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SINGAPORE AIRSHOW: Asia’s Signature Aviation Event Returns in Full Force
The Republic of Korea Air Force’s Black Eagles perform a flying display during the 2024 Singapore Airshow’s media conference.
Josh Luckenbaugh photo
SINGAPORE — After the previous two editions were scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the biennial Singapore Airshow is returning to “full scale” status this year as the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing rapid growth in its aviation market, as well as becoming a focal point in global geopolitics and strategic competition.
The Asia-Pacific is expected to play a major role in the aviation market over the next few decades. According to aerospace corporation Airbus, nearly 41,000 new aircraft will be delivered between 2023 and 2042, and the Asia-Pacific will account for 46 percent of these deliveries.
However, the return of the show also comes at a time when multiple conflicts are ongoing across the globe, from Ukraine to Israel to the Red Sea.
Singapore’s Chief of Air Force Maj. Gen. Kelvin Khong said the world is “increasingly becoming more turbulent.” The ongoing conflicts “have clearly demonstrated emerging threats that future air forces need to address,” and the war in Ukraine in particular has demonstrated “the importance of achieving air superiority,” Khong said in a written interview released Feb. 18.
“I believe that, if either side had achieved air superiority, the conflict would have taken on a very different trajectory,” Khong said. “There is a higher probability that it would not be so long and protracted.”
Leck Chet Lam, managing director of Singapore Airshow organizer Experia, said that despite the amount of conflict globally, military and government participation in the airshow is expected to be about the same as in previous years.
“Between our exhibitors here, it’s always been that split of 50 percent on the defense side and 50 percent on the civil side, and has stayed like that consistently throughout the years,” Lam said during a media briefing Feb. 18.
The Singapore Airshow is expected to have about 50,000 trade visitors this year, and will feature the most foreign flying displays in the event’s history, Lam said. Three countries will have pavilions on the show floor for the first time this year: the Czech Republic, South Korea and most notably China, which the United States in its 2022 National Defense Strategy identified as its pacing challenge.
China has made a “coercive and increasingly aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to suit its interests and authoritarian preferences,” the strategy stated. “[China] seeks to undermine U.S. alliances and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region and leverage its growing capabilities, including its economic influence and the People’s Liberation Army’s growing strength and military footprint, to coerce its neighbors and threaten their interests.”
Cindy Koh, executive vice president of the Singapore Economic Development Board, said it is a “positive, encouraging” sign that Chinese companies are willing to participate in the airshow. The Economic Development Board “will be having a series of discussions” with Chinese executives, Koh said during the media briefing.
Along with the Chinese pavilion on the show floor that will feature small and medium businesses spanning a variety of products and services, the Singapore Airshow program features a China-Singapore Bilateral Aviation Forum hosted by the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Singapore’s Association of Aerospace Industries, Lam said. The summit will explore “potential opportunities between Singapore and China” to collaborate on aviation, as well as aerospace trends that are happening in China, he added.
In addition to fostering relationships with other countries in the region, Singapore is hoping to form key partnerships with industry. Koh said several aerospace companies have committed to investing more than 750 million Singaporean dollars ($557 million) in the country over the next three to five years. These investments will range from engine maintenance, repair and overhaul to airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul to digital capabilities, she added.
“In the near- to medium-term, we understand that hiring and supply chain challenges remain top of mind for most aerospace companies, and we will support companies on these fronts,” Koh said. “At the same time, we are … on the lookout for new growth areas by partnering with companies in innovation and sustainability to ensure our competitiveness in the long run.”
Khong said recent conflicts have demonstrated the importance of the air littoral — the airspace between ground forces and high-end fighters and bombers — where dealing with threats such as small unmanned aerial systems and loitering munitions “will require innovative and sustainable solutions.”
“We need to build up muscles to be innovative and to have the ability to rapidly prototype and operationalize new capabilities,” as well as develop systems with cross-domain integration “to deliver operational outcomes where the whole is more than the sum of its parts,” Khong said.
Lam said he hopes the airshow will serve as a “platform for all the professionals and all the people working in industry to come [together] so that we can foster growth and also pave the way for future growth for the aviation industry.”
Read NationalDefenseMagzine.Org Feb. 20-23 for breaking news from the Singapore Airshow.
Topics: Aviation, International
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