Defence leaders across the Southeast Asian state have showcased their expertise to a UK delegation.

Developing bilateral relationships supports Strategic Command’s delivery of priorities including leading the cyber and electromagnetic domain, driving integration, and supporting campaigning.

Singapore’s Ministry of Defence recently hosted MOD Second Permanent Secretary Paul Lincoln, Commander Strategic Command General Jim Hockenhull, and Command Sergeant Major Warrant Officer Sara Catterall, to share how their work in cyberspace and intelligence was enhancing collective security.

During the visit, discussions took place on Singapore’s new fourth service, the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), led by Chief of Defence Intelligence MG Lee Yi-Jin.

The DIS was established in October 2022 due to the increase in attacks by non-state actors and is responsible for providing military intelligence to the armed forces, building up the country’s digital defence capabilities, and protecting the psychological defence of its military personnel.

The UK delegation also met with Singapore’s Defence Cyber Chief, Bg Chen Juncheng Edward, to learn about the iTrust and its focus on improving the understanding and countering of threats to cyber-physical systems (CPS) using technologies such as AI.

While in Singapore, the Second Permanent Secretary, General Jim and Warrant Officer Sara visited the Sembawang Naval Installation and Senoko Oil Fuel Depot, located at Strategic Command’s British Defence Singapore Support Unit (BDSSU).

Highlighting the importance of maintaining continuous capability, personnel were shown the scale of the facilities and listened to experts from allied nations such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States about the criticality of the site, which provides fuel for vessels when deployed on operations.

Reflecting on the visit, Warrant Officer Sara said:

It was equal parts educational, informative, and enjoyable to visit Singapore last week. The ties between our two countries, especially in the cyberspace and electromagnetic domain, are so important. We were hosted superbly, and I thank our Singaporean partners for their warm hospitality.

It was also a great experience to see what our people are doing in the British Defence Singapore Support Unit (BDSSU). This represents a key example of how UKStratCom can have a strategic effect through the Directorate of Overseas Bases (DirOB) and shows how hard our personnel work, both civilian and military, to get the job done. Photo by Basile Morin, Wikimedia commons.