FAILURE TO deliver promised economic benefits is jeopardising a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) proposal to base a second wave of Singaporean armed forces training aircraft and personnel in Australia.
Approval for the plan hinges on Singapore's delivery of economic benefits foreshadowed in an earlier memorandum of understanding (MoU).
Under an MoU agreed in 1993, some 30 SIAI-Marchetti S.211 jet-trainer aircraft were co-located with the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) flying training unit at RAAF Pearce, Western Australia, along with personnel and support infrastructure.
Support arrangements, including the transfer of a specified proportion of the maintenance work to Australian commercial enterprises, are due to be in place by next December.
Robert Ray, Australia's defence minister at the time of the agreement, said that it would see "...Singapore using Australian firms for the construction of facilities and for maintenance, with benefits to the local economy".
Scepticism is growing, however, with the West Australian Government expressing concern about whether this can be achieved.
Industry sources claim that locally repairable S.211 components are regularly shipped from Perth to Singapore on Singapore Airlines flights; that the work is not tendered; and that local industry has yet to see any benefits from the MoU.
In the new proposal, about 20 Singapore Aerospace A-4 Super Skyhawks and around 290 support personnel and their families would be based at Amberley.
Up to 12 Eurocopter Super Puma helicopters, with about 500 staff and dependents, would be based at the Army's nearby Oakey aviation base.
Preliminary discussions have been held in Canberra. Negotiations will continue.
Some defence sources believe that Singapore has "...called the Australians' bluff, relying on MoU escape clauses related to competitiveness". Singapore says only that "negotiations are continuing".
Source: Flight International
