Changi Air Base (West) (RAF Changi)

Changi Air Base (West) is a military installation of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located in Changi, in the eastern part of Singapore. The facility is situated west of Singapore Changi Airport and co-shares runway operations with civilian aviation. Base infrastructure includes a main flight-line, aircraft maintenance hangars, and a control tower. A section of the original east-west runway survives as a taxiway connecting to the apron area.

The site was initially a British Army encampment established in the mid-1930s. Following the Japanese capture of Singapore in 1942, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces constructed the original airfield between 1943 and 1944, using Allied prisoners of war as forced labor to build two intersecting landing strips. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the facility became a Royal Air Force station. Renamed RAF Changi in 1946, British military authorities utilized Japanese prisoners to reinforce the runways. During its time under British control, the base hosted multiple RAF squadrons and associated communication units.

Upon the withdrawal of British forces, the airfield was handed over to the Singapore Air Defence Command (the predecessor of the RSAF) on 9 December 1971 and renamed Changi Air Base. The base received its first helicopters in 1972 and Shorts Skyvans in 1973, leading to the formation of 121 Squadron. In June 1975, the government acquired approximately two-thirds of the airbase to construct Singapore Changi Airport, leaving the western facilities intact for military use. On 29 November 2004, following the opening of a new eastern complex, the existing site was designated Changi Air Base (West) and Headquarters Changi Air Base.

Changi Air Base (West) is tasked with transport and base support operations. Its resident flying unit is 121 Squadron, which operates Fokker F50 Utility Transport Aircraft and Fokker F50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft. Support units stationed at the facility comprise the Field Defence Squadron, Airfield Maintenance Squadron, Airfield Operations Maintenance Squadron Fixed Wing 2, Ground Logistics Liaison Office/Ground Logistics Squadron, and the Air Movement Centre.