Full text here fr STimes 17.11.2005 by David Boey.
EYE IN THE SKY : The Sky Lark, held up by First Sergeant
Sia Hua Lim, 25, is one type of drone used by the military
intelligence unit based at Pasir Laba Camp.
Subject: Singapore Armed Forces
IF YOU attended this year's National Day Parade, or one of
its
rehearsals, chances are you were caught on film by
intelligence gatherers from a new army unit.
Patrolling the crowds dressed in civilian clothing, more than 100
soldiers
from the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (1 MI Battalion)
worked with the
police and security agencies to secure the area around the Padang,
using
remote-controlled cameras.
The sensors they carried allowed them to send images to their
headquarters instantly.
For the first time yesterday, this once hush-hush unit, formed on
Oct 11
last year, showed off its suite of battlefield sensors to the
media.
The 1 MI Battalion is the only unit whose sole job is
information-gathering.
Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Kuan, commanding officer of the
battalion, said the
unit was formed to support the intelligence requirements of the
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) during peacetime.
Its motto - First In - underlines its responsibility to be at the
front
line, even before a front line exists, to provide intelligence for
the SAF.
'Until this battalion was formed, we didn't have the people to plan
for and
provide this capability,' Lt-Col Kuan said.
His unit works with the police to safeguard events that could be
targeted by
terrorists. The unit, based at Pasir Laba Camp in Jurong, also
helps test
sensors and concepts for gathering intelligence. And though it is
an army unit,
it operates sensors both on the ground and in the air.
The 4.5kg Sky Lark miniature unmanned aerial vehicle is one type of
drone
used by the unit. Operated by two soldiers, it has a camera for
aerial
surveillance up to 8km away, day or night. And its single propeller
is powered
by batteries, making it impossible to hear once it is in the
air.
The unit also has unmanned ground sensors, developed by DSO
National
Laboratories, Singapore's largest defence research lab. These
consist of a
slender camera-equipped spike, which is driven into the ground.
Ground
vibrations or noise activates the camera and the sensor beams the
image to the operator, who can be hidden up to 2km away.
Lt-Col Kuan said the battalion will spearhead army
intelligence's
transformation into a more sophisticated, third-generation
force.
He said: 'The current reality is we still have soldiers out there
like
scouts equipped with binoculars, exposing themselves to danger just
to report information on the enemy back to headquarters. We're
going to use a lot of unmanned technology and imaging technology to
pass more information, more accurately, quicker and faster back to
headquarters for them to act on.
'At the same time we also increase the survivability of our scouts
and recce
troopers because they can do all these things from a safe position
... instead
of exposing themselves to danger to report on the enemy.'
The battalion has more than 100 personnel, of whom more than 70 per
cent are full-time national servicemen. One of the NSFs, Third
Sergeant Cheng Wei Han, 19, a recce (or reconnaissance) specialist,
said: 'We're at the vanguard of testing new information-gathering
technology in the SAF. We experiment with
whatever new sensors or so-called toys that the defence scientists
and
engineers develop to give them feedback so they can improve them.'
- DAVID
BOEY.
I think the cam of this UAV can swing.
