Fighting terrorism: SAF's secret edge
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From -
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,179612,00.html?
Fighting terrorism: SAF's secret edge
DAVID BOEY
THE hijacking of Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ 117 by four Pakistanis was resolved by Special Operations Force (SOF) commandos 12 years ago today.
At the time of the crisis, few people could have imagined how airliner hijacks would one day take on the more deadly form of suicide attacks, and spur defence planners the world over to devise extensive measures against these threats.
In the post-911 era, defence planners grapple with twin challenges. One is to minimise the loss of life of passengers and aircrew. The other is to devise policies and procedures to ensure terrorist pilots cannot turn compromised airliners into guided missiles.
Decisive force is a last line of defence. Preventive measures are equally important and this explains why Singapore has tightened airport security and introduced air marshals on selected flights. Alongside these efforts is ongoing work done by the intelligence services to find and root out terrorist elements.
It does not take a great intellect to sense the sort of ethical issues security planners must deal with when contemplating decisive force to resolve copycat 911-style strikes.
Before anti-terrorist teams are deployed, the executive group of key civil servants tasked to handle the crisis work through multiple scenarios that could complicate its speedy resolution.
Threat scenarios differ according to whether the compromised aircraft belongs to a Singapore carrier or a foreign one. Under international law, other things being equal, an airline falls under the jurisdiction of its flag. There is also a big difference between the hijack occurring on the ground of the home country, in international air space, or at a foreign airport.
While the Defence Ministry has been coy about discussing its counter-terrorist options, the SQ 117 hijack crisis 12 years ago provides telling indicators of how Singapore might respond to such incidents.
FACE-OFF WITH TERROR
THE SIA Airbus A310 was hijacked on March 26, 1991, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. It was later learnt that the foursome were armed with nothing more dangerous than fireworks and inflight cutlery.
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) commandos stormed the Airbus at 6.50 am on March 27. The operation was over in 30 seconds and 123 passengers and crew were freed. All four terrorists were killed by gunfire.
Twelve years ago, Singaporeans at large were not prepared for the gravity of the SQ 117 situation. For instance, when word of the crisis first broke, some thought it was a hoax. And after the incident was resolved, there were comments on whether the knife-wielding terrorists could have been subdued peacefully.
The operation was unique on two accounts. First, it marked the first time Singapore had resolved an airliner hijacking through force of arms. Second, it was the first time that an SAF unit had been sent on operations even before its existence had been officially acknowledged.
The commando unit that stormed SQ 117 was the SOF. This unit was formed secretly in 1984 and has trained with crack foreign anti-terrorist teams from the British Special Air Service, German GSG-9 and various American hostage rescue teams.
Mindef/SAF did not take the wraps off the SOF even after the black-clad commandos were photographed storming the SIA plane. It consistently referred to them as having come from Headquarters Commando. Mindef only acknowledged the SOF's existence on Feb 20, 1997. This was 13 years after they were formed and six years after they first went into action.
The unveiling this January of the SAF's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives (CBRE) Defence Group shows that Mindef has not changed its practice of keeping secret various special capabilities in the SAF's arsenal.
The sudden emergence of the CBRE group reflects the proactive stance taken by defence planners here in ensuring a well-balanced force structure for the SAF.
As Singapore guards against catastrophic terrorism, it's reasonable to assume that there are other aspects in the SAF's order of battle Mindef is not ready to talk about. These special weapons and elite units will be tasked with delivering Mindef's 'swift and decisive' response should deterrence and diplomacy fail.
FIRST THREAT
TO UNDERSTAND the challenges that airplane hijacks pose to security planners, consider this scenario: Singapore authorities are told that an airliner has been hijacked en route to Paya Lebar Airport. To complicate matters, the commercial flight is a foreign aircraft that took off from a regional country.
The airliner flies a steady course for Singapore and is due to arrive in local air space in about eight hours. As there's no practical way of forcing a hijacked aircraft to land, should decisive force be used against this flight?
Lest you think this is a far-fetched scenario, it should be mentioned that authorities here faced just such an incident more than 30 years ago.
The day was Sept 27, 1972. A flight engineer aboard a Boeing 707 operated by Greek airline Olympic Airways accidentally flipped a 'hijack alarm'. The plane, Flight 472, took off from Sydney bound for Paya Lebar Airport with 31 passengers and 11 crew at 10.30 am, Singapore time.
Authorities here were not informed of the situation till four hours later. Following a flurry of conflicting reports, Australia's Department of Civil Aviation warned Singapore's airport 'to be ready for a possible hijacking'.
