SINGAPORE: Singapore is the latest country to give its support to the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 to impose a no-fly zone in Libya.

In a statement, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says the primary objective of this resolution is to protect the civilian population in Libya.

This, it adds, is also the objective of the Council of the League of Arab States which had called on the UN Security Council to impose the no-fly zone and to establish safe areas for the Libyan people and foreign nationals in the country.

MFA says it hopes a long drawn out conflict can be avoided as this could destabilise the entire region and civilians on both sides will be the main victims.

- CNA/cc

NEW DELHI - Maritime cooperation is emerging as a key area of cooperation between New Delhi and Singapore, where Indian Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar took part in the India-Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue on March 21-23.

Kumar met with Teo Chee Hean, who is Singapore's deputy prime minister and defense minister, and other officials to explore new areas of defense cooperation, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.

As India looks to add warships to its fleet, to replace aging ships that will be retired in the next two to three years, maritime cooperation with nearby Singapore seems likely to increase, the ministry official said.

Indian Army sources said India wants to buy more robotic and unmanned assets, possibly from companies in Singapore.

Subgroups participating in the dialogue reported progress made was in talks on research and development cooperation, and regional security.

The dialogue, established under the India-Singapore Defence Cooperation agreement signed in October 2003, was co-chaired by Chiang Chie Foo, Singapore's permanent secretary for defense. Since signing the cooperation pact, India and Singapore have cooperated on military exercises, and troops from tiny Singapore have held land exercises in India.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) are cohosting the 4th Western Pacific Mine Countermeasures Exercise (MCMEX) and Diving Exercise (DIVEX) from 25 Mar to 5 Apr 2011. Singapore's Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen officiated at the opening ceremony of the two exercises at the Changi Command and Control Centre this morning.

The MCMEX and DIVEX are conducted under the ambit of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), which promotes mutual understanding, friendship, professionalism and interoperability among the personnel of the participating navies. More than 1000 personnel and 15 ships from 16 navies will be participating in the two exercises, which will be conducted in the Singapore Strait and the waters off the Indonesian island of Pulau Bintan. This year's MCMEX and DIVEX will, for the first time, feature multilateral information sharing at the Information Fusion Centre and the deployment of unmanned water vehicles. Also conducted under the ambit of the WPNS is the 3rd Naval Medicine Seminar (NMS), held from 23 to 25 Mar 2011, which involved 44 medical practitioners from 10 countries convening to discuss the topics of military diving and hyperbaric medicine.

At the opening ceremony, Dr Ng spoke of how the participating navies saw the need for a collective effort to maintain free navigation in international waters. He said, "The WPNS grouping first came about as a result of a bottom-up approach by regional navies wanting to address common maritime security interests, and has made considerable progress since." Going forward, Dr Ng urged the WPNS navies to continue to "be proactive in building platforms and capacity in information exchange and operational coordination, as well as develop their readiness to respond collectively should the need arise."

The participation of the WPNS countries in these exercises reflects their strong commitment to multilateral cooperation and the promotion of regional security. The cohosting of the exercises by the RSN and the TNI-AL also underscores the close and longstanding cooperation between the two navies.

Exercise Cope Tiger, an annual trilateral air exercise conducted by Singapore, Thailand and the United States, came to a close at Korat Air Base, Thailand, yesterday. The closing ceremony was officiated by Colonel Neo Hong Keat from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), Group Captain Thawonwat Chantanakom from the Royal Thai Air Force and Colonel Robert A. Huston from the United States Air Force.

The exercise was conducted in two phases - the first phase, a command post exercise, was held at Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore from 14 to 16 Dec 2010, while the second phase was a flying training exercise conducted at Korat Air Base from 14 to 25 Mar 2011. This year’s exercise, the 17th in the series, saw the deployment of about 100 aircraft, 34 ground-based air defence systems and more than 2,300 personnel from the participating forces. The RSAF also deployed its G550 Airborne Early Warning aircraft for the first time in Exercise Cope Tiger 2011. Some exercise participants also took part in a one-day joint socio-civic programme where basic health and dental services were provided to the local community in Korat.

Established in 1994, Exercise Cope Tiger seeks to enhance professionalism and interoperability of the participating forces, and promotes rapport and mutual understanding among their personnel.

This year's Exercise Cope Tiger - an annual trilateral air exercise - saw more than a hundred military aircraft and 34 Ground-based Air Defence (GBAD) systems operating in tight concert as the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) and United States Air Force gathered for the second phase of the exercise held at Korat Air Base, Thailand from 14 to 25 Mar.

