DSTA must ‘selectively accept more risks, invest In more experimentation: SM Lee

Ongoing wars in Europe and Mid-East show how quickly tech and tactics are changing

- Ng Wei Kai Correspondent

New entrants are disrupting the traditional defence industry model not by outspending competitors but by outpacing them, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In this context, the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) has to innovate and deliver systems at a pace that keeps up with accelerating technology cycles, he said ina speech at an event at Shangri-La Singapore marking the agency’s 25th anniversary on Sept 19.

Once obscure newcomers in the defence sector like Anduril and Palantir from the United States and Helsing from Germany have “vaulted into prominence”, SM Lee noted.

They have become highly sought-after companies as militaries begin to realise the value of fast-moving, innovation-driven players, SM Lee told an audience of about 450, including Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing, his predecessor Dr Ng Eng Hen, DSTA staff past and present, industry leaders and senior government officials.

SM Lee said: “They prioritise software-driven platforms, deploy quick-and-dirty solutions rapidly, and then roll out improvements and upgrades one after the other, instead of gunning for a perfect product from the outset.”

Some of the most successful innovations do not even come from tech companies but from low-cost, informal backyard operations, or from rapid improvisation by troops on the ground.

The ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East show how quickly technology and tactics are changing - sometimes in weeks and days, instead of months and years, SM Lee noted.

Both Russia and Ukraine depend on a network of informal backyard operations and small commercial companies to accelerate development cycles and evolve faster than the other side, and these unconventional producers are doing so much more cheaply than traditional defence tech companies, he said.