Minister of State for Defence Mr Lawrence Wong,
Chief of Army,
Chief of Artillery,
Members of the Artillery Family,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me for the commissioning ceremony of our first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. Today marks a significant achievement by the Artillery, and a significant milestone in the transformation journey of the Singapore Armed Forces. Our acquisition of the HIMARS provides us long-range capabilities with pin-point accuracy and broadens the suite of precision weapon systems available to our Army and the SAF. The successful induction of the HIMARS reflects well on the ability of the SAF to respond decisively to new challenges and changing circumstances in its operational environment.

Throughout her 123 years of history, our Artillery has evolved from operating mortars and towed howitzers to deploying the self-propelled Primus and the light-weight, heli-portable Pegasus, to better meet the varied demands of complex military operations.

The addition of the HIMARS is an important complement to our mortars and howitzers, which still retain their distinct fire support roles for the Army. Over the past 12 months, the gunners of 23 SA have worked hard together with their counterparts from the Maintenance and Engineering Support formation, to hone their operational skills, as well as to put in place the training and logistics infrastructure necessary to realise this new capability for the Army. They have made excellent progress. In November last year, 23 SA took part in a bilateral exercise with their US counterparts in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Although it was the SAF's inaugural HIMARS battery live-firing exercise, our gunners left a deep impression of competency and professionalism on their US counterparts. The Army's 3rd Generation Transformation journey leverages on advancements in technology that provide us superior weaponry while reducing the reliance on manpower.

These developments play to our strengths. For example, our towed howitzers require a crew of eight men.

Our Primus self-propelled howitzers require four. For the HIMARS, each launcher is designed for a crew of only three men. All these benefit small armed forces such as the SAF. Nevertheless, this means that a heavier responsibility now rests on each of our three gunners' shoulders. Therefore, it is ultimately the professionalism and commitment of our people that will translate the latest weapon systems into effective capabilities. To the Singapore Artillery, congratulations and well done. I have every confidence that you will meet all future challenges head on, and overcome them with creativity, courage and fortitude as men of steel. Thank you.