RSAF'S Heron 1 UAV now fully operational

It has state-of-the-art avionics, detection capabilities and communications systems, as well as fully automatic take-off and landing capabilities. The Heron 1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is the latest Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) asset to achieve full operational capability (FOC), marking a new milestone in the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) capabilities.

Boasting longer flight endurance than its predecessor and equipped with a multi-mission sensor, the Heron 1 UAV is able to respond to a wide range of missions, including non-conventional threats. It replaces the Searcher-class UAV which has been in service since 1994.

At a ceremony held at Murai Camp on 15 Mar, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen said that the Heron 1's attainment of FOC was a boost to the SAF's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, making the organisation on par with other advanced militaries.

"The Heron 1 is among the most advanced UAV systems in its class, (being) able to perform several missions simultaneously with a suite of state-of-the-art sensors and enhanced range Apart from conventional operations, it can also be deployed against terrorist threats, given its persistence and wide area of coverage in surveillance."

Dr Ng also praised the professionalism and dedication of the UAV pilots, Air Imagery Intelligence Experts (AIRIXs), Air Force Engineers, as well as Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) scientists and engineers who contributed to the UAV's FOC attainment.

Since its inauguration in 2012, the Heron 1 UAV has participated in several exercises to validate its target acquisition and cooperative lasing capabilities, allowing RSAF pilots to engage targets more effectively. One such exercise was Exercise Forging Sabre 2015.

During the exercise, the Heron 1 UAVs' enhanced air intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities provided real-time target analysis before the information was fed to the command post. Its cooperative lasing capabilities also helped the shooters to take out multiple moving targets concurrently.

F-15SG pilot Captain (CPT) Sivaraj Arumugam, who took part in the exercise, felt that the Heron 1 UAVs gave them a huge advantage in strike missions. "The F-15SG only has the capability to lase one bomb at a time. When it comes to multiple moving targets, the Heron 1 UAV will help us lase the additional bombs on the other targets, so that we don't miss out on any. By doing that, (we can) achieve simultaneous hits within a shorter time," said the 30-year-old.

Another capability that the Heron 1 UAV brings to the table are coloured pictures with sharper resolution. Its predecessor could only generate black and white images.

This is a boon for AIRIXs like Military Expert (ME) 4 Yap Chee Meng, who analyses the UAV images.

"The coloured images and sharper resolution allows us to better analyse the terrain and behavior of targets. For instance, (after analysing) the image of a tank that the Heron 1 UAV is feeding me, I can guide the UAV pilot to other areas that the targets are possibly at to search for the rest of the convoy," said the 46-year-old, who used to be a Searcher UAV pilot.

The Heron 1 UAVs are also a huge aid when it comes to homeland security and counter-terrorism operations.

Commanding Officer (CO) of 119 Squadron (SQN) Major (MAJ) John Samuel said that apart from overseas exercises, the Heron 1 UAV has taken part in countless homeland security operations to ensure that Singapore always has eyes in the skies. The 31-year-old explained: "One of the biggest challenges we face is finding out what is happening where and when The Heron 1 UAV is able to (overcome these constraints) and provide better and faster intelligence for commanders on the ground to make decisions.

"Such capabilities give us greater situational awareness, and we put ourselves through multi-agency exercises to make sure that we are (always) ready."