Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Thales have signed a “master agreement” to enhance the capabilities of the company’s Defence Hub for the Singapore Armed Forces.
Launched in Ayer Rajah Crescent, the facility will provide local developments, digital technologies, and long-term lifecycle maintenance services for the Singaporean military.
The hub will conduct digital research alongside Thales’ Radar Center of Excellence.
“Through this Defence Hub, we aim to provide the highest technical advancements and standards expected by our customers and end-users with the latest and best technology for defence capabilities on our systems,” Thales Land and Air Systems Senior Vice President Christophe Salomon said.
Retaining Singaporean Defense Capabilities
The contract builds on a memorandum of understanding signed between DSTA and Thales last year to bolster cooperation on data exchange and radar digital technology research.
By implementing the agreements, Singapore and Thales expect enhanced interoperability to benefit the country’s armed forces.
The partnership will also see Thales’ engineering and services experts deployed to the Defence Hub for improved research quality and delivery.
The added defense industry personnel will boost customer relations and reduce downtime risks during critical periods.
“This new agreement moves DSTA to take an agile and nimble approach to capability development,” DSTA Operations Deputy Chief Executive Roy Chan stated.
“It enables us to continuously innovate and upgrade our systems to retain the capability to handle new threats in our challenging operating environment, in great contrast to the conventional way of developing mid-life upgrades every 10-15 years.”
“This collaboration… demonstrates DSTA’s pursuit of excellence in deepening worldwide collaborations across a broad spectrum of military, commercial partners and academia to nurture innovation.”
According to Thales, DSTA and the company also plan to co-develop and support Singapore’s future Radar Digital Twin, a virtual radar platform to develop solutions addressing evolving threats.