EXPLOITING TECHNOLOGY TO TACKLE MARITIME THREATS

Many navies around the world face two major challenges these days. Besides dealing with ever-evolving transnational and multifaceted maritime threats, they have to contend with fewer resources because of defence budget reductions as a result of the global financial crisis.

Permanent Secretary for Defence Development Dr Tan Kim Siew pointed this out in his opening address at the Naval Technology Seminar on 20 May.

To cope with such challenges, Dr Tan said that navies must respond by exploiting technology further: "We will need to rely more on the intelligent application of the latest technologies in order to fulfil the more complex operational requirements of the future, while making do with less resources."

He also mentioned that technological advancements in the areas of command and control as well surveillance systems, and the increased flexibility and scalability in naval platforms would have a major impact in the near future of navies.

"Emerging areas of development such as smart munitions, non-lethal weapons and sustained work in established fields such as telecommunications, satellite technology, information technology and electronics continue to bring unprecedented capability enhancement to navies," Dr Tan added.

Themed "Enabling technologies, advanced capabilities", the seminar was held at the Changi Exhibition Centre. Gathering more than 300 participants from 30 countries, the seminar provided a platform for senior naval officers, technology managers, operators, engineers and academia from the Asia Pacific region and beyond to exchange ideas on the latest development in naval technologies.

Topics discussed at the seminar included advanced naval platforms, unmanned technology, maritime domain awareness and underwater technology.

Commenting on how the seminar has benefited him, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) participant Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Teng Haw Kiad, said: "It's insightful to hear how different countries strike a balance between research on future capability development and investing in current capabilities."

"I'm guiding the research and technology investment for the RSN, so it's useful for me to hear about technological breakthroughs in different countries, because it will help us prioritise our investments," added the Deputy Head of the Naval Surface Warfare Centre.

Another participant, Mr Hakan Soderstedt, agreed. As the Head of the Submarine Office, Naval Procurement Command, Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, he is involved in providing the Swedish Armed Forces with systems, methods, military equipment and hardware to increase the safety and security of Swedish society.

He said: "It's interesting to get a wider perspective of what other nations are doing in the area of naval technology, and the topics discussed at the seminar give me a better idea of the direction in which naval technology is heading. This helps me to know the kinds of hardware we should focus on."

The Naval Technology Seminar is held biennially with the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEX) Asia 2011. This is the 12th edition of the seminar since it was organised in 1992.