US to host 3 Singaporean fighter detachments by 2029
1. Two airbases in the US have been shortlisted
to host the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) F-35B and its F-16 training detachment (currently located at Luke Air Base, said MINDEF in a statement on 4 May 2021.
2. RSAF’s preferred location is the Ebbing Air National Guard Base at Fort Smith in Arkansas, although Selfridge Air National Guard Base at Harrison Township in Michigan is also an alternate should an environmental impact assessment find the Ebbing base unsuitable.
(a) The competition for the mission comes with an estimated US$800 million – US$1 billion economic impact on the region, according to the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
(b) Staff members for U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack said the delegation had petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration to increase military airspace over the River Valley at Ebbing to make the training site even more attractive.
3. If things go as planned, the move of the 12 F-16C/Ds will be decided by 2023; and the US has agreed to host up to 36 RSAF fighters (1st 4 F-35Bs of 12 to be delivered in 2026) at Ebbing Air National Guard Base.
(a) Governor William Asa Hutchinson II, U.S. Senator John Boozman U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack applauded the USAF announcement that Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith was selected as the home of future F-35s and a Singaporean F-16 squadron.
(b) Governor Hutchinson noted the progress toward building expansive fifth-generation airspace over Ebbing and an aerial range 4 miles from the base. In his meeting with the Singaporean delegation and the U.S. Department of Defense, Governor Hutchinson said it was clear they understood "the River Valley would wholeheartedly welcome the fighter-jet training."
(c) Razorback Range, located on Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center, is a 1,000-acre full-service air-to-ground range certified for laser-guided bombs, training munitions, precision-guided munitions, and strafe. It offers airspace from the surface to 30,000 feet with fully scoreable targets. Additionally, Arkansas’ current military operations area airspace combined with proposed expansions will provide nearly 250 miles of continuous air-to-air training space for fighter pilots to train.
4. The RSAF also operates at other U.S. Air Force bases. The 428th Fighter Squadron flies F-15SGs out of Mountain Home, Idaho; and the RSAF also operates AH-64Ds from Silverbell Army Heliport (about 86 miles south of Phoenix) in Marana, Arizona.
5. By 2029, American air bases will host 3 Singaporean fighter detachments — namely, in Mountain Home (428th Fighter Squadron — 10 to 12 F-15SGs), in Ebbing (425th Fighter Squadron — up to 36 F-35Bs & F-16s) and in Guam (unknown number). The RSAF detachment to be established in Guam by 2029 will be a mixed squadron of different aircraft types (initially F-15SGs and F-16Vs) and associated personnel, and include the construction of hangars, aprons, and support facilities for the detachment footprint. This means that by 2030, Singapore’s fighter detachments abroad, in America (over 48 advanced fighters in 3 locations) and in France (12 M-346s) have more fighters than the total number of fighter aircraft in Malaysia and Philippines combined.
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