By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The strategic significance of a US Navy-Singapore alliance seems to be evolving somewhat more quietly beneath the wide range of visible, attention-grabbing activity in the Pacific theater, yet the country’s geographical location and military alliance with the US brings massive, if somewhat less recognized benefits to the broader deterrence equation in the region.
For instance, a US Navy Littoral Combat Ship recently deployed to Changi Harbor in Singapore on a routine security deployment. Singapore is not only an F-35 partner but also a key US Navy ally in the Pacific for a number of specific reasons. The country appears to share the collective view in the Pacific among US allies that Chinese aggression needs to be deterred. Singapore is roughly 1,000 miles from the contested areas from the South China Sea and is placed strategically in the Southern Pacific on the Western side of the Philippines and North of Australia. This means that with refueling, an LCS, F-35A or US Navy Amphibious Assault Ship are within reasonable reach of the South China Sea and areas near Taiwan.
The operation of a Littoral Combat Ship in and around Singapore makes tactical sense as the ship is able to conduct reconnaissance patrols, hunt for mines and operate surface and undersea drones in littoral areas inaccessible to deeper draft vessels. The area surrounding Singapore to the North and East is largely an “island-hopping” kind of region including the South China Sea and the Philippines. Such positioning for the LCS seems to optimize its intended mission focus and concept of operation. The maritime, coastal and expansive island areas of the Pacific are reachable from Singapore and the country can almost complete a Southwestern portion of a deterrence “semi-circle” stretching across the Pacific theater.
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A critical, yet often unnoticed element of this includes the fact that Singapore is indeed an F-35 partner nation, as the country has just ordered eight F-35A aircraft to add to its current order of 12 F-35Bs slated to begin arriving in 2026. Therefore, Singapore could occupy a key SouthWestern edge position within a Pacific ring of F-35s spanning from Singapore, to Australia and up to Japan and South Korea. If US Navy carriers and amphibs were forward positioned near or South of the Philippines, US F-35s could complete the middle portion of the semi-circle. Also, increased military cooperation between the US and the Philippines is resulting in the addition of new US bases in the country, areas which could in theory place F-35s right next to the South China Sea. Such a decision has not been announced, and Beijing is likely to strongly oppose such a possibility, yet it does seem to make strategic and geographical sense when it comes to the US-allied deterrence posture. Regardless, Singapore, forward operating US Navy platforms, Japan and South Korea could form a 5th-generation aerial “wall” in a semicircle stretching from Northern Japan through SouthEast Asia and over Westward to Singapore.
These are reasons why is makes sense for an LCS to be operating in Singapore, because any kind of established US and allied air superiority would greatly increase the ability of an LCS to operate without being destroyed by enemy aircraft.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
