US, Singapore air forces to team up at vital Pacific base in Guam

SINGAPORE — The U.S. Andersen Air Force Base in Guam is set to open its doors to half of Singapore’s F-15 fleet, as the city state seeks to ramp up its combat readiness.

The move to concentrate air warfare capabilities at the remote American installation, located at the rim of the Philippine Sea, is part of a modernization plan proposed by the U.S. air service.

Over the past few years, North Korea has threatened a number of times to attack the small island, as was the case in 2017 when U.S. bombers took off from there to patrol the skies of ally South Korea.

“Andersen AFB is a strategic location used to project airpower and expand combat capability from the forward edge of the Indo-Pacific – our intent is to further resource this location,” a spokesperson for U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) told Defense News in an email.

“The purpose of the proposed action is to provide critical infrastructure that enhances U.S. posture west of the International Date Line,” the statement said.

The Singapore-related upgrades entail the bed-down and mission support of up to 12 Singaporean F-15SG aircraft, a variant of Boeing’s F-15 Strike Eagle, with plans to provide training facilities for pilots.

The changes, as detailed in a December U.S. Air Force statement, will also increase airfield and munitions infrastructure to address capability gaps and enhance how ground operations are carried out. The construction is expected to affect 209 acres and take place over a period of three to seven years.

There is currently no fixed date for when the work could begin. The Guam installation, one of ten bases under the authority of PACAF, is the only one in the western Pacific that can continuously overhaul American heavy bombers.

It is likely to have been selected by the U.S. Air Force for this project, as Guam is known to have a relatively unconfined airspace and has been deemed vital by analysts in the event of military action by North Korea.

Additionally, it is near the Farallon de Medinilla, a 1.75 mile-long (2.8 km) unoccupied island, used as a training bombing range from Andersen.

The U.S. air service “reviewed requirements for strategic capabilities within the Indo-Pacific region and identified Andersen AFB for enhanced capabilities, dismissing five other potential alternative locations within the Pacific Air Forces area of responsibility from consideration,” the PACAF statement said.

Singapore signed an initial $1.6 billion deal with Boeing in 2005 for the procurement of 12 F-15SG fighter aircraft, after which it ordered an additional 12 aircraft, resulting in a fleet of at least 24 fighters.

“The F-15SGs remain an important part of our fighter fleet – they have been serving us well since 2009 and they are expected to continue to meet our operational needs,” Maj. Gen. Kelvin Khong, chief of the Republic of Singapore Air Force, or RSAF, said in a statement ahead of the Singapore Airshow organized here from Feb. 20-25.

The RSAF has also been operating F-16s for several years, which began undergoing mid-life upgrades in 2016, as the city state plans to retire them from mid-2030 onwards and will soon receive its first F-35Bs from Lockheed Martin.

“The RSAF next-generation fleet will consist of F-35s and F-15SGs, and we expect to take delivery of the first four F-35Bs by 2026 and remaining eight in the following years,” Khong said.

The official added that the country plans to commence the training of its first F-35 pilots in the United States in order to enhance cooperation between the two nations’ fleets.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

新加坡——美国关岛安德森空军基地即将向新加坡一半的F-15战斗机机队开放，因为这个城邦国家正寻求提高其作战准备水平。

将空中作战能力集中到位于菲律宾海边缘的偏远美军基地，是美国空军提出的现代化计划的一部分。

过去几年里，朝鲜曾多次威胁要攻击这个小岛，例如 2017 年，美国轰炸机从那里起飞，巡逻盟友韩国的领空。

“安德森空军基地是一个战略要地，用于投射空中力量，并从印太前沿扩展作战能力——我们的目的是进一步加强对该基地的资源投入，”美国太平洋空军（PACAF）的一位发言人在一封电子邮件中告诉《防务新闻》。

声明称：“拟议行动的目的是提供关键基础设施，以增强美国在国际日期变更线以西的态势。”

与新加坡相关的升级计划包括部署和支持多达 12 架新加坡 F-15SG 战斗机（波音 F-15 攻击鹰战斗机的衍生型号），并计划为飞行员提供培训设施。

根据美国空军12月发布的声明，这些变更还将扩建机场和弹药基础设施，以弥补能力缺口并提升地面作战能力。预计建设工程将覆盖209英亩土地，工期为三至七年。

目前尚无确切的开工日期。关岛基地是太平洋空军管辖的十个基地之一，也是西太平洋地区唯一能够持续检修美军重型轰炸机的基地。

关岛很可能是被美国空军选中执行此项目的，因为关岛的空域相对开阔，分析人士认为，在朝鲜采取军事行动的情况下，关岛至关重要。

此外，它靠近法拉隆德梅迪尼利亚岛，这是一座长 1.75 英里（2.8 公里）的无人居住岛屿，安德森空军基地将其用作轰炸训练靶场。

美国空军“审查了印太地区战略能力的需求，并将安德森空军基地确定为增强能力的地点，同时排除了太平洋空军责任区内的其他五个潜在替代地点，”太平洋空军声明称。

新加坡于 2005 年与波音公司签署了一份价值 16 亿美元的初始协议，采购 12 架 F-15SG 战斗机，之后又追加订购了 12 架飞机，最终拥有至少 24 架战斗机的机队。

新加坡空军司令孔凯文少将在2月20日至25日在此举行的新加坡航展前发表声明称：“F-15SG战斗机仍然是我们战斗机机队的重要组成部分——自2009年以来，它们一直很好地为我们服务，预计它们将继续满足我们的作战需求。”

新加坡空军也已运营 F-16 战机多年，这些战机于 2016 年开始进行中期升级，因为新加坡计划从 2030 年中期开始逐步淘汰这些战机，并将很快从洛克希德·马丁公司接收其首批 F-35B 战机。

孔先生表示：“新加坡空军的下一代机队将由F-35和F-15SG组成，我们预计将在2026年接收首批四架F-35B，其余八架将在接下来的几年内接收。”

该官员补充说，该国计划在美国开始对其首批 F-35 飞行员进行培训，以加强两国机队之间的合作。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。