During his speech to the House, Dr Ng said militaries must not only be able to integrate unmanned platforms into their structure and operations, but also counter and defend against these new threats.
“Drones will be part of modern warfare. It is only how much and whether you’re prepared,” he noted. The defence minister cited a study by the Kyiv School of Economics which showed that Ukraine was capable of producing four million drones annually, a hundred-fold increase from before its war with Russia.
In Singapore, the SAF has already deployed unmanned platforms for operations.
The navy’s unmanned surface vessels have already been patrolling the Singapore Straits since January.
These USVs issue audio and visual warnings using strobe lights, sirens and long-range acoustics devices; and where justified, fire shots with their 12.7mm remote gun system, said Dr Ng.
Soldiers from the Singapore Army too now have Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as part of their arsenal to fight more effectively and smarter. These work much like binoculars for scouts, but with far greater range and precision, the minister said.
But it is the Republic of Singapore Air Force, in particular, that needs to address how the pace and scale of drones has grown exponentially, he added.
As such, it has established a new UAS Warfare and Tactics Centre. This will drive UAS development and integration with other SAF forces for operations, while working with other industries and tech agencies, said Dr Ng.
The Singapore army will also establish a Drone Accelerator for Rapid Equipping, or DARE – a similar office to scale up operations of UAVs and ground vehicles for units.
On the SAF’s move to build new counter-UAS capabilities, Dr Ng said: “I don’t want to give the wrong impression that it’s so easy and that there are comprehensive solutions to deal with all unmanned aerial systems … That won’t be telling you the honest truth: Small drones are, in fact, hard to detect.”
He also cited how it cost the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group S$15 million (US$11 million) to fire 100 drones in the Red Sea; while defending against these would cost nearly S$250 million – “clearly unsustainable”, said Dr Ng.
“The challenge is currently a focus of intense efforts everywhere. Everyone is trying to find a cost-effective solution to the problem of mass small drones used for attack.”
