News on Singapore Technologies
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hmmm... can't help but notice that ST is made to sound like a "merchant of death" exploiting global uncertainties to make a quick buck... sure, grudging acknowledgement is made of ST's technological achievements, but u just can't help but notice that the article is not exactly flattering...
Call to arms in Singapore yields explosive results
Age, Melbourne
August 8, 2003
A REGIONALweapons manufacturer is establishing itself as a global competitor.
Another bombing in Jakarta, an attempted coup in the Philippines, the war on terror, the war against Saddam Hussein, Islamic separatists in north-western China, Peru's Shining Path resurfacing, Chechnya, Liberia, the Solomon Islands, the West Bank and Gaza. These are good times for arms manufacturers.
And right in our region there is a company that is making a bid to be an important international player in weapons production and sales. Its name is Singapore Technologies Engineering, a company that is listed in Singapore and ultimately controlled by the Singapore Government. The company aims to do more than simply supply Singapore's armed forces. It is touting for big export sales.
ST Engineering has four divisions that are involved in military research and hardware manufacturing: ST Kinetics, ST Aerospace, ST Marine and ST Electronics.
ST Kinetics is the key military hardware division and has almost 3000 employees. It can provide field air-defence mounts, advanced mortar systems, remote weapon stations, automatic grenade-launchers, machine-guns, assault rifles howitzers and munitions, all of which are made in Singapore.
ST Kinetics has also developed the Terrex AV81, an eight-wheeled light armoured vehicle. The company signed a memorandum of understanding last year with the Turkish automotive manufacturer Otokar to jointly develop an 8x8 vehicle based on the Terrex AV81 prototype to bid for a supply contract with the Turkish Army.
It has also developed the Bionix Infantry Carrier Vehicle, which has been sold to the US Army.
But it's the SAR-21 automatic rifle that is ST Kinetics's premier product. First came the SAR-80 and the SAR-88 rifles. There's also the Ultimax 100, a gas-operated, rotating-bolt machine-gun, produced in Singapore since 1982. All three have been sold abroad. Sales of the SAR-80, for example, were made to South Africa.
However, most development has gone on the SAR-21. Several variants of the SAR-21 have been produced for export. In the US, these weapons are distributed via ST Engineering's subsidiary, VT Systems.
ST Kinetics is a regular exhibitor at international arms fairs and the company is expanding its offshore presence too, with agreements and equity stakes with other defence contractors, including Britain's Vickers Defence Systems and Canada's Silvatech Group. It also has a development agreement with Australia's Innovonics for the installation of fleet management and vehicle-monitoring systems for its Bronco all-terrain vehicles.
ST Kinetics's sister company ST Aerospace is a global player in upgrading and maintaining military and commercial aircraft. It provides upgrades to the world's air forces for fighter, transport and rotary-wing military aircraft. Recent clients have included the Turkish air force, the Brazilian air force and the Singapore air force. The US Navy is another long-term client.
ST Marine supplies the Singapore navy with small vessels and it, too, is keen to win export contracts with foreign navies. Its capabilities also include ship repair and ship conversion.
ST Electronics has a subsidiary, ST Training & Simulation, that exports flight-mission trainers for pilot training. Also on offer are armour gunnery and tactical simulators.
There's more to Singapore than shopping, business conventions and a ban on chewing gum. -
Aha....Breakthrough! i wonder if any are currently used in actionOriginally posted by CX:It has also developed the Bionix Infantry Carrier Vehicle, which has been sold to the US Army. -
i like this.Originally posted by CX:There's more to Singapore than shopping, business conventions and a ban on chewing gum.
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I think the article made a mistake. The Bionix ICV lost in the competition.
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Well, whoever the client is....the bionix has indeed been sold to some nations. The ozzie paper that reported this is no fly-by-night operation, perhaps, only perhaps, it's refering to another STE contract with the US army(albeit much smaller and lower profile) other than the failed tender? If you recall STE's aggressive marketing and subsequent failed bid back then was widely publicised in the business world so i would give this report a benefit of doubt.
Below is an excerpt from the opening of the article on STE at the online Fortune Magazine
"ST Battles to Prove Its Worth
Is it time for one of the region's largest entities to be broken up?
FORTUNE
Thursday, February 6, 2003
By Eric Ellis
War is an indelible part of Singapore Technologies CEO Peter Seah's work. It sits right there on his office table, in the form of a model of the Bionix infantry fighting vehicle that ST manufactures. At full size, it's 17 tons of steel and firepower. "We are very proud of it," says Seah, citing strong sales to "friendly nations" that he's too coy to name. " -
The bionix lost to what??
