Republic of Singapore Air Force


The Republic of Singapore Air Force is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was established in 1968 as the Singapore Air Defence Command before renaming to its current name in 1975.
As one of the larger and more technologically advanced air forces in Southeast Asia, the RSAF has undertaken a significant role in Singapore's military defence strategy since its formation. The RSAF is one of the more modern air forces in the region.
The RSAF currently has four domestic airbases – Paya Lebar, Changi, Sembawang and Tengah – as well as a training detachment at the civilian airport of Seletar. The RSAF also has overseas detachments in various countries, most notably in Australia, France, Thailand and the United States. As of 2023, the RSAF has a strength of 6,000 active personnel.

History

Early years

In January 1968, the United Kingdom, which by this time had lost most of its global prestige especially after the Suez Crisis and was facing major financial difficulties that were greatly exacerbated by the devaluation of the pound, announced the imminent withdrawal of all its troops "East of Suez" by the end of 1971. Prior to then, Singapore had depended heavily on Britain's Royal Air Force for its air defence, while the newly established Singapore Armed Forces had concentrated its efforts mainly on building up the land-based Singapore Army.
The predecessor to the RSAF, the SADC, was formed on 1 September 1968. The SADC's immediate task was to set up the Flying Training School to train pilots. Qualified flying instructors were obtained through Airwork Services Limited, a company specialising in defence services. Basic training for pilots was carried out using two Cessna light aircraft hired from the Singapore Flying Club. The SADC also enlisted the help of the Royal Air Force which introduced the first flying training syllabus and provided two ex-RAF pilots as instructors, as well as facilities and services at Seletar Airport. Finally, the first batch of six pilot trainees were sent to the United Kingdom in August 1968 to undergo training in various technical disciplines. The training was based on the Hawker Hunter, the SADC's first air defence fighter. The following month, another pioneer group of technicians, this time from the rotary wing, were sent to France to begin their technical training on the Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter. In 1969, a number of local RAF technicians were released to join the fledgling SADC. These local
technicians had experience working on fixed-wing RAF aircraft such as the Hawker Hunter, Gloster Javelin, English Electric Canberra, English Electric Lightning and Avro Shackleton; as well as rotary-wing RAF aircraft such as the Bristol Belvedere, Westland Wessex and Westland Whirlwind.
Eight Cessna 172K aircraft—the SADC's first—arrived in May 1969 to be used for basic pilot training. By December, the first batch of students completed the course. Of these, six were sent to the UK to receive further training. On their return to Singapore in 1970, they were ready to operate the then newly acquired Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft.
The pace of training pilots and ground crew picked up gradually. On 1 August 1969, Minister for the Interior and Defence, Lim Kim San, inaugurated the Flying Training School at Tengah Air Base. The inauguration of FTS brought SADC closer to its goal of fulfilling the heavy responsibility of defending Singapore's airspace.
The subsequent arrival of the BAC Strikemasters in 1969, used for advanced phase flying training, meant that pilot trainees were now able to earn their initial wings locally rather than overseas. The first batch of locally trained fighter pilots were trained at the FTS and graduated in November 1970. Amongst this batch was 2LT Goh Yong Siang, who later rose to the appointment of Chief of Air Force on 1 July 1995. Gradually, the SADC had its own pilots, flying instructors, air traffic controllers, and ground crew.
When Britain brought forward its plan to withdraw its forces by September 1971, the SADC was suddenly entrusted with a huge responsibility and resources. Britain's former air bases—Tengah, Seletar, Sembawang and Changi—were handed over to the SADC, as well as its air defence radar station and Bloodhound II surface-to-air missiles.
In 1973, the SADC procured Shorts Skyvan search-and-locate aircraft and Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers. With a reliable mix of fighters, fighter-bombers, helicopters and transport aircraft, the SADC was ready to assume the functions of a full-fledged air force. On 1 April 1975, the SADC was renamed the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
One of its first commanders was LTC Ee Tean Chye.

21st century

The RSAF celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018 with the theme "Our Home, Above All". The RSAF celebrated its Golden Jubilee with an extended flypast during the national day parade on 9 August and also performed 2 sessions of aerial display at the Marina Barrage on 11 and 12 August.
Combat operations
  • 2004–2008: Multi-National Force – Iraq. Aircraft participated in the Iraq War and returned home after two or three months of deployment in the Persian Gulf without any ground troops involved. Singapore's withdrawal was acknowledged on 23 December 2008.
  • May 2007–June 2013: International Security Assistance Force. Deployment of close to 500 personnel including those from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, as part of Singapore's contributions to the multinational stabilisation and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
  • 2014–2015: Military intervention against ISIL. Offering military aid in the ongoing war on terror with a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and assistant intelligence analysts.

