1.
12/12/1991 STimes New SAF radar can spot long-range gun positions
The use of TPQ-37 radar to trace the enemy's long-range artillery before launching accurate firing THE SAF now has a highly sophisticated radar which can locate long-range artillery and rocket launcher positions within seconds after firing.
2. 21/11/1991 STimes
Page: L1to L4
Headline: Singapore's Military Shoppers
By: Jenny Lam
: A mine-hunter at work. Singapore's model will be
similar to the one below. (Page L2)
Pix of Rosemary Yeo and Hor Gar Yin (Page L1)
Pix of e
a mine disposal vehicle, FH 88 Howitzer and Super Skyhawk fighter plane(Page L1)
Face-cut of Tan Kim Siew (Page L2)
More stories on Pages L2, L3 and L4
Mine-hunters that detect mines in Singapore waters, super eyes in the sky that zoom in on intruder vessels. Equipment like these are the business of a
special breed of engineers from the Defence Materials Organisation, who scour the world for the best for Singapore defence. Exclusive reports by Jenny Lam on Pages Two, Three and Four.
THE stereotyped image of engineers as a quiet breed is shattered when one
deals with the Defence Materials Organisation (DMO) engineers.
"Aggressive and outgoing with strong personalities" is how the DMO director,
Colonel Tan Kim Siew, describes them.
But then, these are no ordinary engineers. They perform a highly unusual
hush-hush job: They scour the world for the best possible weapons and military systems to defend Singapore.
Besides having at least second class honours, they must be able to outtalk
and outmanoeuvre defence suppliers who "are pretty tough to deal with".
"We cannot have mousey, wishy-washy types and those who get pushed around, as they have to be able to get the best deals from suppliers," says 37-year-old Col Tan.
These engineers, who have to ensure that every gun, ship and plane bought is effective and safe for use by the soldiers, form the core of the DMO, which is part of the Defence Technology Group of the Ministry of Defence.
Armed with an annual budget of about $1 billion, DMO is responsible for
providing the Singapore Armed Forces with the most cost-effective military
systems.
This amount is part of the Defence Ministry's overall budget which is pegged
at 6 per cent of Singapore's Gross Domestic Product.
While taxpayers may raise their eyebrows at the $1 billion figure, it is
actually not a large sum, according to Col Tan, who has a PhD in Control
Engineering.
In an interview in his office at Paya Lebar Airport where DMO is based, he
says: "One billion dollars is very little because the Navy, Air Force and Army
all want the best and the wish-list far exceeds that amount."
Because DMO's shopping list is long, with requests ranging from uniforms to
communications systems and jet fighters, it "has to make sure every cent is
well spent and try to save as much as possible by increasingly upgrading old
equipment", says Col Tan.
"Upgrading costs one third to half the cost of buying a piece of new
equipment. We try to use an equipment like the A4 Skyhawk to its maximum life span and then retrofit it to give it a new lease of life."
Buying and upgrading are just two of the tasks facing the engineers. With the accumulation of expertise over the years, DMO's engineers are increasingly required to modify new purchases to suit local operational needs.
The group has even designed and built two new systems in conjunction with
defence contractors - the FH-88 Howitzer and the Navy's missile corvett........
3.U rarely see so much pages spent in Sg Defense and in Life pages.
Show of musles?