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Fact Sheet: Digitally-Aided Close Air Support Trial at Exercise Wallaby 2026
26 October 2026
Enhancing Air-Land Integration through Digitally-Aided Close Air Support
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), together with the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and ST Engineering Mission Software & Services (ST-MSS), have been developing an application to enable Digitally-Aided Close Air Support (DACAS). The application enables friendly and enemy positions, and other critical information to be relayed digitally between on-ground strike controllers and airborne strike aircraft during Close Air Support (CAS) missions. The capability was trialled at Exercise Wallaby 2026 in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA), Australia. The vast training area, challenging terrain, and the involvement of multiple participating entities across the SAF, provided the RSAF with the opportunity to test and push the limits of the capability.
Close Air Support
CAS mission involves the employment of strike aircraft (F-15SG, F-16 and AH-64D) to deliver fires in support of ground forces operating in close proximity to enemy forces. When ground forces encounter an enemy disposition restricting their movement, an on-ground strike controller can request for strike support and coordinate with the supporting strike aircraft to engage the obstructing targets. Much of this coordination is currently conducted over analogue voice communications. Information such as friendly forces and target locations, as well as tactical situation updates, are communicated verbally between the ground and air elements. Such information is crucial to ensure that the strike operations are conducted successfully and to prevent fratricide.
Digitally-Aided Close Air Support
The RSAF is constantly adapting and adopting technology as a force multiplier and the development of the Digitally-Aided CAS application is one example. Through the application, strike and other information can be sent, received and confirmed digitally between the ground and air elements, reducing reliance on voice communication expediting CAS missions.
The two key capabilities enabled by the Digitally-Aided CAS application are:
Digital CAS Form. This in-app messaging feature allows information associated with the CAS process to be transmitted and acknowledged digitally between the strike controller and strike aircraft instead of relying solely on voice communications. This facilitates faster and more accurate information exchange, with a potential time savings of 50-80% over voice processes.
Blue Force Tracking and In-app Functions. These enable continuous position reporting between participating ground and air units. Friendly-force positions, enemy information and target areas can be updated and shared real-time, enhancing collective situational awareness in order to execute the strike mission with high accuracy and precision, while preventing fratricide.
Trial at Exercise Wallaby 2026
At Exercise Wallaby 2026, the RSAF, together with DSTA trialled the Digitally-Aided CAS application integrated with Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) data communication nodes to evaluate tactical air-ground connectivity over the expansive terrain of SWBTA. The data communication nodes enable multiple beyond-line-of-sight connectivity paths for data exchange, providing flexible and resilient communication. The trial examined the effectiveness of the system to support continuous Blue Force Tracking and the execution of Digitally-Aided CAS between ground and air support units.
The scale of SWBTA makes Exercise Wallaby a useful environment for such trials. Previous editions of Exercise Wallaby have used the training area’s vast terrain and airspace for complex air-land integration, including CAS training missions involving the RSAF’s AH-64D attack helicopters and F-16 fighters.
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