    Description of logo

The crest consists of the national coat of arms supported by the silver wings of the Air Force within a bowl of golden laurels.

List of chiefs of Air Force

Organisation

Commands and units

On 5 January 2007, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean announced that the Air Force organisation chart will be re-structured into five major commands, namely the Air Defence and Operations Command, the Air Combat Command, the Participation Command, the Air Power Generation Command and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Command. The first to be inaugurated was ADOC, along the restructuring announcement.
Air Defence and Operations Command is the principal agency in charge of planning and executing peacetime operations and air defence. ADOC is also responsible for providing ground-based air defence units of the RSAF.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Command was the second command to be inaugurated and become operational in May 2007.
The next command to be inaugurated was in January 2008.
The last two commands, and , were inaugurated together in August 2008 in conjunction with the RSAF 40th Anniversary. The ACC will bring together fighter and transport squadrons under one command, with central planning, control and execution of the air battle in operations. The APGC will enhance the missions of the ACC by ensuring that all air bases remain operational at all times, as well as improving the servicing and turn-around of aircraft to ensure continuous and responsive operations.

Air Combat Command (ACC)

The ACC is responsible for the planning, control and execution of the air battle in operations. It brings together all fighter and transport squadrons that will carry out these tasks under a single command which will be responsible for training the pilots and aircrew to think and operate in a fully integrated way. The ACC consists of the following groups:
  • HQ ACC
  • Integrated Systems Development Group
  • Operations Development Group
  • Fighter Group
  • * 140 Squadron
  • * 142 Squadron
  • * 143 Squadron
  • * 145 Squadron
  • * 149 Squadron
  • * Peace Carvin II – Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, USA
  • * Peace Carvin V – Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, USA
  • Transport Group
  • * 111 Squadron
  • * 112 Squadron
  • * 121 Squadron
  • * 122 Squadron

    Air Power Generation Command (APGC)

The APGC is set up to enable the RSAF to generate and sustain effective, timely and robust air power to meet the operational needs of the SAF. With the APGC, higher operational efficiency within each RSAF Air Base, and secondly, greater integration across the four bases are achieved. Units are classified under Air Base Operability and Aircraft Generation. The APGC consists of the following groups:
  • HQ APGC
  • Operations Development Group
  • Airbase Medical Operations Centre
  • Changi Air Base
  • * 208 Squadron
  • * 508 Squadron
  • * 608 Squadron
  • * 708 Squadron
  • * 808 Squadron - under 5 AELG
  • Paya Lebar Air Base
  • * 207 Squadron
  • * 507 Squadron
  • * 607 Squadron
  • * 707 Squadron
  • * 7 Air Engineering and Logistics Group
  • ** 807 Squadron
  • ** 817 Squadron
  • Sembawang Air Base
  • * 206 Squadron
  • * 506 Squadron
  • * 606 Squadron
  • * 706 Squadron
  • * 6 Air Engineering and Logistics Group
  • ** 806 Squadron
  • ** 816 Squadron
  • Tengah Air Base
  • * 205 Squadron
  • * 505 Squadron
  • * 605 Squadron
  • * 705 Squadron
  • * 5 Air Engineering and Logistics Group
  • ** 805 Squadron
  • ** 815 Squadron
The four support squadrons still remain organic to each Base but are under direct command of APGC. These four squadrons are: Airfield Maintenance Squadron, Ground Logistics Squadron, Field Defence Squadron and Flying Support Squadron.
The Airbase Medical Operations Centre was formed from the Medical Flights of each GLS in November 2025.

UAV Command (UC)

The main structures under UC are Operations & System Development Group, headed by the Deputy Commander of UC. UC consists of the following groups:
  • HQ UC
  • UAV Group
  • * 116 Squadron
  • * 119 Squadron
  • * 128 Squadron
  • Imagery Exploitation Group
  • * 129 Squadron
  • * 138 Squadron
  • 1 Air Engineering and Logistics Group
  • * 801 Squadron
  • * 811 Squadron