Speech by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the Commissioning of the Army Battlefield Internet Enhanced by the Software Defined Radio, at the Signal Formation 50th Anniversary Parade

Chief of Army,

Pioneers, General (Retired) Winston Choo, Officers, Warrant Officers, Specialists, and Soldiers from the Signal Formation,

Let me wish everyone here a very good evening.

The history of battles, won or lost, is replete with the key role of communications in deciding outcomes. He who knows first and correctly has that decisive first-mover advantage. Whether it was Pheidippides running from Marathon to Athens; Han soldiers lighting up "langyan" from beacon towers on the Great Wall of China more than 2000 years ago; Enigma machine operators, and the code breakers in Poland and Bletchley Park who responded; even courier pigeons in WWII; to today’s modern communication systems - it has always been that strategic signaller who ensured the last mile connectivity and from that humble and yet exalted position decided the fate of millions.

Today, we mark the 50th anniversary of the SAF's own Signal Formation - which has progressed very far indeed. Pioneer servicemen will remember the clunky and heavy PRC 6 sets, our rudimentary lessons in signal communications, and the laying of D-10 lines for the telejay. In the heat of an exercise, we would laugh when commanders would lapse into normal conversation, breaking discipline and giving away secrets.

Today's SAF communications, command, and computer network systems are far superior and ahead of others in the region. In fact, lauded globally. This game of sending secured and encrypted information across vast distances and the ability of opponents to disrupt or decipher those messages continue even though the level of sophistication has grown immeasurably from the days of riflemen aiming to shoot the signaller. Even IT specialists in the private sector tell me how impressed they are with our systems configuration. Today we move yet another step further in commissioning the Army Battlefield Internet.

EVOLUTION OF SIGNALS AND ITS VALUE TO THE SAF

No one needs to tell our SAF soldiers that we have gone into the digital cyber age. Our current full-time national servicemen (NSFs) were born and bred as internet natives. Many of them can text with a single hand, with their hand still in the pocket with the phone! These are skills that the SAF can and will exploit to operate our technologically-advanced communications network.

The SAF will continue to work with engineers and scientists to further improve the ability of our commanders and soldiers to see first, see together, plan on the move, and execute in real time. To enable these simple outcomes requires not only sophisticated hardware, but innovative software to integrate systems so that we can talk to one another, anytime, all the time.

The Signal Formation has indeed come a long way and we have shown that our systems work even in large-scale exercises with many hundreds of platforms and thousands of soldiers, such as Exercise Wallaby in Australia recently.

The SAF has also deployed parts of our command and control (C2) system and made a difference in humanitarian aid. Last year, when the SAF deployed to Nepal after a major earthquake there, it used the OPERA Command and Control Information System (CCIS). This was a web portal system to provide a common operating picture that we could share with multinational agencies there. This shared picture allowed planners to assign different areas to match the capabilities and provided more effective help to Nepalese villagers.

THE ARMY BATTLEFIELD INTERNET ENHANCED BY THE SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO

The Army Battlefield Internet commissioned today, enhanced by the Software Defined Radio (SDR), will provide connectivity for our units through a secure and seamless digital network. With a higher bandwidth of up to four times the conventional hardware radio, it will now be possible for ground troops to simultaneously talk and send files, images, and videos to the Brigade and Division Headquarters. With the SDR, the tracking of our own forces and marking of enemy targets and positions will be embedded within the images and videos that can be shared among commanders and ground troops. Our soldiers will therefore see more accurately, sooner, and target with greater precision.

The Army Battlefield Internet will also require less manpower to operate and can do so in different terrains and across a variety of missions. I would like to congratulate all those who have made the Army Battlefield Internet a reality, especially the hard-working and innovative defence scientists and engineers who took an off-the-shelf product and customised it to meet our requirements. Active units in the Armour, the Artillery, and the Engineer Formations can expect to be equipped with the SDR this year, while the Signal Formation rolls out the new system progressively to other units over the next few years.

To the Signal Formation, I have this to say to you today - congratulations on all your achievements in the past 50 years. Your contributions have allowed the SAF to become a potent networked force. You have lived up to your motto, "Speed through Skill". I have every confidence that you will continue to reach higher peaks in the future.

Congratulations, well done and thank you.

More Resources

Enhanced Battlefield Internet Improves Army's Command and Control