AFP, SINGAPORE: A system which will protect Singapore commercial planes against surface-to-air missile terrorist attacks should be ready in 12-18 months, the city-state's top security minister said Tuesday.
Coordinating Minister for Security and defense Tony Tan said the system is to be installed on all aircraft of flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional wing, SilkAir. He gave no details.
“We are developing, in cooperation with… friendly countries, a device which will protect SIA and SilkAir planes against such possibilities. We hope that within 12-18 months, we would have a workable system.”
Tan indicated Singapore was developing its own system after studying devices used by military aircraft but modified for civilian commercial planes.
“We have looked at them. We don't think that they actually serve our needs,” he told a news conference.
There have been rising concerns worldwide over the threat to commercial aircraft posed by terrorists using portable surface-to-air missiles as the devices can be purchased on the arms black market.
The authoritative defense journal Jane's said various types of man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, are in the hands of as many as 27 guerrilla and terrorist groups around the world.
Tan, also one of two deputy prime ministers, said commercial aircraft landing or leaving Singapore are vulnerable to these types of missiles because of the island's limited airspace.
Singapore is hemmed in by Malaysian and Indonesian territory.
While tough security measures imposed by Singapore authorities can ensure these missiles cannot be used within the city-state, they can be fired from outside the country, Tan said.
“This is a major issue for us because our airspace is very limited,” he said, noting that the most vulnerable part of a flight is in the last two or three minutes when the plane is landing or taking off.
“A commercial plane is a sitting duck. In Singapore, we can guarantee that within our territory no one will be able to launch a surface-to-air missile against an aeroplane, whether it is SIA or any other airline.
“But two minutes out of Singapore, you are not in Singapore territory, you are in some else's territory, and we cannot guarantee the same level of security. It's urgent, it's necessary.”
Singapore has crushed a local cell of the Southeast Asia-based terror group Jemaah Islamiyah which had allegedly planned to blow up the US embassy and other foreign and local targets here, but the authorities say they remain vigilant against potential attacks.
