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May 23 at 2:17 AM

U,S, President Barack Obama and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang walk following a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on May 23, 2016. (Reuters/Kham)
HANOI, Vietnam -- The Obama administration announced Monday that the United States would fully lift a longstanding U.S. arms sales embargo to Vietnam, a decision that reflects growing concerns about China’s military clout and illustrates the warming bilateral ties between the former enemies.

The White House unveiled the new arrangement on President Obama’s first visit to the country, where he began a three-day stay with a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. Obama aims to highlight deepening cooperation on security and economic investment, aides said, four decades after the end of the Vietnam War.

The administration had eased portion of the arms embargo that was in place since 1975 two years ago to help bolster Vietnam’s maritime security in the South China Sea, where China’s move to exert more naval control of crucial shipping lanes has angered Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighbors.

"The decision to lift the ban was not based on China," Obama said during a news conference with Quang. "It was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process towards moving toward normalization with Vietnam."

The president said the visit "allows us to reach a new moment" in the bilateral relationship. The lifting of the ban "will ensure Vietnam has access to [weapons] it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the war."

Senior Obama aides said the new arrangement would allow the United States to sell military weapons to Vietnam under a case-by-case basis and be predicated on improvements in the country on human rights and freedom of expression.

Human rights advocates in the United States had called on the administration to maintain the weapons ban until more progress has been made by the ruling Communist Party.

“President Obama is making this trip to deepen relations with Vietnam, but this must be based on a foundation of respect for basic rights,” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said ahead of Obama’s visit. “He should start by calling for the right of all people to stand for election, voice critical views of government, associate with others, and freely choose candidates – something Vietnam's current rulers have yet to allow. Obama should make it clear that the United States does not accept the idea that the Vietnamese people are not ready, willing, and able to choose their own leaders.”

China’s state news service Xinhua reacted negatively to Obama’s visit to Vietnam, accusing the United States of having “shown no restraint in meddling in a regional situation” in the South China Sea.

The conflicts in the region have escalated in recent years, and the Philippines has taken its claims against China over sovereignty in coastal regions to an international tribunal at the Hague, a case being closely monitored in Washington. The ruling is expected in June, but China has said it does not recognize the tribunal’s authority in the matter.

Obama became the third consecutive president — after Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — to visit Vietnam since the normalizing of relations in 1995. Air Force One arrived late Sunday and the president was greeted on the tarmac in Hanoi with a red carpet and a bouquet of flowers.

Children dressed in red, white and blue outfits lined the streets Monday as Obama’s motorcade made its way to the presidential palace, an ornate mustard-colored building with sculptured gardens and a massive water fountain. Quang greeted Obama and they were feted by a military band playing each country’s national anthem during an official welcome ceremony. U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry also was on hand.

Obama congratulated Quang for Vietnam’s "extraordinary progress."

"We come here as a symbol of strengthening ties that we have made over the last several decades," Obama said."My hope is that in the course of my visit here I continue to express to the people of Vietnam the warmth and friendship" between the two countries and "our continued interest in strengthening these ties in the years to come."

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Several sources told The Sunday Times that Singapore looks all but certain to say yes to the F-35s, explaining it is "not a matter of if but when" and that a decision may be expected as early as next year.

That will be when the Pentagon issues a notice to the United States Congress highlighting the possible deal. If Singapore does buy the plane, it will probably receive its first F-35 around 2021 when the warplane is considered "full matured", said one source.

The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) would only say that the F-35 "is still under evaluation", citing Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen's comments to Parliament in 2013 that fifth-generation jets, such as the F-35, are "potential options".

"As a small country with no strategic depth, Singapore will always need superior air capabilities to protect its interests and borders," said a Mindef spokesman.

Dr Ng has seen both the F-35A and F-35B jets up close as recently as last December. A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) evaluation team has also been to Lockheed's aeronautics headquarters in Dallas Fort Worth at least twice in the last three years to go through their paces in F-35 simulators.

The Pentagon's F-35 programme chief, Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan, paid an unpublicised visit to Singapore in February during the Singapore Airshow, and was said to have made his closing pitch to the country's military leaders - two years before the F-35's development is scheduled for completion.

For Singapore to be mulling its options at this stage is unprecedented, said observers. It acquired its F-16s and F-15s years after they were built in the 1970s and battle-tested.

But this also means Singapore needs to be more careful that it will not be buying into a problematic platform. A source said: "This is the first time that we are buying a fighter jet that is fresh off its development phase. We need to make sure that the platform is ready."

TEETHING PROBLEMS

It has been a bumpy ride for the F-35. In the latest blow, engineers last year uncovered computer glitches that can shut down the plane's radar, requiring pilots to turn it off and on again.

Such issues have pushed the F-35's development seven years behind schedule and made it the world's costliest weapon programme in history. The initial estimate in 2001 had been around US$200 billion. Today, the Pentagon has already spent US$400 billion (S$553 billion).

The F-35 was also reportedly outclassed by a 40-year-old F-16 in a dogfight last year. Last month, US Senator John McCain, a former navy pilot, slammed the F-35's troubled history, saying it "has been both a scandal and a tragedy with respect to cost, schedule and performance".

PILOTS GIVE THUMBS UP

Yet, pilots who have flown the F-35 told The Sunday Times that it is a cut above the rest.

Lieutenant-Colonel Gregory J. Summa, who is the commanding officer at the VMFAT-501 squadron which trains the US Marine Corps' F-35 pilots, said: "The airplane has more power than others and the power is there immediately.

"Because of its low observable design, there is not a lot of drag, so the airplane accelerates very, very fast and does not decelerate. You have to force the airplane to slow down."

Major Michael Rountree, the squadron's executive officer, has clocked 400 hours on the F-35. The 38-year-old said the jet was much easier to fly, allowing him to pay more attention to threats.

