Australian F-35 stealth fighters take to the skies here

SINGAPORE – Rare birds – of the mechanical variety – have been spotted over the Republic.

Sharp-eyed aircraft spotters have managed to snap photos of the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter here in recent weeks, including this one on its final approach to Paya Lebar Air Base, with the Ubi and Marine Terrace Housing Board apartments in the background.

The photo shows the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) distinctive kangaroo round shield on the sides of the aircraft's fuselage, said aviation enthusiast Darren Colin Goh, 56.

Australia's F-35s took part in bilateral Exercise Churinga with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) in late September and are currently involved in Exercise Bersama Lima, the RSAF said.

Exercise Bersama Lima is a multilateral military exercise involving air, land and naval forces from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom, conducted under the auspices of the Five Power Defense Arrangements (FPDA), established in 1971.

This year's exercise officially opened on October 1 at Changi Naval Base. According to The Straits Times, six RAAF F-35As are in Singapore for the exercises.

The inclusion of F-35 fighter jets at Bersama Lima for the first time this year fulfills a commitment made by FPDA defense ministers on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in May to bring next-generation capabilities, among other assets, into future exercises to include unmanned systems and the P-8 Poseidon, a world-class submarine hunter-tracker aircraft.

Photo enthusiasts will still have the chance to catch the F-35 and other fighter jets overhead in the coming days. The RSAF said it would conduct flight activities as part of Bersama Lima on October 12 and advised the public not to be alarmed by aircraft noise.

How do you tell the difference between the different jets?

The answer lies in the different vertical stabilizers, said Mr Goh, a retail worker who regularly sees the jets from his workplace in Tai Seng.

“The F-35 has two outward-sloping vertical stabilizers, compared to the F-15’s straight vertical stabilizers and the F-16’s single vertical stabilizer,” he said.