During parliament on Jan. 14, 2026, Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong asked Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing whether the ministry has conducted a strategic review of the decision to relocate Paya Lebar Air Base in light of recent global conflicts.
These conflicts, Tiong said, demonstrated the vulnerability of concentrated air assets to mass drone attacks and long-range munitions.
He also asked whether such consolidation of air force assets into fewer air bases “significantly increases operational risks during a first-strike scenario”.
In his oral answer, Chan said the decision to relocate Paya Lebar Air Base to free up land for national development purposes was a carefully considered one.
Chan also mentioned the considerations that were taken into account.
He said that as a small island with no strategic depth and hinterland to absorb an attack, the Singapore Armed Forces needs to develop “operational concepts and solutions” to suit Singapore’s unique security needs.
This would have to be done while taking into consideration the competing needs “for Singapore’s limited land and finite human resources”.
Chan said these circumstances would require “robust intelligence and effective threat detection and early warning systems at range”.
This is so the SAF can mount “timely and decisive responses” with a suite of diversified capabilities across multiple layers and distances where necessary.
Chan acknowledged that even with all this, Singapore “may not be able to prevent all threats from reaching our shores”.
Chan said that it is for this reason that Singapore’s critical infrastructures and facilities are hardened against potential attacks, and key assets can be dispersed in peacetime, and especially during contingencies.
“We have also factored in reserve capacities to ensure resilience for scenarios where some of our assets may be destroyed or damaged.”
Measures to reduce risks and challenges
Chan acknowledged there are trade-offs involved in the freeing up of land for national development, but said they had undertaken a series of additional measures to “reduce the risks and challenges”.
“For example, in terms of available airbases and runways, we have invested significant resources in expanding Tengah Air Base and Changi Air Base, and lengthening the contingency runway at Pulau Sudong.
Tengah Air Base and Changi Air Base are also being upgraded with better detection, response and resilience capabilities, including against the emerging threats posed by drones. Enhancements are also being made in other parts of the SAF.”
SAF will continue to assess its operational, infrastructure and capability requirements.
Chan noted that many of SAF’s efforts are conducted out of the public eye and not disclosed, but that they will make “public announcements at appropriate junctures should there be good operational and deterrence reasons to do so”.
You can read the full response here.
Image from Pioneer and Wikipedia/ Dave1185
