This a continuation of my previous post on changes your author has observed in the Singaporean armoured vehicle fleet and doctrine. This short piece will instead focus on some AFV-related priorities of the Army and also the Armour formation.
Firstly, a complete set of mechanized equipment from logistics to artillery carriers to tanks. It goes without saying that the very existence of an independent "Armour" formation that owns complete units, rather than being simply a training command for vehicle operators, speaks volumes of the highly conventional concept of operations - as a combined, fully mechanized armoured fist. A full array of equipment to this end will thus continually be required - motorized combat support (artillery, air defence), service support (logistics), and the actual combatants.
Primus self-propelled gun
Moreover, the SAF has always maintained something of an armour superiority over its neighbours. The historical existence of a heavy-for-the-region tank force is also an open secret. The "T" main battle tanks served the nation for many years but have apparently been retired with the introduction of the Leopard 2 MBTs. However, in a process first floated by Tim Huxley in his classic introduction to Singapore's military forces, military spending in Southeast Asian nations has increased and neighbours are capable of fielding more capable MBTs. In this light, a superiority may be sought through a variety of methods.
This is somewhat speculative - but one thing that has supposedly remained constant is the need for a light tank (fighting vehicle?). I wouldn't have been aware of this if not for a low-level online murmurings of "MLC 30" vehicles for the SAF, MLC referring presumably to "military load classification" and 30 being 30 tons. Certainly there has been a niche for lightweight and small armour for the SAF. This is not really for the conventional purpose of airmobility, but for being small and light enough to navigate between trees of plantations and use unimproved bridges at speed. With the retirement of the SM1 (AMX-13) light tanks there has been a gap in this capability, and perhaps there might be a revival of this at some point.
