Speech by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the Inauguration of the Multi-Mission Range Complex

Chief of Army, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning.

I am very happy to be here for the launch of our MMRC, the Multi-Mission Range Complex. And its inauguration is an event that we can all be very proud of because it is another prime example of how the army, through COA's force innovation and the use of technology, overcomes our natural limitations to achieve our goals and mission. And this complex represents a significant step up that will raise the level of fundamental soldiering skills for our SAF men and women, in particular their shooting and marksmanship.

All of us know that marksmanship is an important skill-set for any and every soldier. For this reason, all our SAF soldiers undergo rigorous and frequent training to help them become proficient marksmen. But what is impressive for the SAF is that we are able to provide shooting opportunities to the bulk of NSmen, and not only a small proportion, and within the strict confines of a city state. We are essentially a city state, we really do not have real rural areas. And I think this is only possible because of our call-up systems and our ICTs are very efficient. In fact, some of you will know that last month, in September, we had a MOBEX, a Brigade Mobilisation Exercise. And the brigade was called back, we had our one-stop Mobilisation and Equipping Centre, and the NSmen - who perhaps the day before, were in their offices, the next day are called back - report, draw arms and shoot in one location. Much faster than we used to take - 10 to 12 hours - but nowadays, I think you take less than half of that.

And these opportunities give confidence to the NSmen, because to them it is - as I have interacted with some of them - it is almost a surreal experience. As I said, the day before they are in their civilian clothes in their various occupations, whether they are working in Raffles City or across the island, and the next day they are called up, they change into their uniforms, they draw their weapons, their SAR21s, they shoot and then they go back. Some of them complain that this is now too fast for them, they have to adjust radically. Because they say previously when you do your recce before an exercise, you have down time as you wait for the recce to come back and show you pictures and give you a briefing. But now you do not have to do that, because it is real time. Whatever your advance sees, you can see because it is live. But that kind of experience, that kind of realism, gives our NSmen the confidence that indeed the SAF is operationally ready. And this is an asset that we must maintain and explains why we have spent considerable resources building a complex such as the MMRC.

Because SAF and MINDEF recognises well the constraints imposed by competing land use, but we also realise that we must never compromise our training and operational requirements because it will erode the vital and long-term security that a strong and ready defence provides. And this complex now allows us to do much more in training and to test our soldiers' shooting proficiency, and yet utilise much less space compared to before.

Enhancing Soldiers' Shooting Training

This complex is indeed a milestone for the Army and I would say it is a strategic platform for the SAF to maintain, if not improve, the competence of our individual soldiers. We learn from the best shooting ranges overseas, and I doubt you will find anywhere in the world, such a large and complex shooting range like this. This is really the front edge of development, it is state-of-the-art. We adapted the latest designs and best practices to our unique context, and the MMRC is a first-of-class in terms of scale and capabilities. Basically it puts 7 different ranges into one, and you utilise advanced video targetry systems - we use CGI, Computer Generated Imagery - to provide tough and realistic scenario-based training for our soldiers. We use smart technology so that we can simulate different operational conditions to allow our soldiers to train in realistic scenarios regardless of the weather outside. So as one of the people interviewed (in the video) said, if you want to shoot at night, you just switch off the lights. We do not have to wait, like before, we have to actually wait for the sun to set and for darkness. Now if you are really very good in your day shoot you switch off the lights and you go on to your night shoot, and you leave before the sun sets. And that is a big difference.

And these conditions allow us to train our soldiers beyond basic marksmanship. We can train them in advanced shooting competencies because we can simulate the conditions where the soldiers are trained and tested to shoot in a cluttered city environment, for example, at our Urban Operation Range. They can shoot at stationary and moving targets at different height levels. CGI or customised videos allow us to simulate a large variety of realistic conditions, (such as) protecting installations. In other words, we can reproduce installations. You remember that when we held the IMF, it was held in Suntec City. We could very well recreate the interior of Suntec City, so that specific missions and scenarios allow them a very realistic envisions of the building inside, even of the corridors, so on and so forth. Or in jungle operations and urban operations.

The ranges at the MMRC allow us to track and monitor the shooting performance of individual soldiers in real-time, so that the soldiers receive almost instantaneous feedback on their performance. And together with video playback and analysis, as well as coaching from trainers, these are very valuable teaching tools that will accelerate the learning curve of our soldiers. So this newly developed MMRC, together with our existing outdoor ranges and the Murai Urban Live-Firing Facility, now offer SAF soldiers an impressive and comprehensive suite of training ranges that will hone the competency of SAF soldiers in a variety of combat missions.

Enhancing the NS Experience

In addition to enhancing the effectiveness of training, the MMRC will improve the SAF's efficiency and significantly decrease the time required for marksmanship training. So not only more effective but more efficient. We used to take 2 to 3 days to complete a marksmanship test for units. All of us who are older will remember how inefficient it was. Some of us look forward to the range because that was the time you could sit down and sleep, eat the banana bread that the person will bring to sell, buy your teh tarik, do your dry cooking, go to the butt party, so it was quite a relaxing atmosphere. You shoot for perhaps I think five percent of the time when you went out to the range. I have bad news for our SAF soldiers. Now it is very very efficient and the down time is actually much less. Sometimes you went out to the range when it rained, well, it rained so everyone stops. Now, the rain is only simulated and I can simulate back the sun as well. So instead of 2 to 3 days that we used to take to complete marksmanship test for units, now marksmanship tests will be completed within a day and too bad, even if it rains outside, training will go on.

The special lighting at the MMRC allows day and night conditions to be simulated, so that we can hold it really at any time of the day. And the SAF, or the Army has decided to outsource the administration of the MMRC. They looked at it and said all in all it is more efficient to have dedicated operators of this range whose only job is to make sure it functions as efficiently as possible so units only need to book the range, indent their ammunition, show up and shoot and scoot. This system works well. Since the MMRC came into service six months ago in March this year, over 22,000 servicemen, including NSFs and NSmen, have undergone marksmanship training here.

Innovation at its Best

This spirit of innovation and determination to find better solutions, despite pressing limitations reflects the SAF's can-do, will-succeed spirit. In conceptualising and building the MMRC, the SAF displayed bold innovation to exploit technology to fit seven ranges into one complex and meet all our shooting requirements and training outcomes more efficiently and effectively. The MMRC sits on what used to be a single 100m range, but provides 7 ranges across 3 stories and beyond the land savings, these ranges provide conditions from 50m to 1km, because it is made possible by the advanced targetry system. Therefore, deservedly, the MMRC was awarded the MINDEF Innovation Project Award at the recent MINDEF PRIDE Day. This is an outstanding achievement that all who were involved in can justly be proud of.

ConclusionLet me congratulate the Army and DSTA on the successful completion of this MMRC project. This would not have been possible without the dedication, commitment and hard work of all involved. I am delighted to be able to officially declare the MMRC open.

Thank you very much.