By David Boey, Defence Correspondent
WHEN F-15 Eagle fighters are paired with F-16 Fighting Falcon for aerial combat, these American-made combat aircraft have proven unbeatable.
Air combat kills chalked up by the Israeli F-15s and F-16s in the skies over Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and by the US Air Force in the Balkans War, the 1991 Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom attest to the duo's lethality.
And it is precisely this pair that will form the sharp point of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), which is already equipped with F-16s.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed last Tuesday that it is finalising a contract for F-15 Eagles, made by Chicago-based Boeing, after an eight-year search for a 'new generation fighter'.
A contract for eight to 12 Eagles, plus associated weaponry and engines, is said to be worth US$1 billion (S$1.7 billion).
The F-15 and F-16 have complementary capabilities: While the F-15 uses its powerful radar and long-range air-to-air missiles to hunt down enemy planes, the smaller, agile F-16 is deadly in close-in dogfights.
But although F-16s are used by the US and 22 nations around the world, the US has refused to release the more powerful F-15 Eagle to all but Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. As such, the RSAF will be one of the few air forces that fly both the F-15 and F-16.
Mindef's Next Fighter Replacement Programme started with six candidates and was whittled down to a contest between the F-15T Strike Eagle and the Rafale from Dassault Aviation of France. (The T in the F-15T designation supposedly indicates 'Temasek'. The letter S would make better sense for Singapore, but it's already taken. The F-15S denotes Eagles sold to Saudi Arabia.)
Why the F-15?
The smaller picture may be its perfect record of 101 air-to-air victories and zero defeats in air battles around the globe. Of course, the assumption that it will ably defend Singapore's airspace in virtue of that record is a tenuous one. One should also consider, instead, the opponents it was pitted against, whether there was numerical superiority, and other factors such as weather conditions, shrewd battle-planning, the use of deception in war, and even good fortune that could have given one pilot the edge over another.
The bigger picture is the RSAF's active transformation into a third generation fighting force, the pace of which has been intense: More combat aircraft and helicopters have been retired this year alone compared to any other time in the RSAF's 37-year history.
Since January, the RSAF has retired its fleet of early model F-16s, A-4 Super Skyhawk fighter-bombers and UH-1H Huey transport helicopters.
This means that the RSAF can deploy its precious pool of personnel to more modern aircraft, like late model F-16s and Apache attack choppers, as these return home from training bases in the United States.
Above all, it is the F-15Ts, when they do arrive, that will give the RSAF a long-endurance fighter that can carry more bombs and fly further than anything it currently has. They can not only hit targets more than 3,000km away but also orbit Singapore airspace for a long time.
That ability to spend a longer time on air combat patrols will come in useful, as the RSAF has had to stage more of such patrols over Singapore since 9/11. Events that saw RSAF fighters prowl Singapore's airspace, fully armed and ready for air defence missions, include the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, the International Olympic Committee meeting here, and also Singapore's 40th National Day.
The Eagle buy will also hedge against any delays in the US-led Joint Strike Fighter programme, which aims to develop a stealthy multi-role combat aircraft around 2012. Singapore became an observer in the programme in 2003.
Still, despite its enviable combat record, the F-15 has its fair share of detractors who claim that its 30-year design is outdated.
However, Dr Tim Huxley, an analyst with London's International Institute for Strategic Studies who specialises in Asian security issues, disputed this point: 'The airframe may be designed in the 1970s, but what's inside is not only brand new and high technology, but can be updated substantially in future.'
Others ask why not the Rafale.
The F-15's triumph here over the Rafale - which is flown only by the French Air Force and Navy - seemed a replay of South Korea's fighter contest in 2002.
The 'buy American' factor appeared to mattered once again: Singapore and South Korea have traditionally turned to US warplanes, missiles and sensors.
Even Dassault Aviation acknowledged the US factor in a statement released the same day Mindef announced that it had picked the F-15, which said:'America's power might once again bore out the old Chinese proverb: Bamboo always leans the way it's pushed the hardest.'
While the Ministry of Defence in Paris declared that it respected Singapore's 'sovereign decision' to go with the F15, it also added that the Rafale's 'qualities have been recognised'. It lost out because 'the present weakness of the US dollar appears to have been a determining factor', the statement averred.
How true is that?
If the F-15 and Rafale were tagged with the same price but in US dollars and euros, then a weaker greenback would obviously benefit Boeing. However, no one knows how much Singapore will pay for each F-15 or what the Rafale was priced at.
Moreover, each warplane could also have been priced more competitively if the plane's capabilities were downgraded to make it cheaper (bad for the customer), or if the plane maker was willing to slash profit margins (bad for the seller).
Be that as it may, Singapore has firmed up on its choice. So how soon will the F-15s fly the skies here?
Assuming the contract is inked within a year, and factoring in the two years needed to build each F-15 as well as the time needed to train RSAF personnel to fly, operate and maintain them, they could grace Singapore skies around 2010 - or earlier.