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Originally posted by CX:
hmmm... can't help but notice that ST is made to sound like a "merchant of death" exploiting global uncertainties to make a quick buck... sure, grudging acknowledgement is made of ST's technological achievements, but u just can't help but notice that the article is not exactly flattering...
Why would you expect it to be? You wouldn't sing praises of your competitor to your customer right? -
competitor? i never knew that australia had a budding arms industry ST was competing against...Originally posted by RussianPower:Originally posted by CX:
Why would you expect it to be? You wouldn't sing praises of your competitor to your customer right?
its not what's not said... its what's being said and the way which it was presented... -
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=790Originally posted by |-|05|:The bionix lost to what??
Excerpt from the above URL
"VT Kinetics is best known in the United States for the Bionix tracked armored personnel carrier, its unsuccessful entry in the $4 billion competition for a light armored vehicle for the U.S. Army. Ultimately, the Army selected a wheeled Light Armored Vehicle, Generation III, offered by General Motors Defense, of London, Ontario, and General Dynamics Land Systems, of Sterling Heights, Mich"
It seems a no-name vehicle had won
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Some of our SAR-80 rifles ended up in Mog and were actually used in combat against American troops by Somalis...
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where got no-name?Originally posted by IAF:http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=790
Excerpt from the above URL
"VT Kinetics is best known in the United States for the Bionix tracked armored personnel carrier, its unsuccessful entry in the $4 billion competition for a light armored vehicle for the U.S. Army. Ultimately, the Army selected a wheeled Light Armored Vehicle, Generation III, offered by General Motors Defense, of London, Ontario, and General Dynamics Land Systems, of Sterling Heights, Mich"
It seems a no-name vehicle had won
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/lav-gen3.htm
Not bad leh..... -
yea who say LAV III no name... original LAV already used in large numbers by US Marines, saw some on iraq war footage. LAV III will be those strykers the army are sending to iraq soon... came out in newspaper some time ago. they put different guns on top of the vehicle n supposedly use it for everything from APC to arty...
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/iav.htm -
oh..thatOriginally posted by wd1:yea who say LAV III no name... original LAV already used in large numbers by US Marines, saw some on iraq war footage. LAV III will be those strykers the army are sending to iraq soon... came out in newspaper some time ago. they put different guns on top of the vehicle n supposedly use it for everything from APC to arty...
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/iav.htm
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it also seems that the powerful vested interest of big business in america (in this case, the venerable auto industry) won the day...Originally posted by IAF:"VT Kinetics is best known in the United States for the Bionix tracked armored personnel carrier, its unsuccessful entry in the $4 billion competition for a light armored vehicle for the U.S. Army. Ultimately, the Army selected a wheeled Light Armored Vehicle, Generation III, offered by General Motors Defense, of London, Ontario, and General Dynamics Land Systems, of Sterling Heights, Mich"=
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Actually the LAV III is not a bad vehicle. I've sat in it a couple of times before. It's spacious inside for Asians, but for ang-moh, its just nice, after adding in the bulkiness of web gear and so on...
It's also pretty agile and fast. Plus there's an onboard TV screen hooked up to a camera on the turret. It gives the infantry section a forward view of their surroundings before they dismount. This is the most useful tool I've come across, since it gives the section commander time to organize his men....The comms system is pretty much the same as those found in S'pore's AFVs...typically a lever-type junction box to switch between group frequencies and main frequency...
The only thing abt that vehicle is that the vehicle ground clearance is pretty high...so when the ramp door comes down and you dismount, it's like running down a mini steep slope...
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Not only that, but our Ultimax 100 SAWs ended up being used in the Kosovo conflict by the KLA. There was even a war crime committed using oneOriginally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:Some of our SAR-80 rifles ended up in Mog and were actually used in combat against American troops by Somalis...
The KLA also had Armbrust LAWs, which the press reported as being a German design (which is true). What the press did not say is that Singapore is the only country that produces it. Apparently the guerillas liked it better than their RPGs when toasting APCs, due to the much better range and accuracy. So our weapons are "battle tested", and ST was making money (directly or indirectly) off that ugly war.
