Circuit breaker Day 49 pix: Republic of Singapore Navy RSN Missile Corvette

Before the Internet made open source information so accessible, defence enthusiasts commonly amassed a collection of brochures from defence companies to keep updated with weapons technology. Space intensive? Yes. But worth the effort.

This brochure from German shipbuilder, Lürssen, was distributed in the early 1990s at the Defence Services Asia show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It has nice line drawings of the Republic of Singapore Navy Missile Corvette, RSS Victory.

Can you spot something special on Victory's superstructure, just under the bridge? 

Hope the MCVs appear at the National Day 2020 sailpast fully fitted out. Those tubes are old anyway and quite widely known.

Circuit breaker Day 48 pix: Singapore Army Trailblazer counter-mine vehicle

If there was one role the Singapore Army could hand over to unmanned assets, it's mine-clearing.

As far as dull, dirty and dangerous jobs go, clearing a minefield while driving over it with a mine flail isn't for the faint of heart.

The Trailblazer counter-mine vehicle (above) is designed and made in Singapore. The vehicle is based on the Bionix chassis and drives backwards while spinning a drum of weighted chains to flog the ground.

In theory, the force of the weighted chains (i.e. the flail) hitting the ground should trigger off land mines while the combat engineers remain safe in their armoured cabin.

Any volunteers for this job?

Circuit breaker Day 47 pix: Singapore Army Add-on Armour 5 tonner

You've soft skin B-vehicles then the armoured MRAPs. In between comes the Add-on Armour (AOA) tonners. These rarely seen vehicles are used by the Guards Formation.

Run flat tyres, self-sealing fuel tanks, ballistic glass and armour plate for vulnerable areas protect the driver's cabin and troops seated in the back from small arms fire and shell fragments. Gun ports allow troops inside to return fire.

Circuit breaker Day 46 pix: Republic of Singapore Air Force RSAF E-2 Hawkeye

The Last: During Exercise Torrent VI on 30 November 2008, E-2C 014 from 111 Squadron was the aircraft to land on Lim Chu Kang Road during the air force emergency runway exercise. This particular E-2C also became the last one to ever land on a road in Singapore. Pictures below show 014 during the rehearsal the day before.

A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Grumman E-2C Hawkeye from 111 Squadron took part in an emergency runway exercise, codenamed Torrent, for the last time in November 2008.

Hawkeye 014 is seen here during the rehearsal the day before the actual exercise emerging from Tengah Air Base (top photo). At full stretch, the airborne early warning aircraft's 24.56m (80' 7") wingspan stretches just past the width of Lim Chu Kang Road.

Among the challenges was getting the E-2C out of the air base as Tengah's gates were not wide enough for the plane to taxi out. So the aircraft, which was designed to be operated from aircraft carriers, tucked in her wings and simply taxiied out of the base on its own - which is a feature 111 SQN's Gulfstream G550 AEW do not have.

Here's E-2C 014 stretching her wings on a public road in a sight never to be seen again in Singapore.

Circuit breaker Day 45 pix: Singapore Aviation Art

BAC Strikemaster jet trainers operated from Changi Air Base in 1975, which was the year the Singapore Air Defence Command (SADC) was renamed the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

Miss flying?

Here are some postcards from BAE Systems that capture Singapore's aviation history. The postcards were distributed as part of BAE System's campaign to sell the Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter jet to Singapore.

Singapore used the British-built Hawker Hunter Mk.74S fighter/ground-attack aircraft for over 20 years from 1970. This year marks the 50th year of RSAF fighter operations. 

BAC Lightnings of Royal Air Force No. 74(F) "Tiger Squadron" operated from Tengah between 1967 and 1971.

Eurofighter Typhoon over Singapore.

Red Arrows over Changi during the Asian Aerospace air show in 1996. The Reds were then led by Squadron Leader John Rands.

Singapore Airlines acquired the Airbus A300B4-203 in 1981- the same year that Paya Lebar became an RSAF air base.

National Day Parade NDP 2020: Together a Stronger Singapore

Reports that the Mobile Column will be part of the National Day Parade (NDP) 2020 caught us by surprise as it's been a decades since the Mobile Column appeared back-to-back in successive National Day celebrations.

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.

Circuit breaker Day 44 pix: Republic of Singapore Navy RSN Armoured Fast Craft Utility

At the Navy Open House in 2013, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) displayed an armoured Fast Craft Utility (FCU) waterjet propelled landing craft for the first time. The occasion is believed to be the only time such a craft was shown to the public.

The FCU was modified with the addition of an armoured crew compartment which was surrounded by spaced, bar armour grilles to protect the crew within from shaped charge munitions like RPGs. The open bridge, which previously had the coxswain standing/seated behind the control console under a tarpaulin sheet, was also up-armoured.

The armoured landing craft can be used to carry RSN personnel to inspect ships at sea and apprehend law breakers should the need arise. The procedure is called Visit, Board, Search & Seizure. It is fraught with difficulties when carried out on a restless sea and when the freeboard of tankers means VBSS teams need to climb a rope ladder 10 storeys high to board the vessel.

 Note the additional panels, believed to be composite armour, around the open bridge.