Collaboration between Singapore and US Defense Innovation Unit to address ‘unauthorized drones’ in the Indo-Pacific region | Defense

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks with Singapore Minister for Defense Ng Eng Hen prior to a bilateral alternate at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., July 15, 2024. (DoD photograph by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)

WASHINGTON — As the US army seeks cost-effective methods to fight the menace of drones on land and at sea, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Singaporean Ministry of Defence introduced this week they're internet hosting a 12-week initiative to discover “novel” unmanned aerial automobile communications programs to assist ships shut to shore observe and disrupt “unauthorized drones.”

“We are proud to contribute to the strategically important effort to deepen bilateral cooperation with Singapore in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific and look forward to working with our Singaporean partners to deliver concrete solutions that address the pressing security challenge of unauthorized drones, as well as critical support for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” DIU Director Doug Beck mentioned in a Thursday press release.

“We are eager to see what the international innovation base — starting with the great technology in Singapore and the US — delivers in support of these important missions.”

Not simply any firm can take part in this problem although; firms have to be characterised as an early-mid-stage firm or a non-traditional company, in accordance to the press launch. Additionally, the firms both have to be US-owned and -operated, from a NATO nation, from the Five Eyes Alliance, a part of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or a part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

This is the first official collaboration between the DIU and Singapore to come out of a Memorandum of Understanding for Defense Cooperation, in accordance to the press launch. The memorandum was signed at the finish of May by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng He primarily based on the settlement that each nations would dedicate sources to shipboard counter-unmanned plane programs and electromagnetic interference resilience. 

The May settlement preceded one other signed in July between the two nations to enhance their synthetic intelligence ties. However, that settlement got here mere days after Singapore signed a similar agreement on civilian synthetic intelligence with China.

Related: US-Singapore enhance synthetic intelligence ties, after small nation made earlier settlement with China

“The agreement [with the US] is a next step in Singapore-US security cooperation, and supports the relationship in addressing an evolving issue of common concern,” Ian Chong, affiliate professor at the National University of Singapore and an knowledgeable on the Chinese army, instructed Breaking Defense in July following the AI settlement. “Singapore, however, will have to somehow deconflict cooperation with the United States with the digital and cyber cooperation programs it also has with the PRC.”

Regarding the new DIU-Singapore initiative, firms have till Oct. 30 to take part in the problem, and, in accordance to the press launch, the winner will obtain a part of the $300,000 prize pool.