By Lester Kok
SINGAPORE will be deploying more military assets, over the course of next year, to the Gulf of Aden (GoA) to help in the fight against piracy.
To reaffirm Singapore's commitment to the international counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf, the Singapore Armed Forces will for the first time, deploy a Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
The plane will provide maritime air surveillance operations in the GoA later this year in December to next year February.
The SAF has also accepted an invitation to command the international Combined Task Force 151, which patrols the GoA, for the second time in March to June next year.
Following that, another SAF task group comprising of a Landing Ship Tank (LST) with two Super Puma helicopters, will also be sent for the third time to GoA, in the second half of next year.
The announcement was made by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in his speech at the SAF Overseas Service Medal presentation ceremony at Changi Naval Base on Friday, where medals were prsented to 302 servicemen who had contributed to the counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden, a hotbed for pirate activity off the coast of Somalia.