There was also the even shadier deal where ST built an entire prefab small arms factory for the junta in Myanmar. I have heard someplace that Singapore is becoming known for supplying arms and ammo "no questions asked", particularly to people that no one else will sell to. I would not completely discount that article. -
well, much as i find the sales of arms to certain parties distasteful, i think it silly to believe that these pple won't be able to source their arms elsewhere...
with kosovo, they could've just as easily skipped overthe porous borders and drink a few shots of vodka with some corrupt russian general... who'll notice if several hundred ak47, rpgs or even the new shoulder-fired thermobaric weapons suddenly went missing from some dilapidated former-soviet army base where the soldiers haven't been paid in months???
with myammar, its right next door to china... i don't think they have a big problem sourcing from there as well...
though i do think that its silly to sell to such clowns because it damages your reputation as a "serious" armament supplier... remember the tommy-gun in the 1930s? well, the Brits won't buy it because of its tainted association with organised crime...
how much can u make from these one off, fly-by-night business anyway? several mills? thats peanuts in terms of the arms trade... serious contracts involving the supply, sales and construction of new systems can run into the hundreds of millions.
problem is, i wonder, despite what the article claims, if ST can hold its own against world class armament suppliers for such contracts... if not, they'll be left peddling small arms to unsavoury regimes which no one is willing to sells to and damage their reputation and credibility... -
The Brits were using tommy guns in Burma....they didnt like it cause the ammo kept exploding in they're faceOriginally posted by CX:well, much as i find the sales of arms to certain parties distasteful, i think it silly to believe that these pple won't be able to source their arms elsewhere...
with kosovo, they could've just as easily skipped overthe porous borders and drink a few shots of vodka with some corrupt russian general... who'll notice if several hundred ak47, rpgs or even the new shoulder-fired thermobaric weapons suddenly went missing from some dilapidated former-soviet army base where the soldiers haven't been paid in months???
with myammar, its right next door to china... i don't think they have a big problem sourcing from there as well...
though i do think that its silly to sell to such clowns because it damages your reputation as a "serious" armament supplier... remember the tommy-gun in the 1930s? well, the Brits won't buy it because of its tainted association with organised crime...
how much can u make from these one off, fly-by-night business anyway? several mills? thats peanuts in terms of the arms trade... serious contracts involving the supply, sales and construction of new systems can run into the hundreds of millions.
problem is, i wonder, despite what the article claims, if ST can hold its own against world class armament suppliers for such contracts... if not, they'll be left peddling small arms to unsavoury regimes which no one is willing to sells to and damage their reputation and credibility... -
one of the reasons, and its not hard to see why, most of our small arms end up in poor countries with unsavory regimes is that the buyers can be 'bought'...under the table.Originally posted by CX:they'll be left peddling small arms to unsavoury regimes which no one is willing to sells to and damage their reputation and credibility...
as for the arms ending up in the hands of militias in war-torn countries, i believe they're usually obtained from the black-market supplied by independent 'brokers' such as that 'businessman' who was arrested early in the movie "Black Hawk Down' -
Actually I am not exactly surprised, or distressed when I realize that our weapons are being used for causes that we certainly dun agree with.
I dun think we actively support or even condone their regimes, as a matter of fact, may even be opposed to them.
They are not getting their weapons directly from us, but from second or third hand dealers. Which we have little control over, it's an open market out there.
Our only fault is that our weapons are good enough to meet their needs, giving them the much needed bang for buck. The Ultimax is prehaps one of the finest SAWs (if not the finest) by cost to quality ratio on the market today, no surprise why if put on a free market, some of them will find their way into the wrong hands.
It's not the weapon that kills the person, it's the person using the weapon. The weapon is but a tool, a piece of metal. -
all of u guys seem convinced that it is "middlemen" and "third-parties" who are responsible for the proliferation of ST arms into the hands of unsavoury characters...
actually, i'm not so sure... unicorn international doesn't exactly have the best reputation in this area... unicorn incidentally, is the marketing arm of ST... a wholly-owned subsidiary...
how innocent are they? even if middle men are involved, do they actually ask which gov't he is acting on behalf of? or where he is exporting the stuff to?
like i said... i don't know... -
There is a good reason why Singapore would be reluctant to sell arms directly towards unsavoury sources. Given the recent terror threat, there is a good chance that if we do not herald our arms carefully, they may end up being used against us. Imagine if an Ambrust ST sold to JI undertable ended up popping a minister's car... I don't think it's exactly in our interest, internationally or economically to hark a few million bucks work of stuff to tiny factions that are peanuts compared to offical deals. The potential backlash is just not worth it.
