MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF)'s digital innovation startup Agile Innovation Digital (RAiD) have, for the first time, joined the ranks of Exercise Forging Sabre held in the US.

A team from RAiD will form part of the over 800 personnel from the Singapore Army, RSAF, Digital and Intelligence Service and the defence technology community partaking in this year's drill.

RAiD is a startup team that provides digital solutions to RSAF personnel. 

Over in the US, they will be working with the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) to harness digital solutions and data analytics to help the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

The unilateral exercise is currently ongoing at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho from Sept 6 to 21, and is the tenth edition in a series that started in 2005. 

At this biennial integrated sense and strike exercise, the SAF will be sharpening its digital prowess through new technologies including upgraded mission software and an expanded drone line-up.

The Command and Control Information System (CCIS) — the 'brain' of strike operations — has been enhanced with an artificial intelligence algorithm that automatically recommends how best to deploy smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, in various missions.

The engine can provide recommendations in a "fraction" of the time it would take for commanders to manually assess the situation and assets and plan the task, Lieutenant Colonel Lim Swee Ann of the RSAF's UAS Warfare and Tactics Centre (UWTC) told the media on Sept 8.

"What used to take minutes to plan and coordinate now happens within seconds. This not just creates capacity for warfighters [in] more skilled and complex operations; it also enhances overall operational efficiency," he added.

This enhancement to the CCIS was jointly developed by the RAiD team as well as engineers from DSTA over the course of two years, said RAiD software developer Military Expert 5 Rizvan Jacob.

"Here in this exercise, we'll be making changes to the CCIS on the fly, in response to real time operating requirements [of the air force]," he explained.

ME5 Rizvan raised an example of how commanders might require mission critical software changes such as the integration of new data sources or new mission platforms.

"That's where RAiD comes in, where we design and develop the changes to the software that enable our fighters to quickly adapt."

More drones

Another key aspect of this year's exercise is the increased use of drones, where the SAF will deploy 24 UAVs in this exercise, including three Heron 1s and four commercially available micro drones — the Skydio X10s.

The unmanned devices will operate alongside manned platforms for integrated strike operations.

Exercise Director Brigadier-General Teo Soo Yeow said the micro drones will provide better intelligence in the battlefield and can offer commanders more options to orchestrate strikes in a timelier and more accurate manner.

He added that the drill is taking place at a time of global conflict, and the SAF is applying lessons learnt from their observations of the conflict in the exercise.

"[Exercise Forging Sabre] continues to offer unique value proposition for us to hone and sharpen our capabilities in a sense and strike arena, so that we can conduct integrated operations with success," he concluded.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com