Australia and Singapore have conducted training to upskill and improve interoperability in counter-chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) missions.
The activity involved scenario-based CBRNE simulations aboard the Perth-class guided missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane as it was stationed at Sembawang in northern Singapore.
Participants included the Australian Army’s Special Operations Engineer Regiment (SOER) personnel and their Singapore Army counterparts.
“It was great working together with the Singapore combat engineers from 39 Battalion, our Defence Science and Technology Group and Singapore’s DSO National Laboratories to use our collective skills to tackle some really complex problem sets,” SOER contingent commander Captain O said.
“We all learned something more about each other’s capability from the interaction, particularly the scenario training, and we’re all looking forward to working together again.”
Enhanced Counter-CBRNE Cooperation
The activity was the second iteration of the counter-CBRNE scenario training between SOER and the Singapore Army.
Since its inauguration in June, the training enabled progress in cooperation between the combat engineers.
“The growth in terms of rapport, interoperability, complexity and the integration of the science and technology elements was outstanding,” Defence Science and Technology Group’s Simon Martinovic said.
“We really pushed the boundaries as a collective and are well placed to take cooperation to new heights as part of [Exercise Indo-Pacific Endeavour 24].”
The recent training aligns with Australia and Singapore’s support of the Proliferation Security Initiative.
Signed in 2003, the multinational policy was created to prevent the illegal transport of mass destruction weapons and associated elements. To date, over 100 governments have endorsed the initiative.