Skyblade III for the Xbox Generation

GATHERING intelligence on the enemy has become safer and a more effective exercise for the Singapore Armed Forces, thanks to a new air-surveillance system it put into use this year.

Last Thursday, the SAF demonstrated to the media the first mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed in Singapore.

Dubbed the Skyblade III, the army began using the craft in the middle of the year. By next month, six units, including the 3rd Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (3SIR), will be using the mini-UAV.

It also extends the scouts’ reconnaissance range, especially when their line of sight is blocked.Armed with it, army scouts can gather information on the enemy from the sky, without having to cross enemy lines.

The Skyblade III has a wing span of 2.6m – several times smaller than that of a standard UAV – and is remotely controlled by a soldier on the ground. It is equipped with a camera that can stream videos in real time to the soldier and his superiors.

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Ong Chee Boon, deputy group head of the army’s general-staff department, said the craft offers tactical advantages that standard UAVs cannot provide.

A “tactical force like a battalion” can deploy the Skyblade III “very quickly”, he said, adding that “anything of a higher class needs time and coordination and the responsiveness may therefore be lacking”.

The actual cost of the aircraft was not revealed, but SLTC Ong said it costs much less than standard UAVs and can be quite “cost effective”.

It does suffer one drawback, though: The Skyblade III can fly only an hour, compared to the several hours of standard UAVs.

But SLTC Ong said the craft is meant to complement the SAF’s existing UAVs and not to replace them. The SAF currently uses commercially bought mini-UAVs as well as standard UAVs.

Skyblade III was developed by members of the SAF, DSO National Laboratories, ST Aerospace, and the Defence Science and Technology Agency.

The first prototype was developed in 2001, and the second one, two years later.

SLTC Ong said the team studied commercial mini-UAVs and customised the designs to meet the SAF’s needs.

For instance, unlike that of many standard UAVs, Skyblade III’s ground-control system may be familiar to many video gamers as it uses gamepad-like controllers.

SLTC Ong said the design takes into account the new generation of soldiers who grew up with such technologies.

Indeed, 3SIR Third Sergeant Quek Jian Liang finds the craft a breeze to operate.

“For people of my generation, (controlling the mini-UAV) is like playing games on the Xbox or PlayStation Portable. It’s pretty easy,” the 20-year-old said.

Specification