SINGAPORE, May 28 (Alliance News): Defence spending and weapons research are rising across Asia as regional powers respond to increasing security challenges by expanding foreign partnerships while aiming for long-term self-reliance, according to a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment, released ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore, highlights how recent global conflicts — notably in Ukraine and the Middle East — as well as intensifying US-China rivalry and tensions over flashpoints like Taiwan and the South China Sea, are fuelling a surge in regional defence-industrial collaboration.
Between 2022 and 2024, Southeast Asia’s leading nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — collectively boosted their defence procurement and R&D spending by $2.7 billion, bringing the total to $10.5 billion. Despite this increase, average military expenditure across these countries remained steady at around 1.5% of GDP in 2024.
The report underlined that while these countries are investing more in indigenous defence capabilities, they continue to rely heavily on foreign imports for critical assets such as submarines, fighter jets, drones, precision missiles, and high-tech surveillance tools.
“Competitive security dynamics over simmering flashpoints feed into the need to develop military capabilities to address them,” the report said, noting that partnerships with foreign defence industries are critical, especially in the near term.
European defence firms have expanded their presence through technology-sharing, joint ventures, and licensed manufacturing. Meanwhile, Gulf nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are also becoming prominent players in Asia’s defence landscape. The UAE, for instance, now partners with both China’s NORINCO and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics.
However, the study cautioned that joint defence development can be complex. It cited India’s 20-year collaboration with Russia on the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile. Although successfully deployed by India, its export rollout has been slow, with deliveries to the Philippines only starting in 2024.
Further, the report warned that closer ties between Russia and China could affect the future of the BrahMos program if Moscow prioritises Beijing in the development of a hypersonic variant.
The Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual informal gathering of global defence and military officials, is expected to be dominated by discussions on the Ukraine conflict, US security policy under a possible second Trump administration, and regional flashpoints like Taiwan and the South China Sea.
