Page 138 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

138 LAND WARFARE REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER 2022-OCTOBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
URBAN WARFARE TRAINING
Given Singapore’s urban density, it might come as a sur- prise for outsiders to learn that Singapore’s army does not put a lot of focus in urban operations, although there has been an increase in such training in recent years.
That is due in part to Singapore’s little-spoken of doc- trine of “active defence”, where it seeks to avoid fighting on Singapore proper as much as possible in the first place to minimise destruction and casualties on the densely popu- lated island.
The evaluations look at the unit’s ability to conduct mis- sions up to the battalion level, looking at various aspects of a unit’s readiness in its ability to plan, prepare and execute a mission from the individual, small unit and up to bat- talion level.
The evaluation will be supported by neutral umpires and Opposing Forces (OPFOR) drawn from various Singapor- ean training institutes, and following the exercise, the unit that is being evaluated will then be graded according to its Readiness Condition (REDCON).
OTHER PARTICIPANTS
Exercise Wallaby also involves the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) Helicop- ter, Transport, Divisional Air Defence and Tactical Air Support Groups, providing sup- port to Army training. This includes integra- tion with helicopters and C-130H Hercules transport aircraft performing troop inser- tion and airborne resupply operations.
Instead, in the event of it assessing that a conflict is inevitable, it will make the first move and establish a defence line in a neigh- bouring country to start the defence from there, and is why the SAF still focuses a lot on armoured manoeuvre and jungle warfare.
“IN RECENT YEARS THE EXERCISE HAS FOLDED INTO EXERCISE TRIDENT, A BILATERAL TRAINING ACTIVITY WITH THE ADF”
Nevertheless, it still conducts urban op-
erations as part of its training and is also
incorporated into Exercise Wallaby. At the
2014 and 2018 iteration, Exercise Trident –
which also involved the ADF – saw the event
kick-started with troops from both armies
embarked on professional interactions such as the sharing of different urban operations drills, tactics and techniques.
The helicopters have usually been the AS332M/M-1 Super Puma and more recent- ly, CH-47D/F Chinook transport helicopters based with
the RSAF training detachment at Oakey in Queensland. Singapore announced a decision to replace its Super Pu- mas with the Airbus H225M in 2016 and its Chinooks with the newer CH-47F in 2018. As the drawdown of the Super Pumas began, they were initially replaced in 2018 with five RSAF CH-47Ds formerly assigned to the Peace Prairie de- tachment in Texas, before these were themselves replaced with the first of what will eventually become ten new-build
CH-47Fs beginning in 2021.
Singapore also flies in additional Singapore-based heli-
The activity was conducted at SWBTA’s Urban Ops Training Facility, and also involved both armies conducting joint urban operations drills, such as room clearing opera- tions, as a joint section.
Holding the exercise in the expanses of SWBTA also gives the SAF an ideal opportunity to evaluate its units. The Army Training Evaluation Centre (ATEC) evaluates a unit’s combat proficiency for infantry, guards, commando and armour units at the exercise.
LEFT: A Republic of Singapore Air Force AH-64D Apache in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area during Exercise Wallaby
SINGAPORE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE