Ministry of Defence

Agency overview
Formed	11 August 1970; 55 years ago (1970-08-11)
Preceding agency	Ministry of Interior and Defence
Jurisdiction	Government of Singapore
Headquarters	303 Gombak Drive, MINDEF Building, Singapore (669645)
Motto	Safeguarding Singapore's Peace
Employees	282 (2024)[1]
Annual budget	S$23.4 billion (USD$18.3b 2025)[2]
Ministers responsible	Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Defence Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State Desmond Choo, Minister of State
Agency executives	Joseph Leong, Permanent Secretary (Defence) Melvyn Ong, Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) BG Yew Chee Leung, Deputy Secretary (Technology)/Future Systems and Technology Architect Eugene Leong, Deputy Secretary (Administration) Tan Peng Yam, Chief Defence Scientist BG Frederick Choo, Deputy Secretary (Policy)
Child agency	Defence Science and Technology Agency
Website	www.mindef.gov.sg
Agency ID	T08GA0011B

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF; Malay: Kementerian Pertahanan; Chinese: 新加坡國防部; Tamil: தற்காப்பு அமைச்சு) is a ministry under the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the national defence of Singapore.

History

MINDEF, together with the Ministry of Home Affairs, was created on 11 August 1970 by splitting up the then Ministry of Interior and Defence.

Responsibilities

MINDEF's mission is to "enhance Singapore's peace and security through deterrence and diplomacy, and should these fail, to secure a swift and decisive victory over the aggressor."^[3]

It has a policy of Total Defence which consists of Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence, Psychological Defence and Digital Defence involving the people, public and private sectors of the country.

Organisational structure

MINDEF has one statutory board, the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), which consists of the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), and the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), is a military component of MINDEF.^[4]

The Security and Intelligence Division (SID), the foreign intelligence service of Singapore, operates autonomously within the ministry.

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Defence (Minister for Interior and Defence from 1965 to 1970), who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore.

Minister			Took office	Left office	Party	Cabinet
		Goh Keng Swee MP for Kreta Ayer (1918–2010)	9 August 1965	16 August 1967	PAP	Lee K. II
		Lim Kim San MP for Cairnhill (1916–2006)	17 August 1967	10 August 1970	PAP
						Lee K. III
		Goh Keng Swee MP for Kreta Ayer (1918–2010)	11 August 1970	11 February 1979	PAP
						Lee K. IV
						Lee K. V
		Howe Yoon Chong MP for Potong Pasir (1923–2007)	12 February 1979	31 May 1982	PAP
						Lee K. VI
		Goh Chok Tong MP for Marine Parade (until 1988) and Marine Parade GRC (from 1988) (born 1941)	1 June 1982	30 June 1991	PAP
						Lee K. VII
						Lee K. VIII
						Goh I
		Yeo Ning Hong MP for Kampong Glam GRC (born 1943)	1 July 1991	1 July 1994	PAP
						Goh II
		Lee Boon Yang MP for Jalan Besar GRC (born 1947)	2 July 1994	1 August 1995	PAP
		Tony Tan MP for Sembawang GRC (born 1940)	2 August 1995	1 August 2003	PAP
						Goh III
						Goh IV
		Teo Chee Hean MP for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (born 1954)	2 August 2003	20 May 2011	PAP
						Lee H. I
						Lee H. II
		Ng Eng Hen MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (born 1958)	21 May 2011	22 May 2025	PAP	Lee H. III
						Lee H. IV
						Lee H. V
						Wong I
		Chan Chun Sing MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC (born 1969)	23 May 2025	Incumbent	PAP	Wong II

See also

• Ministry of Home Affairs

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ministry of Defence (Singapore).

• Official website
• Singapore Government Directory Interactive — Ministry of Defence
• https://www.mindef.gov.sg/oms/dam/publications/ebooks/more_ebooks/ds21.pdf ^{[dead link]}