Singapore recently integrated the MBDA Aster 30 system with the country's air defense umbrella, the Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen confirmed in a speech to a defense committee in parliament on March 2, 2018.

An Aster 30 air defense missile being test-fired
(Credit: MBDA)

“Our skies will be better protected with advanced weapon systems,” he says. “We also recently added the Aster 30 surface-to-air missile system.” The defense minister undisclosed no details, such as numbers of systems and missiles.

Singapore's Defense Minister announced in 2013 that the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will acquire the Aster 30 Air Defense System to establish a multi-layered defense against aerial threats.

“The Aster will allow us to engage multiple threats simultaneously and from a longer distance,” the defense minister said in 2013, adding that it would complement the mobile and shorter-range Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Spyder system.

The Aster 30 will replace the aged I-Hawk, which has a 40-km range, and are all operated by a single unit, 163 Squadron.

The Aster 30 missile has a tandem first stage solid propellant booster motor which is jettisoned after launch and turn-over and before the mid-course phase. The missile uses inertial mid-course guidance, with guidance correction update data being transmitted from the ground-based fire control centre via the Arabel multifunction radar's uplink data channel. The maximum speed of Aster 30 missile is 1.4km/sec. Aster 30 has the capability to intercept targets at altitudes from 50 m to 20 km.