THE Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is getting into the fight in Afghanistan: It is planning to deploy a battlefield radar system that can detect enemy artillery, rocket and mortar launches and help direct counter-battery fire.
The move is aimed at helping coalition forces in the country deal with escalating insurgent attacks.
Thus far, the SAF's role has primarily been a supporting one - detachments deployed until now include a medical team and a construction team to build a health-service centre.
Announcing the deployment plan on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said that 'if considered useful', the radar system and troops to man it can be deployed for as long as nine to 12 months from the second half of this year.
The SAF's weapons-locating radar will help protect Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops based in Camp Holland in the Afghan province of Oruzgan.
No details were available on which of the SAF's radar systems will be deployed, but among its arsenal is the Swedish-made Arthur, or ARTillery HUnting Radar.
The system can pinpoint the source of artillery or rocket fire from locations up to 40km away - the distance from Changi to Tuas. This allows friendly forces to return fire effectively. It can also calculate where enemy rounds will land.
The radar system is the size of a ping-pong table and is mounted on an all-terrain tracked vehicle.
While it has not been decided how many personnel will be deployed to Oruzgan, it usually takes four soldiers to operate the radar system.
The machine and men would be part of the growing list of over 2,000 servicemen who have been deployed in missions overseas, including multinational reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other peace-support operations sanctioned by the United Nations.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
