Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen visited Headquarters 6th Singapore Division/ Headquarters Sense and Strike (HQ 6 Div/HQ SS) at Mandai Hill Camp on 28 June 2021. During the visit, he was briefed on the progress made by the Singapore Army in its Next-Generation transformation and viewed a static display of some of the newly commissioned platforms of HQ SS. The new HQ SS was formed to deepen the Army’s sense and strike expertise and competencies, through the reorganisation of Headquarters Army Intelligence and Headquarters Singapore Artillery under 6th Singapore Division.
As part of his visit, Dr Ng commissioned the Army’s latest suite of sense and strike capabilities, namely the TPQ-53 Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) and the BELREX Protected Combat Service Vehicle with the Advanced Mortar System. In addition, he also unveiled the V15 mini-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (mUAV). In this Next-Generation transformation journey, the Army had worked closely with the Defence Technology Community to leverage emerging technologies to develop the capabilities required to effectively guard against the growing spectrum of multi-domain threats.
Commenting that it is important for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) not to lose focus even during COVID-19, Dr Ng said, “Even as we deal with COVID-19, we want to make sure that the SAF continues to develop … In March this year, the Army fully operationalised the third generation Combined Arms Division. I have just seen the commissioning of some of the assets of HQ SS – the TPQ-53 WLR, as well as the BELREX Advanced Mortar System and the unveiling of the V15 mini-UAV. Overall we are going to use more artificial intelligence, robotics, data analytics.”
Dr Ng was accompanied by Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong, Chief of Army Major-General Goh Si Hou, Chief Defence Scientist Tan Peng Yam, Chief Executive of the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) Mr Mervyn Tan, Chief Executive Officer of DSO National Laboratories Mr Cheong Chee Hoo, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Singapore Army and the Defence Science and Technology Agency.
