(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - May 9, 2009: THE Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has received its first four F-15SG fighter jets, armed with the most advanced air-to-air missiles and the sharpest sensors outside the United States. 
The mascot of the RSAF's 428th Fighter Squadron, dubbed the Buccaneers, welcoming four F-15SG fighters to the Mountain Home airbase on Wednesday. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RSAF personnel and their US counterparts greeted the first batch of jets, bearing RSAF colours, which arrived at a US airbase in Idaho on Wednesday. The planes are part of the Republic's 428th Fighter Squadron, which will go operational in the next few months. Work has been ongoing since last October to get the training unit off the ground and in the air.
Also known as the Buccaneers, the unit at the Mountain Home airbase will house up to 12 F-15 jets, along with more than 300 RSAF pilots and ground crew, as well as their families.
A Defence Ministry statement said the RSAF pilots were previously flying the F-15E Strike Eagle jets of the US Air Force (USAF) at the Seymour Johnson Airbase in North Carolina.
The Singapore-US training arrangement is expected to last from five to 20 years. The F-15 jet is considered one of the top fighter planes in the world. It has racked up a combat record of 101 victories and zero losses in 30 years of air battles worldwide.
Besides being able to fly farther and carry more bombs than the other fighters in the RSAF arsenal, the F-15 has an advanced radar system that has never been sold outside the US before.
Mindef said the aircraft 'will provide the SAF with enhanced air defence and air superiority capabilities'.
The planes are part of the ongoing push to modernise the Singapore military, which also launched the navy's latest stealth warships in January and will allow soldiers to access real-time combat information on the battlefield.
In an interview with the Mountain Home newspaper, the USAF's 366th Fighter Wing commander, Colonel Jim Bird, called the sleek grey RSAF planes 'beautiful'. He said: 'I just want to crawl up the ladder and get a whiff of that new car smell.'
But the twin-seater F-15s are not expected to fly above Singapore until at least next year, said RSAF chief Major-General Ng Chee Khern during an interview last year.
The mascot of the RSAF's 428th Fighter Squadron, dubbed the Buccaneers, welcoming four F-15SG fighters to the Mountain Home airbase on Wednesday. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RSAF personnel and their US counterparts greeted the first batch of jets, bearing RSAF colours, which arrived at a US airbase in Idaho on Wednesday. The planes are part of the Republic's 428th Fighter Squadron, which will go operational in the next few months. Work has been ongoing since last October to get the training unit off the ground and in the air.
Also known as the Buccaneers, the unit at the Mountain Home airbase will house up to 12 F-15 jets, along with more than 300 RSAF pilots and ground crew, as well as their families.
A Defence Ministry statement said the RSAF pilots were previously flying the F-15E Strike Eagle jets of the US Air Force (USAF) at the Seymour Johnson Airbase in North Carolina.
The Singapore-US training arrangement is expected to last from five to 20 years. The F-15 jet is considered one of the top fighter planes in the world. It has racked up a combat record of 101 victories and zero losses in 30 years of air battles worldwide.
Besides being able to fly farther and carry more bombs than the other fighters in the RSAF arsenal, the F-15 has an advanced radar system that has never been sold outside the US before.
Mindef said the aircraft 'will provide the SAF with enhanced air defence and air superiority capabilities'.
The planes are part of the ongoing push to modernise the Singapore military, which also launched the navy's latest stealth warships in January and will allow soldiers to access real-time combat information on the battlefield.
In an interview with the Mountain Home newspaper, the USAF's 366th Fighter Wing commander, Colonel Jim Bird, called the sleek grey RSAF planes 'beautiful'. He said: 'I just want to crawl up the ladder and get a whiff of that new car smell.'
But the twin-seater F-15s are not expected to fly above Singapore until at least next year, said RSAF chief Major-General Ng Chee Khern during an interview last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment