Ministry of Defence (Singapore)


The Ministry of Defence is a ministry under the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the national defence of Singapore.

History

MINDEF, together with the Ministry of Home Affairs, was created on 11 August 1970 by splitting up the then Ministry of Interior and Defence.

Responsibilities

MINDEF's mission is to "enhance Singapore's peace and security through deterrence and diplomacy, and should these fail, to secure a swift and decisive victory over the aggressor."
It has a policy of Total Defence which consists of Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence, Psychological Defence and Digital Defence involving the people, public and private sectors of the country.

Organisational structure

MINDEF has one statutory board, the Defence Science and Technology Agency.
The Singapore Armed Forces, which consists of the Singapore Army, the Republic of [Singapore Navy], the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and the Digital and Intelligence Service, is a military component of MINDEF.
The Security and Intelligence Division, the foreign intelligence service of Singapore, is autonomous within the ministry.

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Defence, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore.