I'm afraid pointing to technology as SAF's wrong focus is
barking up the wrong tree.
Technology is technology. An AK-47 is technology, so is that
makeshift bomb those J.I jokers love to make. Weapons technology in
whatever incarnation is technology. The question is however, how
much technology, what level, and what context it can be applied to
our situtation.
SAF's drive towards technology is not misfocused, or wrong, if
anything, it is a good thing that should be taken to it's logical
conclusion, and that is the technological superiority over our
potential foe.
Lest anybody point out that technology failed the americans in Mog.
let it be known that a bunch of rangers and delta troopers held off
a whole city of militia with air support and superior weaponry.
What would have happened to the americans had they no body armour
or Little Birds to keep the Somalis at bay? Less body bags? I doubt
it. Mog. was not a failure of technology, but a failure of
stragetic planning, and command and control. If anything, it was
the superior technology the americans had that actually kept the
body count on their side so surprisingly low and morbidly high on
the Somali side.
What is the problem here however, is not technology itself, but the
true soul and mettle of the men behind the machines. And that is
the area SAF needs to work on. That is building up a personnel
corps that will be able to make utter and full use of their
advanced technology. Yes, we can have land warriors that are
equipped with thermal sights, OICW-SAR21s, body armour and
battlefield computers, but these same land warriors should be able
to rough it out in the field and have the true mettle of a soldier
as well.
The problem is not that we have too much technology, but rather,
our people still have some work to do to match up and make optimal
use of that technology. Only a fool would look at technology with
dislain. Maybe you would still like to fly a Hunter instead of an
F-16 today because it was more Old School and thought a pilot how
to really fly instead of doing so with those icky FBW
computers?
Technology does not make us wimps, it is a tool for us to use. The
SAF is not misaligned in driving for high technology, but rather,
lets say that in it's drive for high technology, let it not lose
out on the drive for quality troops as well.
To dump technology in favour of making a more old school army? In
Singapore's context? That's insanity. Not unless we're North
Korea.