Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen visited Exercise Torrent 2016 this morning, and witnessed the successful conduct of aircraft launch and recovery operations, where 12 Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) fighter aircraft - four F-15SGs, four F-16C/Ds and four F-16D+s - used both Lim Chu Kang (LCK) Road and the Tengah Air Base runway for simultaneous take-offs and landings.

Exercise Torrent 2016 is the RSAF's alternate runway exercise, which saw LCK Road converted into a runway for RSAF operations. This year's exercise involved nearly 1000 RSAF servicemen, approximately half of whom are Operationally Ready National Servicemen (NSmen). This is the seventh time the exercise has been conducted since 1986, and marks the inaugural participation of the F-15SG.

The exercise demonstrated the RSAF's ability to convert a public road into an operational runway in times of contingency, as well as its operational capability and readiness to operate from a public road to deliver air power. It also validated the effective coordination between the RSAF and other national agencies such as the Land Transport Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Police Force to convert LCK Road into a runway.

Speaking after the exercise, Dr Ng highlighted the importance of Exercise Torrent. He said, "Singapore is a small country, we must always protect our airspace and this capability to be able to launch today 12 fighter jets - F-16s, and F-15s for the first time off Lim Chu Kang Road - shows that we can convert a highway into an airstrip, and it gives us a lot of confidence that we will be able to protect our skies under all conditions."

Also present to witness the exercise were Second Minister for Defence Mr Ong Ye Kung, Senior Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, members of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs (GPC-DFA), Members of Parliament, members of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD), community leaders, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Singapore Armed Forces.