Also, we might be increasingly be called upon for higher
intensity missions in the future, that's what I feel.
Agree. One differentiation of the SAF is that we've always
trained as a conventional force, unlike other regional armies who
were -- or still are -- a counterinsurgency one. Not only that, our
whole orientation is centered around acquired jungle warfare &
CQB (FIBUA, FOFO) skills. In my time, I'd also wondered whether
it's all that practical to apply in those DIV-level wargaming
strategies, as repeatedly taught to & devised by consecutive
staff officers, in the real-life hot & humid SE Asian
setting.
But the whole region has urbanized a lot since then, & the SAF
is also going high-tech in a big way. In this sense, it looks like
the body armor investment is meant for long-term urban-warfare ops
-- readying for Iraq-style battles -- along with the HMD googles,
surveillance balls, robots, unmanned systems, et al. as well as the
planned new training village at LCK. What they're experimenting at
3 SIR now will likely be incorporated to the rest of the SAF.
SAF is toying with the idea of transforming some SIR into
mechanised Inf, so the weight issue is not that significant. But
for those general purpose infantry, with no luxury of mechanise
support, the weight is going to kill them.........
Body armor equates mechanized infantry? ~lol~ Hey, even the
medieval knights & Spartan hoplites wore them in the old days.
Common basic protection for foot soldiers, lah.
Western are bigger size. The extra weight is just a much smaller
percentage of their body weight compared to us.
Let's see which model the SAF eventually buys. From what I read,
the modern flak vest itself continues to weigh roughly the same as
the Korean/Vietnam versions: 3.6-3.9 kg. It's the insertable armor
plates which wear heaviest. Maybe the SAF can indirectly lighten
the load by ordering the manufacture of smaller plates to better
fit Asian sizes.
With the Americans, I note they managed to cut down their overall
body armor "system" down by some 35% with their latest design (from
the PASGT's 11.4kg to the Interceptor's 7.4 kg).
