Engaging Singaporeans from the Heart of Our Home

The RSAF’s Golden Jubilee celebration continues in the Heartlands from March to May 18. To celebrate this significant milestone, the RSAF is bringing its assets to five Heartlands locations - Toa Payoh, Sembawang, Punggol, Bedok and Jurong East to engage fellow Singaporeans. The RSAF50@Heartlands exhibitions were launched by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, on 10 Mar 18 at the first event location, Toa Payoh HDB Hub.

RSAF50@Heartlands showcases the rich heritage, operational capabilities, and the stories of our dedicated airmen and women. Visitors also have the opportunity to view static displays of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and weapon systems, and learn about their capabilities by interacting with the RSAF personnel who operate them. There are also interactive exhibits such as flight simulators, Ground-based Air Defence simulator games and runway damage repair interactive exhibits to better understand the operations undertaken by the RSAF. Visitors can also contribute to the RSAF50 Mural – which will eventually comprise 50,000 photos contributed by the public featuring different animated backgrounds. Our airmen and women will also hand out RSAF50 children’s activity books titled “Lions Can Fly” to engage young visitors.

What went on in the Heartlands

RSAF50@Heartlands Toa Payoh, held between 10 and 11 Mar 18, had live demonstrations of the Surface-to-Air PYthon and DERby (SPYDER) missile loading at Toa Payoh HDB Hub. The Ground-Based Air Defence (GBAD) operators from 165 SQN deployed swiftly and decisively, showcasing the countless hours our airmen and women spent in honing their operational proficiency.

RSAF50@Heartlands Sembawang, held between 31 Mar and 1 Apr 18, saw a Super Puma helicopter demonstrating a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission in an open field next to Sembawang MRT station. The team comprised of servicemen from 125 SQN, 126 SQN and 1 MS. It was the first time that the live SAR demonstration was shown to the public in a Heartlands location. Visitors had the opportunity to witness the aircrew's abilities in handling the helicopter within a confined space. On top of that, they observed our medical crew at work as they assessed and stabilised the casualty’s condition and transferred the casualty on board the Super Puma helicopter to a hospital for further treatment.

“Through this demo, Singaporeans can better understand and appreciate the role of our helicopter in SAR operations to save lives.”

- MAJ Roy Chew, RSAF50@Heartlands Helicopter Demonstration Team Lead

Apart from viewing the spectacular demonstration, significant highlights at the Sembawang event also included the S-70B naval helicopter simulator and photobooths with a miniature Apache attack helicopter.

“I learnt about how the RSAF came to be and the leaps and bounds that our Air Force has achieved in such a short time. We are considered a relatively young nation and without our superior air defence we can easily be bullied.”

– Matthew Khoo, a visitor at RSAF50@Heartlands Toa Payoh

Behind the Scenes

To minimise disruption to traffic and inconvenience to residents, our airmen and women worked through the nights and early mornings to deploy our static display assets for RSAF50@Heartlands. When the events came to a close, we saw the same level of meticulousness put in by our servicemen to ensure that our assets were recovered safely.

“I think these events provide very good experiences for the public because you do not get to see a V200 vehicle with a General Purpose Machine Gun and RBS-70 in the heartlands area on a daily basis. It is an eye opening experience for the public and they will better understand the RSAF operations, the platforms we operate and what we do in operations and training.”

- CPT (NS) Jeffrey Ng RSAF personnel manning the V200 Armoured Fighting Vehicle