Singapore is ready to buy four F-35 jets with option for eight more

Singapore is ready to buy four F-35 jets with option for eight more.

Singapore plans to buy a first batch of four F-35 fighters with an option for additional eight aircraft to replace the current F-16 fleet, Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said during a speech on March 1st. We had already talked about the Singapore plan to introduce the F-35 in a previous article of mid-Jan 2019.

The South Asian nation has already obtained approval from the US Administration and Defense Department for the purchase of Lockheed Martin stealth aircraft, but has yet to get the go-ahead from the US Congress. Ng said that the Ministry of Defense will send a letter of request (LOR) to the United States to obtain the approval of the Congress. He did not specify which variant of the Lightening II they will buy, previously the nation had also shown interest in the F-35B short take-off vertical landing (STOVL).

Ng said it is a good time to apply for F-35 considering that the price of the aircraft is bearish thanks to strong demand from the United States and other 10 countries such as Great Britain, Italy, Australia, Japan and South Korea. He did not specify the timing for the introduction of the aircraft, but the current fleet of 60 F-16 jets will be withdrawn around 2030. Singapore aims to have a fleet of combat aircraft composed exclusively of F-35 and F-15SG.

Written by Matteo Sanzani

Image: Lockheed Martin