Tengah Air Base (RAF Tengah)

Tengah Air Base is a military installation operated by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), located in the Western Water Catchment in western Singapore. The base hosts RSAF fixed-wing frontline squadrons, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) assets, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The installation houses squadrons operating F-16C/D and F-16D+ Block 52 Fighting Falcons, Gulfstream G550 CAEW aircraft, and Hermes 450 (H-450) UAVs. It also accommodates the RSAF Black Knights aerobatics team.

Flying operations at Tengah are assigned to 111 Squadron (G550 CAEW), 116 Squadron (H-450 UAV), and three fighter squadrons: 140, 143, and 145 Squadrons (F-16 variants). Logistics and infrastructure are managed by several support units: 205 Flying Support Squadron, 505 Airbase Civil Engineering Squadron, 605 Field Defence Squadron, 705 Air Base Sustainment Squadron, 805 Aircraft Operational Maintenance Squadron, and 815 Aircraft Specialist Maintenance Squadron.

The facility was established in 1939 as RAF Tengah by the Royal Air Force. During the Battle of Malaya, the airfield was a target of Japanese bombing and was subsequently captured, coming under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. Following World War II, during the Malayan Emergency, RAF and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft, including Avro Lincolns, Bristol Brigands, and English Electric Canberras, flew combat sorties from Tengah. During the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, the base hosted RAF fighter detachments operating Hawker Hunters, Gloster Javelins, and English Electric Lightnings, alongside V bomber detachments comprising Handley Page Victors and Avro Vulcans. Between 1962 and 1970, a secured weapons storage facility at the base housed Red Beard tactical nuclear weapons.

The RAF station closed in March 1971 and the facility was transferred to the Singapore Air Defence Command, the predecessor to the RSAF. British and Commonwealth forces under the Five Power Defence Arrangements continued to operate from the airfield until the RAAF withdrew in 1983.