SAF's new indoor firing range hits the mark

SINGAPORE - Singapore's soldiers will spend a lot more time sharpening their marksmanship at the Republic's latest indoor firing range, which was officially opened on Friday.

With the seven indoor ranges at the new Multi-Mission Range Complex, combat troops will get 60 per cent more training lessons.

They will also learn shooting techniques useful for combat in built-up urban areas.

The complex at Pasir Laba is wholly managed by a consortium of civilian companies including Certis Cisco.

This frees servicemen from administrative tasks like retrieving spent cartridges and issuing ammunition, which they used to do, to focus on combat training.

It is the world's first marksmanship training centre to have multiple firing ranges that provide training for different shooting missions and simulation for both day and night environments.

It will also be used to train operationally ready national servicemen (NSmen) more frequently than they are now.

The state-of-the-art facility has features not found in other firing ranges. For instance, it can use realistic computer-generated images to simulate scenarios like "terrorists" taking hostages in Changi Airport.

There is also an urban operations range which mimics a building for soldiers to take down targets in a "cluttered city". It can create up to 10 scenarios, a far cry from the current outdoor urban range, which is more limited.

This "gamechanging" marksmanship training allows soldiers to hone their techniques and judgment about whether they are shooting friend or foe, said Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson Wu, who oversees the running of the complex.

Technology can create realistic scenarios so that soldiers no longer "just shoot at a distance within a certain time" but have to make split-second decisions about whether to fire or not, said Lt-Col Wu, who also heads the training development branch in the army's 9th Division.

The ranges, which can also be used by the Singapore Police Force, are all-weather, so delays that used to be caused by bad weather can be avoided.

Also, its capacity means 900 soldiers can complete their shooting tests within a day; before, it used to take two or three days to test the same number of soldiers.

Besides saving time, the 3ha building will also free up 22ha of land now occupied by five Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) outdoor firing ranges. These will make way for other developments next year.

With the new complex, the SAF will have seven indoor and 10 outdoor ranges for training.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen declared the marksmanship training centre operational on Friday, six months after it first opened.

Already, 22,000 soldiers have used the facility.

Dr Ng said the complex, which has been in the works since 2008, shows how the SAF can exploit technology to meet training outcomes "more efficiently and effectively".

"The spirit of innovation and determination to find solutions despite pressing limitations reflects the SAF's can-do, will-succeed spirit," he said.

NSman Liang Lemin, 26, said: "We just have to clock in, shoot and clock out within a day... we don't need to worry and can focus solely on getting the drills and actions right."

Although the SAF is letting go of the teaching of marksmanship and ammunition control, it is not farming out safety and security during range training, said Chief Infantry Officer Chiang Hock Woon.

The commander of 9th Division said the SAF still maintains oversight through "regular audits" on the private companies.

He added that indoor shoot-outs will complement outfield training.

"Soldiers can strengthen their foundational skills before heading out, making training more effective and efficient."

NSman Christopher Wong, 26, said he benefited from having a civilian range instructor by his side when he fired his weapon.

"Having left full-time NS for some time, our skills tend to get rusty," he said. "So it's good for us to get feedback to brush up and correct our fundamentals in a controlled environment."

jermync@sph.com.sg

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