Singapore Buying Three G550s for Maritime Surveillance

Singapore will add three Gulfstream G550-based maritime surveillance aircraft (G550-MSA) to its military capability, the country’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) confirmed on Saturday. The ministry explained that these business jets will “complement the [upcoming] Boeing P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft as part of Singapore’s maritime security surveillance network.”

The G550-MSAs are “aircraft designed for maritime surveillance, to enhance maritime awareness and to provide early warning of maritime threats,” the statement continued. The ministry’s image appears to show an unarmed configuration similar to Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI’s) Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) system jointly developed with subsidiary Elta Systems.

Alongside communications and identification systems, the ministry’s G550-MSAs will be fitted with a maritime surveillance radar and sensor suite. A self-protection suite will support the two pilots and six systems officers aboard. A specification sheet listed the aircraft’s endurance as nine hours, with a service ceiling of 40,000 feet.

These parameters suggest the G550-MSA shares many similarities with IAI’s “Oron” special-mission aircraft. The G550-based Oron is described by IAI as “a highly advanced intelligence platform, equipped with radar systems, elect-optics, and SIGINT capabilities,” which is “relevant to every theater.” In November, IAI confirmed that although this aircraft’s modification process was done in the U.S., the systems are Israeli, concluding, “No other country has this configuration.”

Future Fleet Capabilities

The three G550-MSAs will complement the upcoming Boeing P-8A maritime patrol aircraft already on order. In September, Singapore’s minister of defense Chan Chun Sing announced that the P-8A acquisition was “in the first phase of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) refresh of [its] maritime security capabilities to strengthen the SAF’s maritime situation awareness and ability to counter sub-surface threats.” In January, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of aircraft and torpedoes for a total estimated $2.3 billion.

Four G550-based airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft are operated by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), which reached full operational capability in 2012. These were chosen to replace an aging fleet of Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes.

The G550-MSA order coincides with the acquisition of the Singaporean Navy’s second upcoming multi-domain combat vessel, expected to be launched in the third quarter. Referencing the new aircraft in a parliamentary speech on February 27, Chan added that “the SAF will also continue to scale the use of unmanned for new concepts of operation and pair them with manned platforms.”