1.
GVs Tanks on manoeuvres demolishing various structures. (6 SHOTS)
0.32

2.
SV Troops firing from behind sandbags.
0.38

3.
GV Parachutists jumping from plano and landing. (2 SHOTS)
0.56

4.
GV Aircraft dropping bomb and bomb exploding.
1.01

5.
GV Helicopters flying past scene of explosion.
1.05

6.
GV Troops on ground firing during simulated battle. (2 SHOTS)
1.09

7.
GV Troops leave helicopters and fire. (2 SHOTS)
1.17

8.
GV Aircraft flying over dropping bombs.
1.22

9.
GV Parachutist coming into land, hitting target and running away.
1.26

10.
GV Moro mock battle scenes with troops running and firing with APC's and tanks in background. (3 SHOTS)
1.44

11.
GV Troops jumping over barriers and fires. (2 SHOTS)
1.52

12.
GV Aircraft flying over and bombs exploding on ground. (4 SHOTS)
2.11

13.
GV More mock battles scenes with aircraft, tank and helicopters in action. (5 SHOTS)
2.29


TRANSCRIPT: JOYCE: "When the British started to pull out from their former island fortress ten years ago Singapore's armed forces were almost non-existent. Since then high defence spending and compulsory national service has produced one of the most efficient fighting forces in Asia. The pragmatic Singapore government used Israeli military advisors until the Arab oil embargo in 1973. Now Singapore's troops are sent to Taiwan for training. Every male Singaporean must undergo a minimum of two years' national service. Unlike the rest of Asia, money and influence do not secure exemption for the privileged. In a national crisis Singapore could now field a fighting force of up to 15,000, an impressive figure for a country that is 100 times smaller than Tasmania. In many ways the island's defence problems are similar to Australia's. Singapore knows it can't defend itself against a major external attack, but it hasn't drawn any fatalistic or apathetic conclusions from that realisation. Today Singapore has a (INDISTINCT) of 92 combat aircraft, anti-aircraft missiles and guided missile patrol beats.



It's a rugged defence posture, which has in the past caused apprehension among Singapore's near neighbours - Malaysia and Indonesia. But having witnessed the regional collapse of British power during the second World War and the recent fall of the American-backed regimes in Indochina, Singapore has no illusions about relying on powerful friends for its defence. The fight for Singapore's measure of self-reliance is not cheap. 40 percent of total public expenditure now goes on defence -- more than four times the proportion that Australia spends. Singapore's latest arms order, placed with the United States, is about jet fighters, helicopters, armoured personnel carriers and howitzers. If Singapore has to be a small fish in troubled waters, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's government is resolved it will to a prickly and poisonous fish capable of deterring all but the most desperate predators."




Initials JS/1620


TONY JOYCE

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The island of Singapore -- off the southernmost tip of the Malay peninsula in south east Asia, fell ignominiously and almost without resistance to Japanese attack during World War Two. In those days it was a British colony, but since it became independent in 1965 an energetic government policy of self-reliance has turned it in to an extremely well-defended island fortress. Tony Joyco of the Australian Broadcasting Commission watched the Singapore armed forces going through their paces on manoeuvres recently. Here's his report.