ST Explains: How the SAF’s drone push for recruits reflects new battlefield realities

SINGAPORE – All recruits trained at the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) on Pulau Tekong will soon learn to use drone technology and how to counter it.

Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing announced this during a visit to BMTC on Aug 4, and emphasised that apart from skills, the aim is for soldiers to expand their situational awareness, given the proliferation of drones in militaries around the world and recent conflicts.

The Straits Times explains the significance of this move by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to broaden drone training to the vast majority of enlistees.

Why train recruits on drones?

Conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war have shown the lethality and effectiveness of simple and low-cost civilian drones, both against soldiers and in neutralising far more expensive military hardware.

Given that drones are now an essential part of warfighting, the SAF’s move to train the majority of its soldiers in basic drone operations is part of its adaptation to this “new normal”, said S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) associate research fellow Thomas Lim.

Giving soldiers a head-start by initiating training from BMTC is also a solution to the “tedious process, both conceptually and logistically”, of infusing a new asset across the SAF, especially one like drones that require organisation-wide implementation, added Mr Lim.

It could also help build a foundational understanding of such assets and their military use, on which more complicated skills can be added once these soldiers are deployed to specific formations and units, he said.

The move to involve recruits is also the SAF recognising that drone operations will be a staple for all kinds of operations, from high-end, front-line units like the commandos to back-end operations such as logistics, said Mr Chen Chuanren, senior editor at defence, aviation and aerospace publication Aviation Week Network.

The latest move follows the Ministry of Defence’s (Mindef) announcement earlier in 2025 that the SAF will ramp up both drone and counter-drone capabilities across its services.

At the debate on its budget in March, then Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the army have both set up their own centres to drive the development of drone warfare tactics and to scale up the use of unmanned vehicles for their units.

In the air force, an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Warfare and Tactics Centre has been established to develop UAS warfare and integration with other SAF forces, working with industries and tech agencies. The army has also established a similar centre, called the Drone Accelerator for Rapid Equipping, to scale up operations of unmanned air and ground vehicles for its units.

The SAF is also building up new counter-UAS capabilities, including jammers and weapons, said Dr Ng. These will be integrated into the Island Air Defence System, the multi-layered system of radar, sensors and missiles protecting Singapore from air threats. 

What will recruits learn at BMTC?

Training is done as a package, BMTC commander, Colonel Muhammad Helmi Khaswan, said during Mr Chan’s visit. 

It starts with a series of videos, followed by simulation training and then practice with the drones in the barracks, where recruits learn to manoeuvre them in an urban environment. 

The soldiers will then take the drones outfield and learn to operate them there, he said. 

The goal is to have all soldiers who pass through BMT trained in how to operate drones and counter them, starting at the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026, said COL Helmi.

The drones that reporters saw being used in the demonstration were a palm-sized, commercially available model – the Chinese-made DJI Neo, which costs $229 off the shelf and weighs 135g. The SAF adopted this drone model, which is mounted with a camera, in 2025.

ST has asked Mindef for details, such as the ratio of drones to recruits and how much time the recruits will spend training with the machines as part of their BMT training. 

Apart from technical skills, the aim is to train the next generation of national servicemen to have “three-dimensional spatial awareness” of the battlefield, said Mr Chan.

This is as drones have reshaped the battle space from what was once largely ground-based to one where the immediate airspace above a squad could present a threat, said COL Helmi.

Small drones carrying explosives have, for instance, been used to deadly effect on troops alone or in small groups in the Russia-Ukraine war.

While BMT will be the “first touchpoint” for soldiers to pick up drone-related skills, they could go on to operate different or larger drones that could deliver payloads or supplies, said the BMTC commander. This will depend on the units the recruits are posted to and their operational requirements.

During his visit to BMTC, Mr Chan was also shown other drones of various sizes used by the army, including the American-made Vesper and Parrot Anafi AI, and the local-made Ares.

How could these skills be deployed by the SAF?

In a June interview ahead of SAF Day, Mr Chan said security operations of the future will be more decentralised, with troops operating in smaller units using technology as a force multiplier.

Drones are likely to be a key piece of equipment in a soldier’s toolkit in such an environment.

They could help infantry soldiers carry out area reconnaissance and gather intel more safely and efficiently, said RSIS’ Mr Lim.

They could also be deployed as part of attack missions, said Aviation Week Network’s Mr Chen.

COL Helmi noted that while yesterday’s soldier would have one weapon, the soldier of the future may have to operate three or four different systems.

“You may have a communication system, you may have a battlefield management system, you may have a weapon, you may have a drone,” he said.

With the SAF’s plans to exploit more unmanned platforms, such as ground vehicles, soldiers will eventually be expected to integrate and manage these different assets in the field, said Mr Chen. 

“This concept is already being trialled by the Defence Science and Technology Agency, and we expect the technology to mature in the future,” he added.

Could these skills be useful after NS?

The move means that, eventually, a large proportion of Singaporeans will have basic drone operation skills. 

Given how unmanned systems are proliferating across the wider economy, this could become a skill with workplace relevance.

COL Helmi said: “We see drones being implemented in every sector, even in the delivery of logistics and supplies.

“Henceforth, all soldiers in the SAF, all 18-year-old males will leave BMT with the ability to fly drones. And I think that is a very powerful capability or enabler for any society.”

As these national servicemen transition back into their civilian lives, their knowledge of operating, countering and evading drones will also come into play if Singapore is ever attacked, given the way drone swarms are being used in contemporary conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East.