SINGAPORE - The Republic has to learn from recent conflicts, such as in Ukraine and Iran, to better harness new technologies like unmanned systems, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on April 9.

Warfare is evolving with new threats and it is important for Singapore to build up its own capabilities, he said during a visit to the army’s 6th Singapore Division/Headquarters Sense & Strike located in Mandai Hill Camp.

While Singapore has already been doing so, recent experiences have provided it “a lot of food for thought”, he told the media after observing a demonstration of surveillance drones working together with platforms like an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter.

While the trend towards more unmanned systems and different ways of fighting was first seen during the Ukraine conflict, the current conflict involving Iran has shown that it was not an anomaly.

Said PM Wong: “This trend towards more unmanned systems, using new technologies and different ways of fighting - this will be with us. And we have to learn from this experience how to better harness new technologies and unmanned systems in our concept of operations.

“There will be new challenges because, as you can see in recent conflicts with unmanned systems, you can have the most advanced interceptors, but when your aggressor is deploying cheap swarms of drones, it’s very challenging for your interceptors to defend.”

It is highly expensive and also takes time to replace these assets, he added.

PM Wong said this is an example of new threats that Singapore has to think about, which is why it is im...