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At a Time When Singapore Made Missiles Arrived in Ukraine Malaysia Was Still Quibbling About a Student Without a Laptop at a local University
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright March 2022
Two events took place in Singapore that were quite significant but went by quietly unnoticed.
On March 22 Singapore announced it planned open its first embassy in Israel.
On March 29 Ukraine bought 5,100 anti-tank weapons, The Matador, co-developed by Singapore, Germany and Israel.
Ukraine’s government acquired from Dynamit Nobel Defence (DND) of Germany the RGW90 HH Matador at a cost of €25 million (S$37.6 million). Some 2,650 have already arrived in Ukraine. The rest (2,450) will be delivered by end of May.
Yahoo News stated that Singapore started developing the Matador in 2000 aiming at replacing its light anti-tank weapon, in service since the 1980s. Apparently, the Matador was designed to “transform Singapore army into a 3rd generation fighting force” with enhanced firepower of the infantry providing it with a better capability to fight in built-up or urban areas.
Using the Matador an army will be able to destroy main battle tanks, light armoured vehicles, bunkers, and other ground targets. It is obviously an ideal weapon to combat the advancing Russian army moving into urban areas within Ukraine.
By March 7, after two weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US and other NATO members had sent more than 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 anti-aircraft missiles into Ukraine.
On March 24 CNN reported that the Ukrainian army urgently needed an additional daily supply of 500 American-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The arrival of the Matador which helped fulfil Ukrainian demands for anti-tank missiles would give Singapore and its partners the opportunity to fully test the weapon in a war zone.
From earlier reports, they would certainly work well in a Ukrainian urban environment. With a “calibre of 90mm, the one-metre long portable and disposable Matador that weighs just 9kg is able to fire up to 500 metres at a muzzle velocity of 250m/s.” The Russian tanks would be blown to bits.
Since the Matador was co-developed by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), in partnership with Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel and DND, this was certainly an opportune moment for Singapore to open its first embassy in Israel.
So what?
Meanwhile, when these critical events were taking place in other parts of the world, back in Kuala Lumpur, on March 29, we learnt that a student from B40 economic background was still without a laptop to catch up with technological developments happening overseas.
The rest of us in Malaysia wonder no more about the Singapore-Israel relationship and stop gaping at the capability of Singapore’s infantry to defend itself on the ground. The Matador could destroy any dreams of the tiny republic being successfully raided and conquered by military tanks or armoured personnel carriers from hostile invaders.
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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