Singapore’s top defense innovation award, the Defence Technology Prize (DTP), has gone to three teams reshaping how the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) trains and fights.
Among the winners is the 15-member team behind SAFTI City, the country’s next-generation urban combat training complex.
The project, developed with support from the Defence Science and Technology Agency and ST Engineering, earned the DTP Engineering award for immersing soldiers in the realities of dense urban warfare.
“By now, you are all familiar that the geopolitics have changed — the way that we look at the world, and the assumptions we made about the partnerships, the global international and rules-based order,” Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing stated.
“We must leave no stone unturned, and we must not make the wrong assumptions or use outdated assumptions.”
SAFTI City
Modeled after a densely populated cityscape, SAFTI City features low- and high-rise buildings, multiple access points, interconnected structures, and subterranean spaces.
It also has an integrated transport hub, consisting of mock MRT platforms, a bus interchange, and an office complex.
Additional structures include a community center, school, malls, and hotels, while collapsed roofs and walls replicate damaged infrastructure for disaster-relief training.
The facility can host six company-level exercises with around 600 soldiers and up to two battalion-level missions with 1,200 troops, providing a scalable platform for realistic combat training.
Smart Training
The 17-hectare (42-acre) complex is wired with roughly 11,000 sensors, enabling real-time tracking of troop and vehicle movements.
Soldiers equipped with the laser-based Tactical Engagement System can simulate building engagements, while sound-effect systems project battlefield noise for added immersion.
Post-mission analytics and performance metrics provide feedback and add a layer of gamification to sustain engagement.
Other Winners
An advanced analysis team won for integrating AI and large-language models with operational data to drive faster analysis and sharpen decision-making,
The Guided Systems Technology Team was also recognized for advancing system design, simulation, and precision prototyping, boosting Singapore’s guided weapons capabilities.
