How good is RSAF ?

[Queen Seok Duk]

Anyone familiar with the military powers of the region ?

I'm wonder if RSAF is better than Royal Thai Air Force. Do we have better planes and pilots ?

 

[Ramseth]

RSAF is certainly the best (on paper, non-war-proven yet) in SEA excluding Vietnam.

Royal Thai certainly have much stronger army and navy, but not air force.

 

[johnny333]

Do we have better planes and pilots ?

The Thai airforce is constrained by budget concerns & chooses to buy things they can afford such as Saab Gripen, F5, F16.

I don't really know what RSAFs mission is Why they need 143 F16/F15s. Good for show but what really is their mission

 

[Papsmearer]

Anyone familiar with the military powers of the region ?

I'm wonder if RSAF is better than Royal Thai Air Force. Do we have better planes and pilots ?

RTAF is smaller than RSAF in size. On paper, RSAF has much better capability. RTAF has limited combat experience, RSAF has none.

 

[Ramseth]

The Thai airforce is constrained by budget concerns & chooses to buy things they can afford such as Saab Gripen, F5, F16.

I don't really know what RSAFs mission is Why they need 143 F16/F15s. Good for show but what really is their mission

It's to blow the hell out of Peninsula Malaya, Sumatra and Java.

 

[Papsmearer]

The Thai airforce is constrained by budget concerns & chooses to buy things they can afford such as Saab Gripen, F5, F16.

I don't really know what RSAFs mission is Why they need 143 F16/F15s. Good for show but what really is their mission

This is 2 separate questions that u ask. One is about the mission, and the other is about the number of planes.

The mission of the RSAF is not only the defence of S'pore skies, not only the perpetuation of air superiority over the Malay penisula and even parts of Indonesia. It is also to support the USAF PAcific in the in the event of conflict in the region. The RSAF will operate combat ops in conjunction with the USAF and USN as a last resort. At the very least the RSAF will hand over their aircraft to the USAF as replacement losses on a temporary basis.

Also, the RSAF will be used to support ally countries like Brunei if they are attacked. That is why we have the long range refuelling capability like KC-135s.

With regards to the number of combat aircraft the RSAF has, if you look at the first 2 missions ie defence of S'pore and air hegemony over the region, than it is an overkill. The RSAF has more combat aircraft than the RMAF and the TNUI (Indonesian air force) combined. However, the defence industry is the worse for corruption. U can bet that someone in S'pore is getting kickbacks, etc. The PAP have set up an entire new org, and bureacracy known as DSTA just to buy military hardware. In other words, all this defence spending is just feeding the PAP trough.

 

[scoobyhoo]

The Thai airforce is constrained by budget concerns & chooses to buy things they can afford such as Saab Gripen, F5, F16.

I don't really know what RSAFs mission is Why they need 143 F16/F15s. Good for show but what really is their mission

This means, in case there is a war, just send them to fight enough, you can just sit at home and wait for good news.

 

[flkyflky]

Anyone familiar with the military powers of the region ?

I'm wonder if RSAF is better than Royal Thai Air Force. Do we have better planes and pilots ?

For the Sake of The Republic:

Don't Ask + Don't Tell !


Majulah Singapura.....:(

 

[red amoeba]

i am inclined to believe that in SEA, Singapore's air force is the strongest. strictly by the hardware that we have. Its not the quantity but quality.

i think on the whole we are stronger than all nations in the region.

 

[johnny333]

This means, in case there is a war, just send them to fight enough, you can just sit at home and wait for good news.

In any war can't just rely on aircraft.

Ground troops are always necessary IF you want to hold the ground.

 

[Watchman]

RTAF is smaller than RSAF in size. On paper, RSAF has much better capability. RTAF has limited combat experience, RSAF has none.

Best in simulation . Experience none .

Paper scholars and pencil pushers .

 

[poore]

its not about the hardware... its about the software.....

 

[kensington]

In any war can't just rely on aircraft.

Ground troops are always necessary IF you want to hold the ground.

Those aircrafts are powerful deterrence to anyone with crazy ideas.

 

[balajii]

Best in simulation . Experience none .

Paper scholars and pencil pushers .

agree.

same as SAF paper generals. number 1 when playing war games.

