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Originally Posted by Tasman
That is an interesting comment and I wonder if you could elaborate.
I think that the Singapore armed forces have developed tremendously in the last decade but I would have thought they would be hard pressed to threaten Australia. At the same time I think that defensively they are strong enough to ensure that Australia could not threaten Singapore!
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Singapore Air Force has BVR planes such as the F-16 Block 52s and AEW planes such as E-2C Hawkeyes. Yes admittedly, they cannot go beyond their borders too much. But as I said,
if used properly they can be used to destroy the
long-range planes of Australia. So if they could be transported to a nearby friendly country such as Indonesia and positioned in such a location where they can intercept ingressing Australia planes as they try to attack .
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By the way, I think Australia and Singapore are on excellent terms with each other and I don't see a situation arising where either country would threaten the other but it makes an interesting scenario.
Cheers
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True. They are on good terms and the last decade with Indonesia has pretty much convinced that Singapore's allies are pretty much non-ASEAN countries. But only if Australia doesn't do really something stupid such as reverting to colonial mindset. Singapore values its independence very much.
It remains to be seen whether Malaysia can capitalize on its increased defence budget and continue its economic progress. If so, they have a very good chance of building a very respectable air force and navy. As for Indonesia, they have too many problems right now so they are pretty much a non-factor. But if Indonesia get its act together and get the economy rolling, then Australia should be very concerned and attempt to build friendly relations to Indonesia, hence, my early post about trying to dominate the area and warning of reverting to the "Whites Only" policy.