SINGAPORE — With training as its “lifeblood”, the Army will bolster its training system, including optimising local training land, while beefing up simulation and overseas training, Chief of Army Melvyn Ong said.

Apart from plans for a new high-density urban-training facility in the Lim Chu Kang Training Area — announced by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen during April’s Budget debate — the Army will optimise its local training spaces in western Singapore because of constraints on land, to make training more efficient and realistic, Major-General (MG) Ong said on Wednesday in an interview to mark Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day.

The Army’s existing plots of land in the west will be integrated to form a battle circuit, where soldiers can receive training “for tactical issues”. Said MG Ong: “In the west, if you do a certain bit of training there, you (will) find that, in the way that we built it up over the years, we are not able to do other forms of training.”

The new urban training facility in Lim Chu Kang is set to feature elements including high-rise buildings, complex road networks, an MRT station and a bus interchange. This facility, MG Ong said, would allow the Army to play out urban and counter-terrorism scenarios during training.

The Army’s simulation training will also be stepped up. It will strengthen its “live virtual” simulation training, which merges live and virtual elements, allowing a small force to simulate a large-scale battle in the virtual space. An upcoming exercise between the US and Singapore armies, he added, will use an “army wargame simulation system” predicated on this live-virtual construct.

The Army’s shift to become a more motorised and mechanised force also meant more space was needed for training, MG Ong said, with the Army already training in many locations overseas, including Germany and Australia. KENNETH CHENG