M’sian Helicopter Flies Over Pulau Tekong, MINDEF Scrambles F-16 Fighter Jets In Response

Malaysian Helicopter Flies Over Pulau Tekong On 11 Sep

Many Singaporeans will be familiar with Pulau Tekong, where Singaporean sons begin their National Service journey at the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC).

On Saturday (11 Sep) morning, a Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) helicopter flew into Singapore’s airspace over the island.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) scrambled 2 F-16 fighter jets in response to the potential air threat.

Source

The aircrafts stood down after MINDEF ensured that Singapore’s security was not compromised.

Royal Malaysia Police helicopter flies over Pulau Tekong

According to military aviation news site Alert 5, an RMP helicopter, 9M-PMD, was detected flying over Pulau Tekong on Saturday (11 Sep).

The Malaysian helicopter reportedly crossed over into Singapore airspace at 9.22am.

Noting the flight tracking data, some speculated on social media that it took an accidental crossing into Singapore when taking a shortcut.

Source

RSAF scrambled F-16 fighter aircraft in response

Detecting the potential air threat, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) scrambled the F-16 fighter aircraft at about 9.20am.

 

2 aircrafts armed with AIM-9 and AIM-120s were activated, reported Alert 5.

They were seen circling over Paya Lebar Air Base before flying west at around 10.07 am.

Source

Speaking to TODAY Online, MINDEF said after ensuring Singapore’s security was not compromised, they stood down the aircraft.

The ministry added that RSAF fighter aircraft are deployed to investigate and deal with 350 potential air threats each year on average.

RMP says they were not notified

Later that day, the RMP addressed the incident in a Facebook post.

They acknowledged that its police helicopter had entered Singapore’s airspace.

The statement confirmed that the helicopter was flying near Singapore for official assignment purposes.

They added that throughout the flight, they were not notified by Singapore authorities that they breached Singapore’s airspace.

Kudos to MINDEF for safeguarding our airspace

The potential air threat coincided with the commemoration of the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago. Understandably, authorities would be on heightened alert.

We’re glad that Singapore’s security was not under compromise at the end of the day.

Kudos to MINDEF for constantly being vigilant and safeguarding Singapore’s airspace.

Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.

Featured image adapted from Malaysian Defence and Twitter.

Sabrina Seng

Sabrina is always facing some form of existential crisis but other than that, she's pretty chill.

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