 

[johnny333]

Those aircrafts are powerful deterrence to anyone with crazy ideas.

When RSAF were using 2nd hand A4s, cheaper F5Es it was obviously enough deterrence as Spore was never threatened.

Defence is not just about having a super duper EXPENSIVE airforce. It's about having allies, good relations with neighbours,.... Don't forget that we have defence pacts with Australia, NZ & US.

If LKY & Co behaves like an arrogant prick good neighbours can respond without having to resort to war. Look at what happened in Thailand

 

[halsey02]

For the Sake of The Republicon't Ask + Don't Tell ! Majulah Singapura.....:(

This phrase sounds familar, didn't the MM said something like that, when questioned about GIC..some years ago?....:p

 

[johnny333]

Spore is the smallest country in this region and the PAP wants Sporeans to support the USAF :p

All that world class pay is fuelling the PAPs delusions. If Spore did that it would be seen as a puppet of the US.

What happens after the hostilities are over & the american go home

LKY made a mistake with his crack about Spore being the Israel of the region. I would think that a more fitting goal is to be the Switzerland of the region: neutrality, money laundering, higher standard of living,..

It is also to support the USAF PAcific in the in the event of conflict in the region. The RSAF will operate combat ops in conjunction with the USAF and USN as a last resort. At the very least the RSAF will hand over their aircraft to the USAF as replacement losses on a temporary basis.

Also, the RSAF will be used to support ally countries like Brunei if they are attacked. That is why we have the long range refuelling capability like KC-135s.

......

 

[wikiphile]

i am inclined to believe that in SEA, Singapore's air force is the strongest. strictly by the hardware that we have. Its not the quantity but quality.

i think on the whole we are stronger than all nations in the region.

Man for man, our average infantry is just a pussy with too many toys heaped upon him vis-a-vis Indonesian, Myanmar and Thai soldiers

 

[BuiKia]

So what if we have better planes? The question you should ask is how many Sinkies will stay back to fight?

It is human nature that one will fight for something that will affect him personally. Here in Sinkapore, the Sinkies dun even dare to speak up against policies that they dun agree which will affect them directly (and we are not even asking them to fight using their life) and you expect them to lose their life in war? This is the setback if you want obedient citizens, they become balless.

Anyone familiar with the military powers of the region ?

I'm wonder if RSAF is better than Royal Thai Air Force. Do we have better planes and pilots ?

 

[kiwibird7]

The question of air superiority in terms of technological advantage and quality of pilot prowess of the RSAF becomes IRRELEVANT in any hypothetical armed conflict discussion because of ONE WEAK LINK that is difficult to fix.

SINGAPORE'S small land mass makes all their military runways including the secondary ones at the EASTCOAST PARKWAY (ECP) VULNERABLE to DAMAGE which is a crippling blow that would result in warplanes not being able to take off OR being able to land after their 1st sortie.

All the locations of the RSAF airports are already known by friend and foe. The locations of potential hostile mobile SAM/artillery batteries however remains unknown. Hostile saturation artillery barrages, missile strikes etc that would surely pockmark any military runway with craters/potholes in the opening gambit to render the technologically superior RSAF an impotent force.

Close proximity of all military airports situated in the NORTHERN parts of Singapore makes even more vulnerable and also hazardous for RSAF pilots to take off to gain sufficient altitude and airspeed to perform any effective countermeasures or evasive manoeuvres against short range SAM batteries of hostile AIR DEFENCE ARTILLERIES.

To neutralise hostile threats to airport runways puts the SAF in a catch 22 position. To take out the hostile SAM batteries/Artillery to safeguard RSAF runways without prior knowledge of their location requires lots of ordnance to saturate the whole of JOHORE causing widespread collateral civilian casualties and earning international condemnation.

Moving SAF ground troops in to neutralise them cannot take place safely avoiding massive friendly forces casaulties without adequate air cover. The RSAF cannot provide that vital aircover because the RSAF planes cannot take off from damaged and inoperable runways. Taking off from secret airfields in Thailand won't be as effective to provide air cover for ground troops operating in the Johore Theatre of operations due to the distance factor. The entire SAF including the RSAF would it seems be paralysed from DAY 1 by this logistical disadvantage of time and space.