The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF; ; ; ) 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."
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.
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.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:1px #aaf solid;"
|-
! colspan="3" |Minister
! width="95" |Took office
! width="95" |Left office
! width="95" |Party
! width="95" |Cabinet
|-
|style="background:;" |
|frameless|148x148px
| width="150" |Goh Keng Swee<br><small>MP for Kreta Ayer</small><br><small>(1918–2010)</small>
|9 August<br>1965
|16 August<br>1967
|PAP
| rowspan="2" |Lee K. II
|- style="height:82px;"
| rowspan="2" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="2" |frameless|164x164px
| rowspan="2" |Lim Kim San<br><small>MP for Cairnhill</small><br><small>(1916–2006)</small>
| rowspan="2" |17 August<br>1967
| rowspan="2" |10 August<br>1970
| rowspan="2" |PAP
|-
| rowspan="2" |Lee K. III
|- style="height:49px;"
| rowspan="3" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="3" |frameless|148x148px
| rowspan="3" |Goh Keng Swee<br><small>MP for Kreta Ayer</small><br><small>(1918–2010)</small>
| rowspan="3" |11 August<br>1970
| rowspan="3" |11 February<br>1979
| rowspan="3" |PAP
|-
|Lee K. IV
|-
| rowspan="2" |Lee K. V
|- style="height:67px;"
| rowspan="2" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="2" |frameless|133x133px
| rowspan="2" |Howe Yoon Chong<br><small>MP for Potong Pasir</small><br><small>(1923–2007)</small>
| rowspan="2" |12 February<br>1979
| rowspan="2" |31 May<br>1982
| rowspan="2" |PAP
|-
| rowspan="2" |Lee K. VI
|- style="height:35px;"
| rowspan="4" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="4" |100px
| rowspan="4" |Goh Chok Tong<br><small>MP for Marine Parade (until 1988) and Marine Parade GRC (from 1988)</small><br><small>(born 1941)</small>
| rowspan="4" |1 June<br>1982
| rowspan="4" |30 June<br>1991
| rowspan="4" |PAP
|-
|Lee K. VII
|-
|Lee K. VIII
|-
| rowspan="2" |Goh I
|- style="height:67px;"
| rowspan="2" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="2" |frameless|133x133px
| rowspan="2" |Yeo Ning Hong<br><small>MP for Kampong Glam GRC</small><br><small>(born 1943)</small>
| rowspan="2" |1 July<br>1991
| rowspan="2" |1 July<br>1994
| rowspan="2" |PAP
|-
| rowspan="3" |Goh II
|-
| style="background:;" |
|106x106px
|Lee Boon Yang<br><small>MP for Jalan Besar GRC</small><br><small>(born 1947)</small>
|2 July<br>1994
|1 August<br>1995
|PAP
|- style="height:44px;"
| rowspan="3" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="3" |131x131px
| rowspan="3" |Tony Tan<br><small>MP for Sembawang GRC</small><br><small>(born 1940)</small>
| rowspan="3" |2 August<br>1995
| rowspan="3" |1 August<br>2003
| rowspan="3" |PAP
|-
|Goh III
|-
| rowspan="2" |Goh IV
|- style="height:42px;"
| rowspan="3" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="3" |127x127px
| rowspan="3" |Teo Chee Hean<br><small>MP for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC</small><br><small>(born 1954)</small>
| rowspan="3" |2 August<br>2003
| rowspan="3" |20 May<br>2011
| rowspan="3" |PAP
|-
|Lee H. I
|-
|Lee H. II
|-
| rowspan="4" style="background:;" |
| rowspan="4" |134x134px
| rowspan="4" |Ng Eng Hen<br><small>MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC</small><br><small>(born 1958)</small>
| rowspan="4" |21 May<br>2011
| rowspan="4" |22 May<br>2025
| rowspan="4" |PAP
|Lee H. III
|-
|Lee H. IV
|-
|Lee H. V
|-
|Wong I
|-
| style="background:;" |
|128x128px
|Chan Chun Sing<br><small>MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC</small><br><small>(born 1969)</small>
|23 May<br>2025
|Incumbent
|PAP
|Wong II
|}
See also
- Ministry of Home Affairs