Singapore’s plan to trial weaponised unmanned drones has put a spotlight on Southeast Asia’s fast-growing interest in systems that can track and strike at targets without putting operators directly in harm’s way.
But as countries race to upgrade their drone and counter-drone capabilities, analysts say regulation, transparency and confidence-building will be crucial to prevent accidents or miscalculations that could fuel regional tensions.
Singapore announced on Thursday that it would start trialling weaponised unmanned systems in the coming months.
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Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam said Singapore’s security agencies had been adapting technology in their operations for some years.
Asked whether growing threats made such technologies more urgent, Shanmugam said hostile actors around the world were also adapting their methods.
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“You see that people who want to do you harm. You see it around the world,” he said during his visit to the police coastguard’s Brani base. “The kind of technologies they use, and the threat of terrorism, attacks, and so on, have been there, and I would say, are increasing.”
He added that Singapore’s Home Team had been moving in this direction “for some years now”, because of manpower shortages and technological change.