The information collected by the plane's many sensors is also put together in one single display, which means the pilot can quickly have a complete picture of what is happening around him, he added.

Lockheed's F-35 chief test pilot Alan Norman, who has clocked 6,000 flying hours in more than 70 types of aircraft such as the F-22, said the plane is also more survivable and lethal than any other.

He said: "Nobody is going to sneak up behind an F-35 because you know where every adversary is in the battlespace well before they are on your tail."

Maintenance crew said F-35s take half the time to maintain, given its advanced computer system.

Lockheed's executives assure that all the glitches will be fixed by 2018.

Mr Steve Over, Lockheed's F-35 business development director, said the defence manufacturer has "a solution on hand for every one of the technical flaws pointed out".

"The flaws found are not unlike any weapons programme that is still under development", added the engineer, who worked on F-16s for 29 years before moving to the F-35.

Defence analyst Kelvin Wong said developmental challenges are par for the course for modern combat aircraft programmes, more so with the F-35 programme's scale and complexity. Pointing to the F-16 programme, which is one of the most successful with at least 25 countries flying over 4,500 jets, Mr Wong, who is IHS Jane's Asia-Pacific defence technology reporter and upgrades editor, said the F-16 suffered "subpar performance" for about 10 years.

Lockheed is also optimistic as it has been able to cut production costs by 60 per cent since the first plane rolled off its factory floor in 2010. It said it is on track to shave a further 20 per cent off the current price by 2019. By then, each F-35 will hopefully cost around US$80 million to US$85 million.

The optimism was palpable when The Sunday Times visited Lockheed's F-35 factory floor.

Visitors were not allowed to take photos or capture videos in the high-security production line, which is about 1.6km long.

The area was a hive of activity, with engineers and technicians working like clockwork to assemble the warplanes. To meet expected higher demand and ramp up production to hit full steam by 2019, Mr Over said Lockheed will increase the number of final assembly stations from 14 to 22. More hands will also be needed, with 1,000 people to be hired by 2020 to add to the current 5,000-strong team.

Mr Jack Crisler, Lockheed's vice-president of F-35 business development and strategy integration, said the "sweet spot" for countries to lock in their orders would be between next year and 2018, to gain economies of scale.

He expects interest from other countries to grow when Japan and Israel start to take delivery of their warplanes and fly them, putting paid to doubts of a sustainable worldwide F-35 fleet. Mr Crisler said countries will want to be in a growing shortlist that Lockheed and the Pentagon will pick from to set up maintenance and repair warehouses around the world.

DOES SINGAPORE NEED THE F-35?

Beyond the marketing spin, questions still swirl over the need of having the F-35s to protect Singapore's airspace. Currently, the country has fourth-generation fighters F-16s and F-15s. While the 60 F-16 jets are getting their midlife upgrades to extend their operational lives by another 20 years, the F-15s, which the Republic is believed to have as many as 40 of, are considered the best currently.

Defence observer David Boey, who sits on the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence, believes existing fighters are "numerically and technologically superior to that of anyone in the immediate region who may want to pick a quarrel with us".

He said: "In the absence of the F-35, options include expanding this fighter force with latest variants of these or other warplanes."

He added that the hefty price of the F-35 is not the chief hurdle.

The F-15s were said to be about US$120 million each when Singapore bought them. He said: "The deal-breaker is convincing ourselves that the F-35 can perform as advertised and serve as a credible deterrent. With enough time and money, any bug can be fixed. We need to ask ourselves if the patience and money will always be there to bankroll this project."

Defence analyst Richard Bitzinger thinks Singapore is in no hurry as it already has an "overwhelming (air) superiority" over its regional neighbours, although several, including Indonesia and Malaysia, are also eyeing fifth-generation platforms. "I think that Singapore will eventually opt for the F-35, due to its overall technophilia, but it can afford to wait," said the senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Other observers said there is also a limit to how much the RSAF can upgrade its existing fourth-generation warplanes to outdo the enemy.

As one put it: "You can only do that much with a Toyota and Suzuki. Given the strategic challenges, we may need to get a sports car to stay ahead."

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LMV Independence Joins the RSN Family

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) welcomed a new addition to its fleet as Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV) Independence finished its sea trials and cruised to its new home at Tuas Naval Base on 26 May.
LMV Independence is one of the eight LMVs that will replace the current Fearless-class Patrol Vessels (PVs). The new ships will be more efficient than their predecessors in areas such as speed and versatility.

Speaking at the event, Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral (RADM) Lai Chung Han said: "It is an important milestone for the (LMV) programme. The homecoming of LMV Independence marks the conclusion of almost 2 years of the construction phase. It also marks the beginning of about 11 to 12 months of ICIT (Installation, Checkout, Integration and Testing). I think this is something we can be very proud of and something that we want to thank all involved for bringing the project to this point."

Touching on the commissioning of LMV Independence next year, RADM Lai said: "This will be a significant moment to mark the Navy's coming of age at 50 years, as we complete our 3rd Generation transformation, as we move into our redesign for LMV Indy to be the lead platform, to be, if I can borrow the phrase, the 'flagship of our future Navy'."

The event also marked the renaming of 182 Squadron (SQN) and 189 SQN, which are formed by the current eleven PVs -- to 182 SQN. The new logo for 182 SQN was also unveiled. The eight LMVs will be fully operational by 2020 and they will then complete 182 SQN.

"Now, as we're in the advanced stages of our 3rd Generation transformation, the return of LMV Independence to 182 SQN marks a major milestone for the squadron and its new logo (which says) Sharp and Vigilant, which rightly encapsulates what the squadron will do: Remain sharp and vigilant 24/7, safeguarding our water and protecting our nation."

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