Changi Air Base
Changi Air Base (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS ) is a military air base located at Changi, in the eastern tip of Singapore. Sited at two locations to the east and west of Changi Airport, it co-shares runway facilities with the civilian airport and currently occupies a third runway slated for future expansion for civilian use by Singapore Changi Airport. Together, the two airfields house 121 Squadron, 112 Squadron, 145 Squadron, the Field Defence Squadron, the Air Logistics Squadron and the Airfield Maintenance Squadron. The air base badge carries the motto Together in Excellence.
RAF Changi[edit]
The area where Changi Air Base now sits was once a large encampment of British Army artillery and combat engineer units based in Singapore between the mid-1930s up until mid-February 1942, when the island fell under Japanese occupation after the British surrender that year. This large encampment, comprising several barracks and military administrative buildings such as Roberts Barrack and Selarang Camp, were used together with the nearby Changi Prison (previously a maximum-security incarceration complex for civilians) for housing many of the Allied prisoners-of-war (POWs) after Japan took over control of Singapore. The construction of the current airfield in Changi Air Base was initiated by the occupying Imperial Japanese Armed Forces using those same Allied POWs imprisoned in the Changi area as forced labourers, building two roughly-paved landing strips between 1943 and 1944, intersecting in a cross-shaped layout and in approximately north–south and east–west directions (similar to what was done at Kallang Airport by Japanese occupation forces) to allow planes to land and takeoff in any possible direction all around. This Japanese-built airfield facility became a Royal Air Force station after the Japanese occupation in Singapore abruptly ended following the Japanese surrender in 1945 and was then renamed as RAF Changi in 1946 by the returning British military authorities. Now, it was the newly imprisoned Japanese troops under British captivity which were then made to improve both runways, reinforcing the north–south runway for military aircraft and adding perforated steel plates on the east–west runway.
Units[edit]
- Air Command Far East and Air Headquarters Malaya Communication Squadron RAF
- Air Headquarters Malaya Communication Squadron RAF
- Far East Communication Squadron RAF
- Headquarters Air Command Southeast Asia (Communication) Squadron RAF
- No. 33 Squadron RAF
- No. 48 Squadron RAF
- No. 52 Squadron RAF
- No. 81 Squadron RAF
- No. 84 Squadron RAF
- No. 103 Squadron RAF
- No. 110 Squadron RAF
- No. 205 Squadron RAF
- No. 215 Squadron RAF
- No. 656 Squadron RAF
Changi Air Base West[edit]
Following the opening of the new Changi Air Base (East) (Changi East Complex) on 29 November 2004, the existing facilities at Changi Air Base has been renamed as Changi Air Base (West) (Changi West Complex) and Headquarters Changi Air Base (HQ CAB). The flying squadrons now are:
- 121 Squadron with 4 Utility Transport Aircraft (UTA) and 5 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) versions of the Fokker F50
The Support Squadrons are:
- Field Defence Squadron (FDS)
- Airfield Maintenance Squadron (AMS)
- Airfield Operations Maintenance Squadron Fixed Wing 2 (AOMS-FW2)
- Ground Logistics Liaison Office / Ground Logistics Squadron (GLLO/GLS)
- Air Movement Centre (AMC)
Changi Air Base East[edit]
The base was opened on 29 November 2004. The base was closed for runway reconstruction and reopened at the end of 2018. The flying squadrons now are:
- 145 Squadron with 20 F-16D Block 52+ (Strike)
- 112 Squadron with 6 A330 MRTT