The Republic of Singapore has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In May 2010, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, “Singapore believes that humanitarian concerns pertaining to anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions should be balanced against the legitimate right of States to use such munitions judiciously for self-defence…. We will continue to support international efforts to resolve the humanitarian concerns over anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, and to work with members of the international community towards a durable and truly global solution.”[1]

Singapore did not attend the Regional Conference on the Promotion and Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009, or the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Santiago, Chile in June 2010.

Singapore did not participate in any of the preparatory meetings of the Oslo Process to develop the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It sent an observer to the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, but did not join the 107 full participants in adopting the convention text. It was absent from the signing conference in Oslo in December 2008.[2]

In November 2009, in a statement to the UN General Assembly about cluster munitions, Singapore said that it “would like to underscore the centrality of the United Nations as a universal and multilateral negotiating forum for all member states. In this regard, we regret continued efforts to undermine this centrality, including the introduction of Conventions negotiated outside of the United Nations framework into the United Nations system.”[3]

Singapore is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Singapore is not known to have used cluster munitions. However, it produces the weapon and has a stockpile.

According to Jane’s Information Group, Advanced Material Engineering Pte Ltd., a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering, produces 155mm dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) artillery projectiles, each consisting of 64 bomblets and equipped with electro-mechanical self-destruct fuzes.[4] The company also produces a 120mm mortar bomb which delivers 25 DPICM grenades.[5] 

Singapore received 350 CBU-71 air-delivered cluster bombs from the United States at some point between 1970 and 1995.[6]

Details on the size of Singapore’s stockpile remain unknown, as the government has not chosen to disclose such information. It is not known if Singapore possesses other types of cluster munitions in addition to its domestically produced 155mm projectiles and 120mm mortar bombs, and the US-supplied cluster bombs.

In November 2008, Singapore announced that, while it did not plan to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions, it would impose an indefinite moratorium on the export of cluster munitions with immediate effect.[7] In May 2010, a Foreign Affairs official responding to inquiries by Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor wrote, “Singapore has put in place an indefinite moratorium on exports of…cluster munitions since 2008, to ensure that these munitions will not be transferred to other parties who might use them indiscriminately and irresponsibly.”[8]

In May 2010, Singapore Technologies Engineering, when asked by Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor if it was currently producing cluster munitions, stated, “ST Engineering does not produce cluster munitions for export, nor are we a sub-contractor to anyone who does. We are committed to work with the Singapore government and abide by the moratorium imposed by the Singapore government on the export of cluster munitions. ST Engineering is committed to working with the government, defense contractors and international organizations to bring about a truly international and enduring solution to the humanitarian concerns over cluster munitions.”[9] 

In the past, companies in Singapore publicly advertised cluster munitions for sale. However, it is not known if exports actually occurred.