Mini drones used in SAF’s Forging Sabre exercise in US to boost battlefield resilience

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho - Moving about and working together autonomously, dodging obstacles and resisting disruptions to communications – these are features of three new drones making their debut at the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) ongoing overseas training exercise.

The Ascent Spirit, Skydio X10 and Neros Archer are micro or mini drones deployed by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) at Exercise Forging Sabre – one of the armed forces’ most complex overseas drills – to raise operational efficiency during missions.

The drones work as part of what Lieutenant-Colonel Tay Cheng Chuan described as a “multi-tier concept” – the use of various drones with different capabilities alongside manned platforms, which brings complementary strengths to the field.

LTC Tay is the commanding officer of SAF’s new drone unit Droid, or Drone Rapid Operationalisation, Integration and Deployment. Formed in July, the unit researches, experiments with and tests small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems for SAF operations.

This marks Droid’s first participation in

Exercise Forging Sabre

, a biennial exercise that runs from Sept 6 to 21 at Mountain Home Air Force Base in the US state of Idaho – where the airspace for the training area is more than 20 times Singapore’s size.

Ten Ascent Spirit drones, as well as four Skydio X10 and four Neros Archer drones, will be used in the 2025 exercise, out of a total of 24 drones deployed. The previous edition in 2023 involved 11 drones in all.

LTC Tay said: “By harnessing the strengths and capabilities of each asset, we are able to achieve mission success and be more resilient against things such as weather and attrition due to threats.”

He added that the present-day battlefield is challenging, with enemy threats and difficult conditions, and UAVs are meant to help get around these limitations.

The Ascent Spirit has been adapted to be able to fly in an autonomous swarm. This means multiple drones can work together in a designated area without human input, and they decide how to split the area among themselves to search for targets.

This capability comes from an algorithm that the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) developed, said LTC Tay, and the Ascent Spirit drone is modified with specialised hardware that runs this algorithm.

The drone is 30.5cm tall and 10.6cm wide, with a tip-to-tip diameter of 64.8cm with its blades extended.

The vehicle, without battery or payload, weighs 1.8kg, and can remain in the air for 53 minutes in certain conditions. It is capable of speeds of up to 65kmh, and can operate at a maximum height of 5,000m above mean sea level.

Its counterpart, the Skydio X10, is able to avoid obstacles on its own and navigate in an environment without Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, letting operators focus on the mission without worrying about obstructions.

It uses vision-based navigation and can zoom in up to 128 times.

The Skydio X10 is slightly larger than the Ascent Spirit, measuring 79cm by 65cm by 14.5cm when unfolded, with propellers deployed. Including its batteries, the drone weighs 2.11kg. It can reach speeds of up to about 72kmh, and stay airborne for a maximum of 40 minutes per flight.

The Neros Archer is the fastest among the three, reaching speeds of more than 100kmh. It is built to operate in areas where communications or GPS may be jammed.

It is capable of carrying a 2kg payload over 20km.

All three drones are available as off-the-shelf models.

Mr Jeremy Wong, head of unmanned aerial system innovation at DSTA’s Air Systems Programme Centre, said the three drones offer a good balance in terms of capability.

“We can perform search and locate with a certain drone, and high-speed chases with another.”

LTC Tay said: “Each asset has its own strengths and weaknesses. By building this toolkit, we are able to use drones appropriate for whichever situation.”

Exercise Forging Sabre allows Droid and DSTA to trial them in realistic scenarios and improve the technology.

For the Ascent Spirit, the exercise lets them test the algorithm in a mission scenario, LTC Tay said, with the algorithm being enhanced continuously.

“We get the data, validate it, and this can be used to further improve the development,” he said, adding that once finalised, this can be scaled up to give many drones the same capability.

Mr Wong said the exercise gives engineers a chance to test how various drone platforms can be integrated into the software used by staff running the command post on the battlefield.

This will allow them to tap the data and capabilities from all the drones.

“Out here in the field, we are able to refine the software and hardware in real time, based on feedback from operators and mission planners,” Mr Wong said, adding that this enables them to deliver upgrades within days.

He said the exercise helps his team to learn to adapt quickly to new technologies, while also testing if systems developed with the industry and SAF’s partners can hold up in real-world conditions.

“The insights gained will be used to validate these technologies’ practicality, effectiveness and suitability for our operations,” he said.

The large airspace at Mountain Home Air Force Base is also a luxury, Mr Wong said.

“To have the ability to fly the actual distances that systems need, and to test out even simple things like range, communications resilience, over here has been very beneficial to our systems and our engineers.”

More than 800 personnel are involved in the 2025 exercise, which brings together air and ground assets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, Singapore Army and the Digital and Intelligence Service.