Soldiers from the Singapore Infantry Regiment's 5th Battalion test the new Vesper UAV that has been recently inducted by the service. (Singapore Army)
The Singapore Army has inducted a tactical surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to enhance situational awareness on the battlefield.
This portable quadcopter named Vesper – developed by California-based Vantage Robotics – was procured by the Singapore Army in partnership with the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), the army announced on Facebook earlier in September.
Vesper can operate in varied weather conditions to conduct persistent aerial surveillance and transmit high-quality video feeds to the ground control station (GCS), the Singapore Army said.
It added that Vesper can be deployed “in a free flying or tethered mode”. Vesper was used by the 5th Battalion of the Singapore Infantry Regiment (5 SIR) during Exercise ‘Panther Strike', which is the final tactical field exercise of the army's Infantry Officer Cadet Course.
Images released by the Singapore Army show 5 SIR soldiers using Vesper in a simulated counter-terrorism operation in an urban setting. Vesper can be seen monitoring targets inside a building.
During Exercise ‘Panther Strike', the Infantry Scouts team launched Vesper to conduct aerial surveillance on targets before the arrival of the infantry forces, the Singapore Army said.
The army added that Vesper could be taken out from its carrying case, prepared, and launched within 90 seconds. Using the information collected by Vesper, commanders were able to make adjustments to their operational plans to enhance mission success.
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