Flight 472 landed at Paya Lebar at 6:25 pm and was immediately ringed by police. But after the plane touched down, there was no indication a hijacking was in progress. A Straits Times report said the control tower at Paya Lebar was asked by Flight 472's baffled pilots 'to send the gangway and a bus to pick up the passengers'. So, Singapore's first hijack drama turned out to be a false alarm.
The young Republic was lucky it was a false alarm as the absence of hostage-rescue commandos and civil defence measures would have severely crimped its policy options.
Faced with a similar situation today, Singapore's authorities have a ready range of arms and procedures to deal with aircraft hijackers. One should appreciate the thought processes that have gone into drawing up these defences - and hope that the secret-edge capabilities the SAF has in its arsenal are never used.
The writer is a correspondent with the Business Times. He contributed this article toThe Straits Times. -
are the SOF, battlion strength or company strength?
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Their numbers are kept very confidential. My former classmate is a serving member of that unit, but we don't talk about it.Originally posted by foga:are the SOF, battlion strength or company strength? -
power sia
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Military sgboy2004 -
I found a page on the SOF. Not very useful though, they seem very secretive...but they also look like stylo hor :-)
http://www.specialoperations.com/Foreign/Singapore/SOF.htm
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Are the SOF primarily for counter terrorism activities?
btw since there are oso a similiar group known as the STAR in the police force, do you think SOF or STAR will be activated when hijacking occured in changi now? -
oh they use either head tail or sissors paper stone to decide who will go..the last they use were head n tail...SOF wonOriginally posted by Arena:Are the SOF primarily for counter terrorism activities?
btw since there are oso a similiar group known as the STAR in the police force, do you think SOF or STAR will be activated when hijacking occured in changi now? -
I tot it was SOF that lost?
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oh the SOF commander cheated....he stick 2 coin together..Originally posted by SCAR:I tot it was SOF that lost? 
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double
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SOF did not want to go but they had no choice.....STAR was not ready then.....they were called but their commander incharge said they were not ready.Thus the SOF was called in....I believe the SOF would do most of the CT jobs now considering most of the times the STAR just goes around hunting for armed suspects!In Essence SOF is like Seal team 6 while STAR is like the SWAT forces that the US empolysOriginally posted by Arena:Are the SOF primarily for counter terrorism activities?
btw since there are oso a similiar group known as the STAR in the police force, do you think SOF or STAR will be activated when hijacking occured in changi now?
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STAR was not formerly formed back then. Besides, the SOF team was closer to the problem. I remember this because I was serving my NS at that time, and it was so happen that my company was on standby duty that week. Was activated to move, but it was all over before anything else could happen.Originally posted by |-|05|:SOF did not want to go but they had no choice.....STAR was not ready then.....they were called but their commander incharge said they were not ready.Thus the SOF was called in....I believe the SOF would do most of the CT jobs now considering most of the times the STAR just goes around hunting for armed suspects!In Essence SOF is like Seal team 6 while STAR is like the SWAT forces that the US empolys
In my opionion, STAR is the primary hostage rescue team today. Just look at all the modified Land Rovers they have. They do nothing but hostage rescue.
While the SOF can do it (proven), they also perform other military roles and not just CT. -
it was formed liao.....but not ready my fren was in the STAR team then he said they just trained how to use equipement and some tactics and got to know each other......so their commander said not ready.and yes you were right SOF was nearer haha having their base a few mins away.......if i'm not wrong they could enter the runway from one of the side areas.Anyway i'm not sure what the SOF does now so yea....BTW any1 knows what weapons they used?Originally posted by bcoy:STAR was not formerly formed back then. Besides, the SOF team was closer to the problem. I remember this because I was serving my NS at that time, and it was so happen that my company was on standby duty that week. Was activated to move, but it was all over before anything else could happen.
In my opionion, STAR is the primary hostage rescue team today. Just look at all the modified Land Rovers they have. They do nothing but hostage rescue.
While the SOF can do it (proven), they also perform other military roles and not just CT. -
No one knows much about the SOF and STAR, I was quite surprised when I saw STAR in the mobile column during NDP2000. SOF also had a display stand at AOH2002. *Gasp* When I took a photo of their equipment which was on display, one of the troopers actually asked me if their faces were captured on film, to which I promptly answered no - Its important to respect these guys for what they do.
I would think that STAR's primary mission is to support the Police in high-risk situations, ie. Hostage, kidnapping, armed suspect scenarios. SOF would handle the more serious terrorist threats.
