Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Singapore Bronco beats Hagglunds

In "my paper" today: Another small victory for this little red dot - some time this year, British troops will be deployed in made-in-Singapore Bronco armoured all-terrain carriers in the treacherous combat zones of Afghanistan.

The British Army has acquired 100 of Singapore Technologies Kinetics' (STK) home-grown personnel carriers at a cost of $330 million, beating out BAE Systems Hagglunds, a British defence company and market leader for armoured all-terrain carriers. Hagglunds improved Mark 2 version of the Viking ATC failed to overcome the Bronco which has better protection, higher payload and greater capacity. This is where Singaporeans' "KiaSu" (literally translated "scared to loose") mentality works in our favour - ha! ha! The Bronco has been in service with the Singapore Armed Forces for eight years.


The deal is a breakthrough for Singapore's defence industry in that the Republic is now supplying weapons systems not just to Third World countries but to a First World nation like the United Kingdom.

Singapore's STK is also the market leader in the design, development and production of 40mm weapons and ammunition. In 2007, the British ordered $65 million worth of 40mm grenades from STK.

STK had narrowly lost a plum US$4 billion (S$6 billion) order in 2000 to supply the locally designed and built Bionix Armoured Fighting Vehicle to the US Army. 

Other notable achievements - SAR-21 scores BIG!

What's next? Supplying the Imperial Army with All Terrain Armoured Transport?

No comments: