The Mobile Column was seen last year at the parade at the Padang to mark Singapore's 54th year of independence and its bicentennial. The moving display of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) war machines and Home Team vehicles usually appears every fifth year, which made the NDP 2019 Mobile Column an off-cycle event.
Also of interest is the mention of a Maritime Sailpast. The National Day Carnival at Marine Parade in 1986 had Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) warships anchored off the Bedok Jetty (see pix below). But there was no sail past. For more pictures, please click here
NDP 1990 which celebrated Singapore's 25th year of independence had a Sea Review. So did NDP 2000 at the turn of the century (below). For more pictures, please click here
Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) ships lay at anchor off the National Day Carnival at Marina South in 2005. The Navy also demonstrated its maritime counter terrorism capabilities using RHIBs and M/V Kendrick, which was a submarine rescue support vessel that supported the RSN.
We eagerly await the line up of Republic of Singapore Navy ships that will be part of the sailpast. Likely debutants include Formidable-class stealth frigates and Independence-class Littoral Mission Vessels and an Archer-class submarine. As this is possibly the last such outing for the Missile Corvettes, we hope they will be shown with all the additional stuff attached. Same goes for the Endurance-class tank landing ships, which we would love to see fully loaded with FCEPs like this. Click here (LSTs) and here (Floating Bridge System) for more:
We're not sure how the NDP EXCO, which is helmed by the Singapore Army's 3rd Singapore Division, will keep people away from the rehearsals, which are proven crowd magnets. Best of luck then. We look forward to a safe and memorable show.
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