PUBLISHED ONSeptember 10, 2025 10:00 AMBYLim KeweiMOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho - With the shift of a joystick, a Neros Archer drone whirs to life, kicking up a cloud of sand as it lifts off.
It quickly cuts through the clear blue sky, soaring over a mini 'city' made of container blocks. At a distance, a ground station control device displays a first-person view of the drone.
The Neros Archer is one of three types of micro unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) employed by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) at this year's Exercise Forging Sabre in the US.
Over 800 troops are involved in the exercise held in Idaho, US, from Sept 6 to 21, and sees more drones being used alongside manned platforms for integrated strike operations.
At Saylor Creek Range in Mountain Home, members of the RSAF's newly established Drone Rapid Operationalisation, Integration and Deployment (DROID) unit demonstrated to the media the capabilities of the Neros Archer and Skydio X10 micro drones.
The drone unit was inaugurated in July 2025 and is participating in Exercise Forging Sabre for the first time.
DROID commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Tay Cheng Chuan explained that these two commercially available drones are "stock", which means they are unmodified.
Four Neros Archer and four Skydio X10 are being employed in this drill. The former drone is resistant to jamming while the latter can operate in a GPS denied environment and perform obstacle avoidance.
A third commercially available micro drone, the Ascent Spirit, is also making its debut at this exercise.
Fitted with a customised payload — a piece of extra gear — this drone can operate autonomously because of the navigation and detection algorithms integrated into the payload by the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).
This allows drone swarming, referring to when multiple drones autonomously collaborate in a mission without human inputs and intervention.
At Exercise Forging Sabre, the three types of micro drones provide intelligence on the battlefield to warfighters in the command post, who assess the situation and task assets accordingly.
"By harnessing the strengths and capabilities of each [micro drone] asset, we are able to achieve mission success and be more resilient against things such as weather and attrition due to threats," said LTC Tay.
Jeremy Wong, head of UAS Innovation at the Air Systems Programme Centre at DSTA, also added that the algorithm of the Ascent Spirit is continuously being enhanced throughout the drill based on mission requirements.
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lim.kewei@asiaone.com