The Singapore Armed Forces

Singapore Armed Forces

The Singapore Armed Forces is the military arm of the Total Defence of the Republic of Singapore; as well as the military component of the Ministry of Defence. The SAF comprises three branches: the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Navy...

' Advanced Combat Man System (ACMS) is part of the SAF's move to integrate into 3G to progressively provide tactical units with network capabilities.

Key Components

• Personal Radio - The radio enables soldiers to share information, in the form of data and voice, with other soldiers. It has a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) that helps the soldier's command headquarters to track his location and that of friendly forces.
• Communication Keypad - This portable keypad, designed for easy data input, also has hotkey buttons such "On-Contact" and "Call-For-Medic" to enable quick updates of the team's status to the command headquarters, and request assistance from nearby forces at the push of a button.
• Portable Computer - The brain of the ACMS, the portable computer processes data collected by sensors, GPS, other ACMSs and user input to provide real-time information updates on the battlefield.
• Head-mounted display (HMD) - The HMD can switch its displays from a digital map to satellite images of the terrain to videos captured by the various sensors. Through the HMD, soldiers can see locations of targets and friendly forces which are plotted on the digital map.
• Weapon Interactor - The section commander will also have an additional camera attached to his SAR 21, so that he can capture and send back images to the command headquarters through the quick buttons on the handguard. The sensor also allows him to survey and fire around corners without exposing himself.

In addition to the ACMS, soldiers are equipped with remote sensors such as a surveillance ball, a remote-control surveillance car and a key-hole sensor.

Deploying the ACMS

In each seven-man section, the section commander as well as two team leaders will be equipped with the ACMS. This allows the entire section to function as part of a larger network and tap on the wider resources of the battalion and call for more responsive and precise fire support.