An F-15 Eagle fighter from Kadena Air Base, Japan, takes off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, during the Cope North exercise Feb. 19, 2020. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
The Department of the Air Force has scrapped a plan to base a dozen Singapore air force F-15SG Eagle fighters on Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, according to a recent decision.
The service “will not implement or carry forward” the positioning of up to 12 Singapore air force F-15s at Andersen Air Force Base, Michael Saunders, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force, wrote in a July 16 record of decision.
Singapore’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense “had mutually agreed to discontinue discussions” on the plan, according to a report Tuesday in The Straits Times citing the ministry.
In 2019 Singapore and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a fighter training detachment on the island.
The plan would have accommodated 205 Singaporean personnel along with 35 family members on the island territory, according to an environmental impact statement released in April.
A new parking apron and associated buildings and infrastructure on the northwest side of Andersen’s runway, considered alongside plans for the Singaporean detachment, will still be built, according to the Air Force.
“Once construction is complete, the expanded North Ramp will be used for aircraft parking, storage, maintenance, refueling, loading, and unloading consistent with existing installation operations,” the record of decision states.
The document provided no estimated construction cost and Air Force officials on Guam did not respond to emailed questions Tuesday.
Construction of new facilities at a munition storage area, including three earth-covered magazines farther to the northwest of Andersen’s runway, will not proceed, according to the record of decision.
The continuing construction projects, involving 500 workers, are scheduled to begin this year and take three to seven years to complete, according to the environmental impact statement.
Major military construction projects, including the new Marine Corps Camp Blaz, have been underway on Guam for several years. Newly built facilities on Anderson will also accommodate Marine aviation units.
On the nearby island of Tinian airmen have been clearing vegetation, paving the way for the restoration of at least two of its four World War II-era runways.
The project is part of a broader U.S. military effort to disperse forces across the Indo-Pacific, anticipating potential missile attacks on established bases in a conflict involving China over Taiwan or the South China Sea. To sustain operations across the region, the Air Force has been renovating World War II-era airfields from Micronesia to the Philippines.
Construction of Guam’s Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense System — described as a “comprehensive, persistent, 360-degree” shield — is scheduled to begin later this year and continue through 2035.
