A series of explosions rocked the vast desert expanse of Phoenix, Arizona, United States, as F-15SG and F-16C/D fighter planes, AH-64D Attack Helicopters, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers unleashed a variety of precision bombs and missiles in a coordinated strike.
It was an impressive show of firepower - well-timed and clinical - typical of the 3rd Generation Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). But what was truly remarkable in the exercise was the battle before the live firing.
Held from 2 to 17 Dec 2013, this latest edition of Exercise Forging Sabre (XFS) was the fourth in the series first started in 2005. All in, 700 personnel, six F-15SGs, six F-16C/Ds, five AH-64Ds, three HIMARS, two CH-47 Chinook helicopters and two ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were deployed in both day and night missions at the Barry M. Goldwater Range - a live firing area 19 times the size of Singapore.
Think fast, think smart
For the first time in the Forging Sabre series, a thinking enemy, the Red Force, was introduced as a sparring partner.
At the command post where the battle was orchestrated, the SAF battle staff, comprising personnel from the Air Force and Army, were up against a Red Force that could think, react and adapt in real-time.
Overall and Air exercise director Brigadier-General (BG) Lim Tuang Liang, Commander of the Air Combat Command, said XFS 13 was not only a practice of its sensor-to-shooter chain, but also a test of how the battle staff react to changing, unexpected situations caused by a live enemy.
He explained: "Being able to deal with a thinking enemy challenges the command post to make decisions, to integrate what they see on the ground through the sensors, to find the correct strike platform, address the particular threat and coordinate the responses of those strike capabilities...at the right time at the right place. That is the ultimate test of a command post."
The opposing force was led by two senior SAF commanders who role-played as the Red Force Air and Land commanders. Familiar with SAF tactics, they had the unfair advantage of knowing the SAF's battle plan for the exercise in advance.
"In war, you don't expect the enemy to play fair," said Red Force Air Commander Senior Lieutenant Colonel (SLTC) Ho Yung Peng. "To ensure that the SAF forces get realistic training, we want to make sure that we train as we would fight in war. As you know in war, we have a thinking enemy who will always adapt to the situation, never staying still for us to strike."
The Head of Air Training added: "Nothing beats having a real-life Red Air 'thinking' pilot. In the command post, you don t know what the Red Air is going to do, so you have to be on your toes all the time."
In the war game simulation, the Red Force, just like the SAF, had networked fighting capabilities. It had air and land assets such as F-15SGs and F-16C/Ds with beyond visual range missiles, a ground-based air defence system, artillery rocket launchers and armoured columns.
The SAF battle staff had to make sense of the enemy information obtained from its sensors - two ScanEagle UAVs and one Commando detachment.
And they needed to consider these issues: Is it a moving or static target? What shooter and munition should be used? Which target to strike first when there are more targets than their shooters can handle? Are there friendly forces in the vicinity? How can they avoid collateral damage?
These and other decisions had to be made quickly because the battlefield situation was fluid and fast-changing.
XFS by the numbers
Exercise participants:
Air Force - 420 including 2 NSmen
Army - 280 including 5 NSmen
Precision munitions deployed:
20 x LJDAM bombs
25 x GBU-12 bombs
4 x Hellfire Missiles
2 x GMLRS rockets
Assets deployed:
6 x F-16C/Ds
6 x F-15SGs
5 x AH-64Ds
3 x HIMARS
2 x ScanEagle UAVs
2 x CH-47s
Precision capabilities
XFS 13 was the SAF's largest integrated live-firing exercise in terms of range and number of precision munitions deployed. It was also the first time the SAF conducted live firing of the HIMARS' Guided Multiple Launcher Rocket System (GMLRS) in an SAF exercise.
A precision artillery rocket guided by GPS, the GMLRS can hit static targets up to 70km away, minimising collateral damage or loss of civilian lives. Other precision munitions fired at the exercise included the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM), JDAM, GBU-12 Laser Guided Bomb, and the Hellfire missile.
These munitions enable the SAF to engage a variety of targets, moving or static. In the exercise, F-15SGs armed with LJDAMs and AH-64Ds with anti-tank Hellfire missiles were deployed to destroy a simulated enemy armour column on the move.
And for fortified static targets such as the enemy headquarters, F-16C/Ds with GBU-12 Laser Guided Bombs and F-15SGs with JDAMs were sent to hit them.
BG Lim noted that during the two or so years between each edition of XFS, each individual shooter platform would sharpen its proficiency before coming together with the rest to operate as an integrated system at the exercise.
He added: "Each capability...involves a different level of planning and consideration. And that challenges the battle staff in terms of planning and execution. And so, with this level of growth and maturity, we can continue to expand the capabilities of the SAF."
Another first for the 2013 exercise was the participation of Operationally Ready National Servicemen (NSmen) - two from the Air Force and five from the Army. The men held key positions in the command post.
One of them was Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (NS) Melvin Chan, who served as the Dynamic Targeting Director. His role was to analyse information from the sensors and assign the appropriate shooter and munition to destroy the enemy target.
Land Exercise Director BG Lim Hock Yu, Commander of Army Training & Doctrine Command, said the participation of NSmen was a sign of how far XFS had matured.
"This exercise allows us to train our people well. Our belief is that behind all these capabilities are the people, and our people are highly competent and committed."
Dr Ng observes integrated live firing, visits Washington D.C.
Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen witnessed an integrated live firing at XFS on 10 Dec 2013. He also fired a practice rocket from a HIMARS and interacted with exercise participants.
Noting the remarkable progress of the SAF's integrated strike capability since the inception of the exercise series in 2005, Dr Ng said: "The ability to pick up real-time, moving targets, track them, and...strike at them while they are moving is something very difficult to do militarily. It calls for a very high state of sense-making - the ability to know what is happening at that point of time."
Dr Ng also attended the 20th anniversary parade of the Peace Carvin II F16C/D detachment - the RSAF's longest-running overseas training detachment - held at Luke Air Force Base on 11 Dec 2013.
Addressing the RSAF and United States Air Force (USAF) personnel there and their families, Dr Ng noted that RSAF pilots had benefited tremendously from the vast airspace, range facilities, as well as training offered by the USAF, and expressed his appreciation to the US Government and the USAF.
As part of his visit to the US, Dr Ng also called on US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel on 12 Dec 2013 in Washington D.C., and delivered a speech to an audience of officials and strategic thinkers, organised by think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies, on 13 Dec 2013.
In his speech, Dr Ng highlighted that the US Secretary of Defence had never failed to attend the annual Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore since 2004 and he was confident that this US commitment to the region would continue. During their official meeting, Mr Hagel and Dr Ng discussed initiatives to promote regional stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