The exercise also marked the inaugural participation of the RSAF's G550-Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft in an overseas training exercise. The first G550-AEW aircraft was delivered to the RSAF in February 2009 to replace the ageing E2C Hawkeye AEW.

"The exercise provided an excellent platform to validate our procedures as we learnt to interoperate with our foreign counterparts in a different environment and operational setting," said Captain (CPT) Toh Su Sin, an Air Warfare Officer in 111 Squadron, which operates the G550-AEW aircraft.

Equipped with a sophisticated mission suite that includes an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, the G550-AEWs have a detection range of more than 200 nautical miles.

Exercise Cope Tiger 2011 started with a command post exercise held at Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore from 14 to 16 Dec last year before moving on to the second phase, the flying training exercise, in Thailand.

"The exercise has been a very fruitful and successful one for the RSAF. Its realistic scenarios gave us an excellent opportunity to hone our air combat readiness and competencies, both at the planning and execution levels," said Colonel (COL) Neo Hong Keat, RSAF exercise director.

"The opportunity to work alongside the other two countries also provided a great platform for cross-learning and sharing."

Apart from professional exchanges, exercise participants such as F-16C/D fighter pilot Lieutenant (LTA) Low Siyuan also valued the chance to interact with his foreign counterparts. "It is good to be able to work so closely with one another and exchange lessons freely and I've learnt a lot from my counterparts," said LTA Low.

"Through the exercise, I have forged many friendships with others in the RSAF and the US Air Force," he added.

This was something which the RTAF exercise director Group Captain Thawonwat Chantanakom also spoke of: "The working relationships and friendships that our airmen and crew have built up over the years have made working together a smooth process. I know that we can fall in with our counterparts and be a much more effective fighting unit, than if we had never worked together."

"Each air force brings to the table confidence and the abilities of weapon employment which we can learn from, and vice-versa. This allows the USAF to work alongside highly professional air force personnel from the RSAF and RTAF, and benchmark our methodologies in order to improve on them," agreed COL Robert Huston, USAF exercise director.

As part of this year's exercise, the participants also provided basic health and dental services to the local community in Korat in a one-day joint socio-civic programme. An eight-member medical personnel led by CPT (Dr) Jocelyn Ong worked together with their RTAF and USAF counterparts to provide basic health and dental care to the communities at Korat .

More than 2,300 personnel from the participating forces took part in Ex Cope Tiger 2011, which is the 17th in the series. It formally concluded on 25 Mar with a closing ceremony officiated by the three exercise directors from the RSAF, RTAF and USAF.

lol 

kesian alfie

Singapore has taken over command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, a multinational counter-piracy task force. The change-of-command ceremony was held on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cornwall, in Djibouti this morning. The ceremony was witnessed by Commander Combined Maritime Forces Vice Admiral (VADM) Mark Fox and attended by Singapore's Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral (RADM) Ng Chee Peng. This is the second time Singapore has commanded CTF 151.

RADM Harris Chan from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) will lead the CTF 151 command team to coordinate counter-piracy operations by CTF 151 in deterring and disrupting piracy in the Gulf of Aden (GoA) over the next three months. The command team, comprising 25 SAF personnel, will operate from the US Navy destroyer USS Mason and will work closely with task forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union as well as with navies from other countries assigned to protect national vessels operating in GoA. Joining the SAF command team are five officers from Indonesia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Saudi Arabia.

After taking over command from Commodore Abdul Aleem from the Pakistan Navy, RADM Chan said, "We are honoured to take over command of CTF 151 for the second time at the invitation of the Combined Maritime Forces. The Gulf of Aden remains a key sea lane that depends on international cooperation to keep it safe for everyone's use. My command team has spent the last few months preparing, planning and training for this mission. We are committed and focused on our mission to deter and disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden."

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has been deploying assets to the Gulf of Aden since April 2009. The SAF previously commanded CTF 151 from January to April 2010 and also deployed two Task Groups, each comprising a Landing Ship Tank and two helicopters from April to July 2009 and June to October 2010. The SAF will be deploying a Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to perform maritime air surveillance in the Gulf of Aden from April to July 2011.

Btw Alf...... i saw Every Singaporean Son docu..when u went for ur NS is it different form the current gen?

prolly you dont have maid?