I believe STAR has more specialised equipment, for example their modified vehicles. No hiding the effort put into the team. On the other hand SOF would no doubt have full access to the entire range of equipment the SAF has when they need the capabilities.
Come to think of it, I would not be surprised if SOF is modelled after SAS's CRW. -
i thought that the SOF used excessive force on the hijackers of SQ117 considering they were "armed" with only fire crackers and cutlery taken from the aircraft. One of them actually made a pass at the stewardess during the 'hijacking'
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I think it was a great takedown. Like it or not, the Government had to make a stand on terrorism on Singapore property, and no matter which way you see it from, it is indeed terrorism and hijacking. The effects of the mission is well known - Singapore will not tolerate any such matters, and has proven that we have the capability to deal with such scenarios.Originally posted by observe:i thought that the SOF used excessive force on the hijackers of SQ117 considering they were "armed" with only fire crackers and cutlery taken from the aircraft. One of them actually made a pass at the stewardess during the 'hijacking' -
You mean the SOF made a pass at the stewardess?? wow, fast mover...Originally posted by observe:i thought that the SOF used excessive force on the hijackers of SQ117 considering they were "armed" with only fire crackers and cutlery taken from the aircraft. One of them actually made a pass at the stewardess during the 'hijacking'
heard from some sources that there were "injuries" substain by one of the SOF during the operation.... -
I think it was just minor injuries. (rejection by the air stewardess perhaps?Originally posted by SCAR:You mean the SOF made a pass at the stewardess?? wow, fast mover...
heard from some sources that there were "injuries" substain by one of the SOF during the operation....
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Any, I thought I read from a local book, some passengers reported seeing one operator who was "different" - was wearing jeans, t-shirt under the bullet-proof vest, instead of the all black uniform. But I could be wrong here as it was so long ago, I could have mis-read, or it could be purely fiction. -
ahha my fren's warrent officer was part of the take down...he said something to the effect of him and the guy behind him ducking into the seats which still had passengers in it when a terrorist threw a firecracker at them.....the person they took cover with was quite surprised considering it was just a firecracker...Originally posted by bcoy:I think it was just minor injuries. (rejection by the air stewardess perhaps? )
Any, I thought I read from a local book, some passengers reported seeing one operator who was "different" - was wearing jeans, t-shirt under the bullet-proof vest, instead of the all black uniform. But I could be wrong here as it was so long ago, I could have mis-read, or it could be purely fiction. BTW about the jeans thing...it's no surprise since i've seen in alot of picture GSG-9 troopers in home clothes....1 of them was even in tennis shorts and a t-shirt!! -
Siao, who ask the terrorist bluff bluff that they have powerful weapons? In the end they found themselves fending off MP-5 wielding SOF with butter knife.Originally posted by observe:i thought that the SOF used excessive force on the hijackers of SQ117 considering they were "armed" with only fire crackers and cutlery taken from the aircraft. One of them actually made a pass at the stewardess during the 'hijacking' -
they were order to kiil any terrorist..Singapore Govt dun wan any prisoners..cos it will cos lotsa implication..like Govt to Govt PROriginally posted by observe:i thought that the SOF used excessive force on the hijackers of SQ117 considering they were "armed" with only fire crackers and cutlery taken from the aircraft. One of them actually made a pass at the stewardess during the 'hijacking'
n also more terrotist threat
so finish them now..u dun have worried a single shit..just have to bury them.. -
According to some sources i heard, some of the SOF people who stormed the plane were Israeli commandoes based in Singapore. It was something like we lacked the experience and so we called these more experienced guys to help.
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got picture bo? can post? thanks!Originally posted by |-|05|:ahha my fren's warrent officer was part of the take down...he said something to the effect of him and the guy behind him ducking into the seats which still had passengers in it when a terrorist threw a firecracker at them.....the person they took cover with was quite surprised considering it was just a firecracker... BTW about the jeans thing...it's no surprise since i've seen in alot of picture GSG-9 troopers in home clothes....1 of them was even in tennis shorts and a t-shirt!! -
nah..just some pple who wana degrade our Arm force...they r all SOF n all r sinagporean..some of them r legend in Hendon after tat storm....its a open secret of who they r if ur wif the CDOSOriginally posted by eurofighter:According to some sources i heard, some of the SOF people who stormed the plane were Israeli commandoes based in Singapore. It was something like we lacked the experience and so we called these more experienced guys to help. -
I think the SOF commandos over-reacted lah. The Pakistani terrorists were just armed with knifes, like that oso want to gun them all down, haiz.
But I guess they didn't want to take any chances when the terrorists declared that they would start killing one hostage every ten minutes.