At the same time however, being pragmatic, ST might be inclined to sell stuff towards shady sources by closing one or two eyes, and asking only the bare minimum questions and getting the paperwork right. Beyond that, ST wun pass up a chance to make a quick buck if they can do so legally, even if it is morally questionable because we have no idea where our arms might end up, as long as it does not bring us trouble. -
ahem...i don't believe singapore doesn't sell arms to unsavory regimes...such as myanmar. Anyone can simply type 'unicorn international and myanmar' in google and can come to their own conclusions based on the results...Singapore will do business with any govt it deems to be 'legitimate' no matter how thuggish - as long as there's no UN embargo/sanctions. Even Jane's Intel Review (Mar 9Originally posted by CX:all of u guys seem convinced that it is "middlemen" and "third-parties" who are responsible for the proliferation of ST arms into the hands of unsavoury characters...
actually, i'm not so sure... unicorn international doesn't exactly have the best reputation in this area... unicorn incidentally, is the marketing arm of ST... a wholly-owned subsidiary...
how innocent are they? even if middle men are involved, do they actually ask which gov't he is acting on behalf of? or where he is exporting the stuff to?
like i said... i don't know...
confirms a singapore-myanmar connection. UI has been burnt before in the bofors arms scandal in the 80s for exporting arms to iran during the persian gulf war. So it will make sure not to repeat the same mistake
Perhaps it's a different matter when it comes to bloodthirsty warlords with their own private militia - who don't qualify as a govt institution. So this is probably where middleman comes in -
Here is an article from the real world of underground arms dealings - an Indian born migrant with British Papers was arrested in New Jersey (USA) for trying to tie up a deal that will eventaully lead to a delivery of 200 Igla shoulder launched missiles.
The delivery was intended for an underground Al Qaeda cell operating in the USA, targetting civilian aircrafts taking off from airports in the USA.
A Malaysian was also arrested for helping in this transaction by laundering US$500,000 to cover the track of the money in this deal.
This deal was busted by a joint op started with a tip from Russian Security to FBI, and roped in security agencies in Russia, USA and UK.
50-missile deal was in the works
FBI describes arrested Indian-born Briton as a significant arms dealer who also offered to sell as many as 200 missiles
NEWARK (New Jersey) - The British man accused of trying to sell a shoulder-fired Russian SA-18 Igla missile to shoot down a jetliner, had begun arranging to smuggle 50 more missiles into the United States after securing one of the weapons.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit described Hemant Lakhani, 68, as a 'significant international arms dealer' who offered to sell as many as 200 missiles to an undercover agent posing as a Somali extremist.
He was charged on Wednesday with attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists and acting as an arms broker without a licence.
He faces penalties of up to 25 years' jail and US$1.25 million (S$2.2 million) in fines.
Lakhani was arrested at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport, after an 18-month investigation by Britain's MI-5 and MI-6, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and the American FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark.
He appeared in a packed courtroom with Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, a resident of Malaysia, who was arrested in New York on Tuesday, and charged with conspiring to operate a money laundering operation as part of a scheme to pay for the missiles.
They had their hands cuffed in front of them, and neither man spoke. They were ordered held without bail pending an Aug 20 hearing.
Officials also announced money laundering charges against Yehuda Abraham, 76, of New York City. He was said to have handled the funds for the initial missile purchase.
His bail was set at US$10 million. Both Abraham and Hameed could face up to five years in prison and a US$250,000 fine.
Russian authorities had passed on a tip about Lakhani's activities to the FBI, US officials said.
The FBI affidavit said the probe began in December 2001, when a 'cooperating witness' began talking to Lakhani about obtaining anti-aircraft guns and missiles.
Lakhani, an Indian-born Muslim, offered him as many as 200 missiles.
He agreed to deliver the first missile after he obtained it from Russian agents posing as sellers, said Mr Christopher Christie, the US attorney for New Jersey.
Mr Christie said Hameed had been summoned by Lakhani from Malaysia to launder a US$500,000 down payment on an additional 50 missiles that undercover agents sought from Lakhani, after one missile - a dummy supplied by the Russians - was shipped at a cost of US$86,000.
Commenting on Lakhani's arrest, President George W. Bush declared US airlines and airports safe. 'The fact that we were able to sting this guy is a pretty good example of what we're doing in order to protect the American people,' he said.
In Moscow, FSB spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko hailed the joint sting operation as marking the dawn of a new era in cooperation between Russia and its former Cold War era foes. 'It took place for the first time since the end of the Cold War, when we opposed each other.' -- AP, AFP, Los Angeles Times
THE START OF THE STING OPERATION
THE probe began in December 2001, when a 'cooperating witness' began talking to Hemant Lakhani about obtaining anti-aircraft guns and missiles, an FBI affidavit said.
Lakhani, an Indian-born Muslim, offered him as many as 200 missiles. He agreed to deliver the first missile after he obtained it from Russian agents posing as sellers, said Mr Christopher Christie, the US attorney for New Jersey.
Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed was summoned by Lakhani from Malaysia to launder a US$500,000 down payment on 50 more missiles that undercover agents sought from Lakhani, after one missile - a dummy supplied by the Russians - was shipped at a cost of US$86,000.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,204768,00.html?