Singapore
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Partnerships
Tiger Balm reinforces strong Singapore-U.S. ties for Free and Open Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff Exercise Tiger Balm 2025 highlighted the longstanding Singapore-United States partnership to strengthen combined readiness, interoperability and the ability to respond to complex challenges to safeguard a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. Soldiers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and U.S. Army National Guard units based in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii and Washington state participated in the 44th iteration of…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
U.K.-led Operation Highmast departs for Indo-Pacific deployment with Allies and Partners
FORUM Staff The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth Naval Base in late April 2025 to lead a multilateral deployment to the Indo-Pacific. The eight-month deployment of the U.K.’s Carrier Strike Group 2025, called Operation Highmast, will be joined by vessels and/or personnel from 13 nations, including Australia, France, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand,…
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Illicit Activity
Southeast Asian nations target security risk posed by scam centers
Peter Parson Southeast Asian nations are cracking down on scam centers, a global criminal enterprise committing hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud annually while abusing human rights and threatening regional security. Authorities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are disrupting the syndicates, arresting offenders and freeing captive workers. Recent efforts have targeted Myanmar’s southeastern Myawaddy region, where scam…
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Partnerships
Singapore’s next-gen training facility preps forces for urban battlefield
FORUM Staff With more than 6 million residents within its 719 square kilometers, Singapore is one of the world’s most densely populated nations. The land constraints pose a logistical challenge for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), limiting space for training and exercises within the city-state’s borders. The recent launch of the SAF’s training institute, known as SAFTI City, expands opportunities…
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Partnerships
Valiant Mark 2025 emblematic of robust Singapore-U.S. security partnership
FORUM Staff Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and United States Marine Corps personnel enhanced interoperability with heliborne, live-fire and urban operations drills during Valiant Mark 2025, as U.S. Marines became the first partner force to train at the SAF’s new urban training facility. The 10-day exercise in Singapore in March, the latest in a series dating to 1991, is emblematic of…
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Illicit Activity
Regional security forces boost anti-piracy measures amid resurgence of attacks
Sarah Chan Regional security forces are responding rapidly to a surge in piracy attacks and armed robberies at sea around the Malacca and Singapore straits, including with collaborative patrols, increased monitoring and deployment of advanced technology. In the fourth quarter of 2024, 27 incidents were reported in the area, up from seven incidents during the same period in 2023. Meanwhile,…
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Partnerships
Expanded multinational space domain component key part of Cobra Gold 2025
Tech. Sgt. Emerson Nunez/U.S. Air Force Exercise Cobra Gold, long a cornerstone of Thailand-United States military engagement in the Indo-Pacific, expanded into the space domain in 2025 with a multinational initiative to enhance interoperability and strengthen regional partnerships. “The goal is to establish a joint, combined, multinational component command specifically for space,” said Maj. Garry Stratiev, space operations planner for…
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Global Commons
Singapore investing in uncrewed systems, restructuring Armed Forces amid shifting demographics
Sarah Chan Singapore is boosting deployment of uncrewed systems and reorganizing Armed Forces personnel as demographic shifts shrink the pool of potential military recruits. Over the past decade, the ratio of working‐age adults to retirees has fallen from 6-to-1 to less than 4-to-1, according to the Manpower Ministry. Singapore’s Defence Ministry is spearheading initiatives to mitigate the effects of an…
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Partnerships
Five Power Defence Arrangements members adapt to regional security challenges
Sarah Chan Amid a shifting regional security landscape, members of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) security pact are upgrading joint training, deploying advanced assets and increasing high-level personnel contacts. The new measures were showcased at the Bersama Lima exercise in October 2024, and officials and analysts expect the initiatives to further improve interoperability and strengthen regional security. Soldiers conduct…
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Partnerships
Multilateral La Perouse 25 exercise focuses on key maritime passages
FORUM Staff Protecting choke points that link the Indian Ocean to the Java Sea, South China Sea and Pacific Ocean was the mission of the La Perouse 25 exercise. Nine Indo-Pacific navies participated in the biennial exercise in January, the fifth and largest iteration. About one-third of the world’s commercial shipping traverses the Lombok, Malacca and Sunda straits, and the…
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