Fact Sheet: Defence Cooperation Under The Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

1. Building on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defence Cooperation signed by the Prime Ministers in Aug 2008, Singapore and Australia have agreed to enhance defence cooperation under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in the following areas:

a. Singapore and Australia will sign an MOU on military training and training area development, under which Singapore will have enhanced and expanded military training access in Australia over a period of 25 years, and both countries will jointly develop military training areas and facilities in Australia;

b. Singapore and Australia will sign an MOU to enhance military personnel exchanges and begin civilian personnel exchanges;

c. Singapore and Australia will sign an MOU on the Sharing of Military Intelligence Assessments;

d. Singapore and Australia will develop Exercise Trident as the signature bilateral joint military exercise;

e. Singapore and Australia to work together on defence science and technology, in areas including combat systems/command, control, communications, computers and intelligence integration; and cognitive/human systems integration; and

f. Singapore and Australia to hold a pilot Track 1.5 Security Dialogue.

I. Military Training and Training Area Development

2. Under the MOU on Military Training and Training Area Development, the SAF's training in Australia will increase in scale and scope. The SAF will be able to train in Australia for 18 weeks with 14,000 troops per year. This arrangement will last for 25 years. This will allow the SAF to maintain our operational readiness as a capable, modern and integrated fighting force over the long-term. The SAF will undertake a gradual ramp-up in our training
footprint in Australia.

3. Singapore and Australia will also jointly develop military training areas and advanced facilities in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area and Townsville Field Training Area. When the joint development is completed, the SAF will have access to training areas in Australia that, in total, will be approximately 10 times the size of Singapore1. Singapore will work with Australia carefully and prudently on the details over the next few years. Singapore and
Australia will undertake master-planning after the signing of the MOU. Any training facilities will be mutually agreed upon by both countries, and procurement undertaken by Australia will be carried out in a transparent, open and competitive manner. The specific investment amount will depend on the types of training facilities that will be built. There is a cap of AUD$2.25 billion (in 2016 dollars) on the life-cycle costs over 25 years.

II. Civilian and Military Personnel Exchanges

4. Singapore's Permanent Secretary for Defence Mr Chan Yeng Kit and Australian Secretary of Defence Mr Dennis Richardson signed the MOU on Exchanges of Military and Civilian Personnel in Oct 2016. This attests to the level of strategic trust between our defence establishments.

III. Military Intelligence

5. Director Military Intelligence Brigadier-General Ong Tze-Ch'in and Australian Director Defence Intelligence Organisation Air Vice Marshal John McGarry signed the MOU on the Sharing of Military Intelligence Assessments in Sep 2016. This will enhance information and intelligence-sharing in areas of common interest, such as new security challenges in counter-terrorism and extremism.

IV. Exercise Trident

6. Exercise Trident is a bilateral military exercise involving amphibious and air-land integration components, which is of significant professional value to both armed forces. The SAF and the Australian Defence Forces will develop Exercise Trident into the signature bilateral joint military exercise by increasing its scale and sophistication to enhance the interoperability and the professionalism of both armed forces. The SAF will be participating
in Exercise Trident 2016 with a battalion-sized force, as it looks forward to stepping up contributions for future series of the exercise.

V. Defence Science and Technology (S&T)

7. Then-Chief Defence Scientist Quek Tong Boon and Australian Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky renewed the MOU on Cooperation in Defence S&T in Jul 2015. Defence S&T cooperation between both countries have strengthened since the 1990s. Under the renewed MOU, the Defence Technology Community of Singapore and the Defence Science and Technology Group of Australia have committed to enhance collaboration in areas
including autonomy; systems engineering; combat systems/command, control, communications, computers and intelligence integration; and cognitive/human systems integration.

VI. Track 1.5 Security Dialogue

8. The Singapore Ministry of Defence and Australian Department of Defence will work with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute to organise the pilot Track 1.5 Dialogue. This will allow both defence establishments to explore innovative approaches to shared contemporary and future security challenges.

More Resources

Singapore and Australia Elevate Defence Cooperation to New Levels under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership