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How has technology helped to advance Singapore's Military Defence today?
Singapore’s Military Defence is run by the Singapore Armed
Forces. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is made up of 3 segments – Singapore Army,
the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Navy. When
Singapore achieved independence, it did not have a large military force. The
military was commanded by British officers and only involved two infantry troops.
Of which, most of them were non-Singaporean residents. Singapore then discreetly
sought help from Israel to help build a strong defence force just like the
Israel Defense Forces. The Singapore Defence forces learned many different
tactics such as the jungle warfare. Since there are vast jungles in our
neighboring countries like Malaysia, this tactic may come handy during wars. Big
equipment like the tanks were introduced to Singapore’s army even before
Malaysia had them. This significantly helped the army to become an operative
force.
Technology has become a huge part of our lives and most
importantly in advancing military equipment. SAF uses the ‘force multipliers’.
Force multiplication refers to a set of traits which ideally makes a force more
powerful as compared to a force without the traits. Basically, it increases an
item or a group’s efficiency. In the olden days, research and experiments were
carried out to seek ways of applying technology into building superior weapons
and a stronger force. Currently, the people behind today’s advanced military
forces are the engineers and scientists who work with the Military of Defence (MINDEF). These people dedicated their
time and effort to research and development (R&D) and setting up
experiments. SAF created the Murai Urban
Training Facility (MUTF) to enhance the forces’ urban operations competence.
Soldiers train in MUTF which looks like a typical town. This is to provide them
with a realistic environment for training. In Sept 2008, the Advanced Combat Man
System was revealed. This new system helps the SAF to provide the forces with
network capabilities on the field. Although this project costs SGD$100 Million just
to maintain, it will be very useful during war period.
The various military manufacturing industries:
PRIMUS: Self Propelled Howitzer
Bionix II: Infantry Fighting Vehicle
MATADOR : Unguided Short Range
Anti-Armour Weapon
PEGASUS : Light Weight Howitzer
SAR 21: Singapore Assault Rifle
Formidable-Class Stealth Frigate –
Warships designed with stealthy features, equipped with advanced combat systems
and with longer endurance
Signing off,
Chindhoo~ (MB1203, 124587M)
Reference: (Click on the link below)
Wikipedia- Singapore Armed Forces
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