Singapore has put two new diesel electric submarines into operation, expanding its fleet of underwater warships to six – the largest in Southeast Asia and on par with Vietnam.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong commissioned the two ships – RSS Invincible and RSS Impeccable – at a ceremony on Tuesday.
“Singapore’s survival and prosperity depend on free and unimpeded movement over the seas,” he said.
The two advanced Invincible-class submarines were built by Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, which is expected to deliver two more of the same class by 2028 within a 1-billion-euro contract signed in 2013.
Prior to these two, the Singaporean navy had only operated second-hand submarines of Challenger and Archer classes acquired from Sweden.
Invincible-class submarines can operate longer underwater with better sensors, according to Singapore's ministry of defense. A ship is typically 70 meters in length, with a displacement of 2,000 tons when surfaced, and has a crew of 28.
“Singapore has one of the world’s most rigorous defense procurement policies that are premised on extant national interests, and this means purchases aren’t made on flippant decisions,” said Collin Koh, a security expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“Submarines can provide an asymmetric counter against a stronger foe, at least complicate its war planning, and in times of peace helps to magnify the effect of deterrence,” Koh said.
“The other factor is that Singapore has a shrinking population that has a knock-on effect on the armed forces’ manpower levels,” the analyst said, noting that such “force multipliers,” or tools with disproportionately large operational impact, as submarines could help maintain the overall deterrent and warfighting capability of a shrinking military.
Shallow waters getting ‘too busy’
Several other Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia have their own submarine programs, with Vietnam, until now, fielding the largest fleet of six Russian-made Kilo-class diesel electric subs.
Indonesia has four active submarines after one, the KRI Nanggala, sank in 2021. In April, Jakarta ordered two improved Scorpene-class submarines to be built in Indonesia with French technology.
The Royal Malaysian Navy also operates two Scorpène-class diesel electric attack submarines.
Another Southeast Asian country, Myanmar, has commissioned two submarines from India and China but has yet to operate an active fleet. Both the Philippines and Thailand have expressed interest in acquiring underwater boats to boost their maritime deterrence capabilities.
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“The undersea traffic is getting too busy,” said Wendell Minnick, a U.S. defense analyst and author of the China in Arms Substack, “Too many subs in the water make accidents more probable, especially when the waters are shallow and busy in the Malacca and Singapore Strait.”
Compared with air traffic control, the rules undersea are less stringent and “some of the submarine countries don’t necessarily abide by rules,” Minnick said.
According to him, the U.S. is not keen on countries acquiring too many submarines in the region.
“It keeps the U.S. Navy busy trying to track all the underwater targets: Who is friend and who is foe during a war will make it unnerving,” Minnick said.
“The U.S. was very much against Taiwan procuring submarines for this very reason,” he added.
Koh from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said that besides threats to the safety of undersea navigation, more submarines raised the risks of diplomatic disputes.
“There’s of course the constant challenge of submarines being embroiled in diplomatic incidents between countries considering the geopolitical sensitivities these days,” Koh said.
Singapore’s submarines are expected to be “operating across the Southeast Asian waters, right out into South China Sea for example, and even further,” he said.
The analyst added that regional nations should urgently work on a joint water-space management and prevention of mutual interference mechanism.
Edited by Taejun Kang.