‘Potential air threat’ from M’sia — S’pore deployed two F-16 fighters

Singapore — The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) scrambled F-16 fighter aircraft on Saturday morning (Sept 11) after it detected a “potential air threat” on Singapore airspace.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) deployed two F-16 fighters on Saturday after a Royal Malaysia Police helicopter flew over Pulau Tekong.

The F-16 jets, armed with AIM-9 and AIM-120s were scrambled from Tengah airbase after flight tracking data showed the helicopter crossing into Singapore airspace at 9:22 am, reported aviation news site Alert 5.

The fighter jets were seen circling over Paya Lebar airbase at a height of approximately 5,000 feet.

Reports noted that Pulau Tekong is home to the Singapore Army’s Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), whereby males who are conscripted into National Service will undergo basic military training there.

“After ensuring that our security was not compromised, we stood down our aircraft,” said a MINDEF representative in response to media queries.

Additional details of the “potential air threat” were not provided.

“On average, the RSAF fighter aircraft are deployed to investigate and deal with 350 potential air threats each year,” said MINDEF.

Later that day, the Royal Malaysian Police released a statement on Twitter addressing the incident.

“The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is aware of a message going viral on social media which claimed that a PDRM helicopter entered Singapore’s airspace on Sept 11, 2021,” the post noted.

“PDRM has confirmed that a PDRM helicopter was flying near Singapore’s airspace on Sept 11 for official duties. Throughout the duration of the flight, PDRM was not notified by Singapore’s airspace regulators that the helicopter had entered Singapore’s airspace.”

According to a Twitter thread, it was speculated that the incident was an “accidental crossing into Singaporean airspace” while the helicopter was “taking a shortcut” to its destination. /TISG