Agreed, PY 222! Singapore and Malaysia are unlikely to ever go to war with each other. Both sides stand to lose. Whatever Singaporeans and Malaysians think, we rely on each other too much. Dashken, Submarines are only useful as weapons of blockade. They cannot exert command over the sea like an aircraft carrier or a battleship. You are right in that submarines can sink large ships like an aircraft carrier but that is just proving my point. I'll explain. Submarines are designed to hide and attack ships, either warships or merchant ships. This is what I meant by blockade. They block access to stretches of sea (their patrol area) by attacking ships that come into that area. However, submarines cannot show force like an aircraft carrier can. The mere presence of an aircraft carrier is often enough to invoke awe and fear. An aircraft carrier also can directly attack land and air targets, thus creating a zone of influence around it. Submarines cannot do that. Submarines have little or no capabilities against land targets. They cannot secure beach heads or bombard land targets. That's why they are mainly weapons of blockade. Like TungstenBoy said, Singapore has no aircraft carrier. Neither do they have any warships of significant value. Any conflict between Malaysian and Singapore is not going to be resolved by the sinking of a few patrol boats. But if Malaysia has a significant naval force - frigates, a cruiser or two, the Navy can patrol off the coast of Singapore and exert control there. The sight of naval ships going up and down the coast, bombarding land targets at will are sure to make the populace cower in fear. Even a dozen submarines are unlikely to have as much effect. But of course, this is all just opinions in an imagined war between Malaysian and Singapore!
Subs are more for destroying supply lines anyway, singapore and malaysia are like brothers and sisters. always squabble over the smallest thing, but in the end we know that we're not very different from each other
Yeah, the differences are we have some parts big and some parts small. Some parts long and some parts short. We complement each other.
hehe yes la....... lucky they won't invade or else im worried i'll be a mindless zombie who can't type properly like one of our members here
I'm not! I think CS5 started the other one and it was splitted. Coz Adrian or some admins find it interesting.
It was me. Anyway, this topic is a really an interesting discussion. Everyone's point of view and 'assumptions' of what would happen if it does happen. But it's kind of unfair that CS5 is the only one 'representing' Singapore'.
who said submarines can't attack land target ?? A few subs with on board nuke tipped missiles are enough to scare anyone right ?
No one said that. But I said submarines have little or no capabilities against land targets. And that's true. Submarines can attack land targets if they are equipped with cruise missiles or ballistic missile. But they are not surface vessels. Therefore, they cannot exert a zone of influence around them. Submarines' main strength lies in their ability to hide beneath the waves and launch sneak attacks. They do not have the capability to sustain any surface action or exert command over the sea, air and land in the area. That's why surface vessels still play an important part in many navies.