SAF to invest further in unmanned capabilities

Drawing lessons from recent overseas conflicts, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will invest further in unmanned capabilities, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on March 3.

- Samuel Devaraj

This entails setting up two new centres to drive the development and integration of unmanned vehicles within the air force and the army; a new group to build up the SAF's counter-drone capabilities; and new commands to defend Singapore's core digital infrastructure.

During the debate on his ministry's budget, Dr Ng said drones will play an increasing role in modern warfare. For instance, a study by the Kyiv School of Economics showed that Ukraine is capable of producing four million drones annually — a hundredfold increase from before its war with Russia.

The asymmetry of costs between drone-based attacks and conventional countermeasures was also vividly exemplified when Houthi fighters fired drones at US warships off the coast of Yemen, said Dr Ng.

He noted that it would cost the aggressor $15 million to fire 100 drones, but defence against them would cost nearly $250 million, which is clearly unsustainable.