Singapore Air Force in talks about setting up at Ohakea

Singapore pilots will wing their way to Ohakea for training as toplevel talks continue about the Asian nation setting up a permanent air force base in New Zealand.

It was announced at the Ohakea Air Tattoo in February that Singapore officials were in talks with the New Zealand Government about the idea.

A New Zealand Defence Force spokesman said that at the end of August F16 fighter aircraft would visit Ohakea for three weeks for flying training.

Should Ohakea become a permanent training base for the Singapore Air Force, an F15 fighter would be based there.

Discussions around the Singapore Air Force having a presence at Ohakea were continuing and the spokesman said this month’s exercise was a useful opportunity to consider how the permanent-base proposal might work.

Minister of Defence Mark Mitchell said the idea would be fantastic for the region, but it was early days.

Mitchell said New Zealand had a longstanding relationship with Singapore and there was strong commitment from both sides about the arrangement.

‘‘At the moment it’s just going through a process. It’s a feasibility study.’’

About 200 serving Singapore personnel and their families would be based in Manawatu, bringing about 500 people into the region.

Singapore Air Force had bases around the world, but Mitchell said he felt one would be beneficial here.

‘‘There are close relations that exist between New Zealand and Singapore. We are pretty closely aligned in the values we have and the way our Defence Forces operate.’’