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Sounds like an April Fool's joke, ain't it? Which scholar's idea izzit? Show of force in anti-terrorist drill New task force displays muscle needed to stop terrorists and pirates from using sea lanes to launch attacks By Jermyn Chow The Police Coast Guard flanking a small boat carrying 'terrorists' targeting an oil refinery on Jurong Island. The aim of the exercise is to put the new Maritime Security Task Force through its paces. -- ST PHOTOS: ALBERT SIM SINGAPORE marked the end of a two-week exercise on combating pirates and terrorists at sea with a show of force in waters off Pulau Sudong yesterday. Thirty-five vessels swarmed the sea, while seven aircraft flew overhead, in a bid to scuttle an attempt by five 'terrorists' to ram an oil refinery on Jurong Island with an explosive-laden sampan. More than 1,800 staff from the security arms - army, navy and air force, the Maritime and Port Authority, Police Coast Guard, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, and Singapore Customs - were put through their paces in Exercise Apex. How to deal with ferry mishaps, dispose of sea mines and carry out checks on merchant vessels were also among the drills carried out. The flotilla belongs to the Maritime Security Task Force, a new command group set up to marshal a national response to maritime security threats to the country. Yesterday afternoon's display was witnessed by Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security S. Jayakumar and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean. They stood on the navy's patrol vessel RSS Daring, which closed in on the hostile sampan and took down the armed infiltrators. Also flanking the 'enemy' was the Police Coast Guard vessel. The demonstration underscored the task force's attention on small boats - below 300 gross tons, the likes of which were used by the terrorists during the Mumbai attacks last November. About 100 such small vessels - mostly fishing boats operated by one or two people - traverse the Singapore Strait daily. They look innocuous but can be easily armed to hit Singapore's key installations 'within minutes', said Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral Chew Men Leong. Putting the task force in action would allow commanders to 'mix and match' men and machines from the different maritime agencies quickly. Its integrated structure under the Chief of Defence Force meant that firepower from the air force and army can be called upon quickly. The task force staff, who will be housed together at Changi Command and Control Centre by next year, has another important weapon: access to real-time information about larger ships that use the congested Singapore Strait. More than 1,500 such ships, each monitored by a radar network, ply the sea lane each day. It also has sensors to see farther beyond Singapore's immediate waters to the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea, allowing the task force some lead time to thwart pirates or terrorists, said the task force deputy commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Chua Meng Seng. Moving forward, RADM Chew, the navy chief, said that the task force is on the lookout for possible links among pirates, sea robbers and terrorists. 'We need to build a much stronger system to keep constant watch over our waters so that we will be one step ahead of all maritime threats,' he said. [email protected] --- SAF really wayang man... What kind of exercise is this. zzz