SINGAPORE – All recruits trained at the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) on Pulau Tekong will learn to use drone technology and how to counter it, said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing on Aug 4. 

Speaking to the media after his first visit to BMTC since taking over the portfolio in May, Mr Chan said that unmanned technology is proliferating and the SAF needs to know how to use it and fight against it. 

Given such developments, soldiers must now be trained to expand their situational awareness, Mr Chan said. 

Drone training is not just about tactical or technical skills, he added. 

“It’s also a larger exercise to train (soldiers) in their three-dimensional spatial awareness, because when they fight the battle, how they apply their weapon systems, they have to think three dimensional, and not just two dimensions.”

The first group of soldiers to learn basic drone skills during basic military training (BMT) enlisted in July, and the SAF is currently developing doctrine on how to evade them.

The goal is to have all soldiers who pass through BMT be trained in these two capabilities starting at the end of 2025, or the beginning of 2026, said BMTC commander Colonel Muhammad Helmi Khaswan on the sidelines of the visit. 

The SAF has always used technology to complement its fighting capabilities, Mr Chan said. 

Speaking to the media after watching recruits operating a roughly palm-sized drone outfield, Mr Chan said in the past, one soldier could be armed with just a rifle.

But now and in the future, a single soldier operates not just his own rifle but a suite of technologies from drones to robots that will augment his capabilities, he added. “This is how the SAF will continue to multiply our capabilities using technology.”

However, there are things about the armed forces that have not and must not change, he said. 

Some of the very basics of fundamental soldiering skills continue to be emphasised, such as the ability to take care of themselves in a challenging environment. 

Also important is soldiers’ ability to work as a team to overcome challenges and how they bounce back from adversity. 

Mr Chan said: “All these are important skill sets for any soldier across the SAF, and this is something that the SAF will continue to emphasise on how we build up the resilience and the will to fight for our soldiers.”

Training has evolved

Mr Chan also witnessed recruits doing physical training while fitted with heart rate monitors on their wrists to help monitor their exertion, as well as recruits undergoing physiotherapy at a dedicated centre to recover from injury.

The way soldiers are trained is more personalised now compared with the past when training was done en masse, he said.

Mr Chan said: “When you do group training, you are training to the average of what that whole group of soldiers, or platoon of soldiers are able to do. 

“We are now able to personalize the training. We know each and every soldier’s heart rate, how much effort they are exerting, whether they can go further, or they are at the risk of over-straining themselves.”

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All this allows the SAF to be more intentional about how it optimises soldier performance – which it is able to do now because of past investments to apply science and data to training methods, Mr Chan said. 

There is a “much faster closing of the loop” in helping soldiers recover now as well, Mr Chan said.

He said: “So in the past, the way we let soldiers recover is very much on their own, but today, we are much more scientific, much more data-driven on how we allow the soldiers to condition themselves, to recuperate and to recover from any injury.”

This includes maintaining overall physical fitness while recovering from injuries to specific body parts, Mr Chan said. 

This approach has wider implications in how the SAF will make use of its finite manpower resources, because each and every soldier is important, he added. 

He said: “The faster the soldier can recover, the more optimal his or her performance is, the better we are able to utilise our manpower resources.” 

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