ST Explains How the SAF's Drone Push for Recruits Reflects New Battlefield Realities

Russia-Ukraine war shows how effective the machines can be

- Ng Wei Kai

All recruits trained at the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) on Pulau Tekong will soon learn to use drone technology and how to counter it.

Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing announced this during a visit to BMTC on Aug 4, and emphasised that apart from skills, the aim is for soldiers to expand their situational awareness, given the proliferation of drones in militaries around the world and recent conflicts.

The Straits Times explains the significance of this move by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to broaden drone training to the vast majority of enlistees.

WHY TRAIN RECRUITS ON DRONES?

Conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war have shown the lethality and effectiveness of simple and low-cost civilian drones, both against soldiers and in neutralising far more expensive military hardware.

Given that drones are now an essential part of warfighting, the SAF's move to train the majority of its soldiers in basic drone operations is part of its adaptation to this "new normal", said S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) associate research fellow Thomas Lim.

Giving soldiers a head-start by initiating training from BMTC is also a solution to the "tedious process, both conceptually and logistically", of infusing a new asset across the SAF, especially one like drones that require organisation-wide implementation, added Mr Lim.

It could also help build a foundational understanding of such assets and their military use, on which more complicated skills can be added once these soldiers are deployed to specific formations and units, he said.

The move to involve recruits is also the SAF recognising that drone operations will be a staple for all kinds of operations, from high-end, front-line units like the commandos to back-end operations such as logistics, said Mr Chen Chuanren, senior editor at defence, aviation and aerospace publication Aviation Week Network.