The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF; ms, Kementerian Pertahanan; zh, 新加坡国防部; ta, தற்காப்பு அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the

Government of Singapore The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercis ...

responsible for overseeing the

national defence National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attac ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

History

MINDEF, together with the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, was created on 11 August 1970 by splitting up the then Ministry of Interior and Defence.

Responsibilities

MINDEF's mission is to "enhance Singapore's peace and security through deterrence and diplomacy, and should these fail, to secure a swift and decisive victory over the aggressor." It has a policy of '' Total Defence'' which consists of Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence, Psychological Defence and Digital Defence involving the people, public and private sectors of the country.

Organisational structure

MINDEF oversees a single statutory board, the

Defence Science and Technology Agency Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Singapore The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the exec ...

. The Singapore Armed Forces, which is in charge of the

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establi ...

(RSAF), the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Singapore Army is a military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

Statutory boards

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Defence, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is Ng Eng Hen from the People's Action Party.

References

External links

Official websiteSingapore Government Directory Interactive — Ministry of Defence
*https://www.mindef.gov.sg/oms/dam/publications/ebooks/more_ebooks/ds21.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Defence (Singapore) Military of Singapore Defence, Ministry of

Ministries established in 1970 1970 establishments in Singapore