I think the mechanisation of INF BN into a wheeled based mechanised IFV force like the stryker combat teams are a gd initiative.
The ammo tradition INF carry is limited and we do carry lesser ammos than the western military.This is bcos their troops are mechanised so they can ferry more eqp, ammos and rations. This will lead to lesser strain and burden to the troops as they are no longer travelling on foot.
Secondly, traditional foot soldiers are easy prey for enemy arty fire even in the vegetations. So for the IFV unless the ammo is some sort of anti armour flechettes, the chances of survival and lower casualty rates are high. Besides, if the IFV is carrying some sort of thermal imager and that the BMS is linked to UAVs, danger areas can be discovered earlier and thus be avoided.
Thirdly, the firepower is going to increase, as the chain cannon or the grenade laucher on it can provide additional fire support as compared to the traditional 84RR and MG

Well, I think the Ultimax will stilll stand a high chance............

Bcos most squad level automatic weapons for fire support, is either a watered-down MG eg. M249 or souped-up heavy barreled rifle eg. L85, Type95 LMG. The thing is Ultimax falls nicely in between these two category. While the souped up rifle can enjoy commonality of parts with the squad, the ROF is low, the barrel cannot be interchanged, like-wise, the water down MG is less controllable, and more heavy. Although the ultimax Mk4 have some short comings, but it offers some desirable features that may help it outshine the other competitiors.

Controllability: The low recoil of the Ultimax is well known. I remembered firing it without much memories of any significant recoil. The clip showing the Ultimax being fired by the chin is the best evidence of this property. Compare to how the well built host in the discovery channel video shake abt everytime he squeeze trigger. This is important as combat terrains are getting more and more urbanise. The M249 may have a front grip, but due to the recoil, the accuracy is sacrified. The may also be no available wall or flatform for you to deploy the bipod of the weapon. Judging from how the host shakes while firing the colt IAR, I wonder how accurate will the firing be.

Reputation: No doubt, colt may have more money for marketing, more lobby power, but the question is prevalent. The marines tested the Ultimax Mk4 and listed it as the most favourable candidate compared to other guns, so this is going to be more favorable to us as we already made a gd impression into their heads. Besides, the marines are frequently deployed over seas for combat missions, so I doubt they are willing to accept a weapon that they do not favor and press it for comabt, as it is a matter of life and death for them, so choosing one that is favored is the most prob option

I think the SAR-21 GL and M203 is both unbalanced. Bcos the SAR-21 is designed with a built in laser at the front to balance out the weight at the back due to bull-pup designs.

The problem with the SAR-21 GL and perhaps the SAR-21, is that the design of the hand guard and pistol grip is too bulbous, aka too fat and around to hold properly. I wonder too, if the iron sight of the weapon have been remedied anot?

I think it is bcos the current market is saturated with established SMG designs, so it is unwise to fight with the big players like H&K. The ST webbe claims this weapon is gonna replace police/army armaments, huh?? why?
Another thing is weapons like this with magazines placed in the pistol grip, how stable are they in operations?
I think this weapon is suitable for those non frontline combatants, like clerks, storeman, mechanics, maybe even the 2PDF. Just like how the Russian used their PPSHM during WW2

I think such weapons are not widely distributed among SAF troops, bcos if this weapon is deployed without caution, ur own troops may be at the receiving end of the firey fiesta. But ST recently designed the 40mm EBX rds, I wonder did SAF procure sure grenades.

These flame weapons in my impression, is very impt as our threat environment are getting more and more urbanized. The smoke fom thes pyrotechnics can be used to flush out enemies hidden in tunnels and confined areas.

I have seen quite a number of pics of European SF operating in Mercs G wagons in Afghanistan. Their vehicles are even more loaded with equipments and gears, I wonder do they turn turtle dat much, or is it NSF like to drive like Jay chou in his toufu truck, thus causing the mishaps.

I'm quite confused by Malaysian short-listed candidates. All of them are classified as medium heavy lifters, but why did they short list the blackhawk helo? I mean I think it is quite limited in lifting power isnt it? I guess......

This is a typical reminder of us not to believe blindly into what the mainstream media claims or show to the masses. I have seen PRC military forums boasting to the high heavens how gungho, invincible and super their troops are, this is just like how some SG forums think SAF is invincible.

Actually we cannot blame them for this.........

Back in the late 60s and early 70s, PRC experienced culture revolution, whereby only Mao philosophy and teachings of marxism is considered the 'right' and 'truthful' teachings. During that era many highly educated Chinese and intelligentias were sent to the rural areas for 'ideological reformation and rehabilation'. Religion and various cultural believes and practises are viciously attacked by the Red Guards as "niu gui she shen", literally translated as dangerous and deviant thinkings.

When my grandparents passed away, when I was arranging some of their letters and stuff, I cam across letters from them written by relatives in PRC lamenting abt the suffering during ther culture revolution, this was written during the 90s. In the letter, quotes, many of their ancestral tablets were burnt and the ancestral halls were destroyed as the authorities then view such practises as not in line with Mao influences.

I was wondering how is Malaysia going to stand tall and face the international community in the future. The 7X magnified photo, maybe we can say they are attempting to be shrewd to band the ICJ to their favour. But the blog? I mean Malaysia is not so poor that they cannot afford to send a maritime patrol aircraft to use long range cams to take the light house rite? I mean using a blog, speaks how seriously they take this matter. It is like writing a thesis paper quoting sources from Sun, new-paper, wan bao, etc…........

This has a little truth, back in the Han dynasty, Guangdong region is known as kingdom of Yue and Kingdom of Min. These two regions are of non-central plain ppls and they merger their territories with Han under reign of Han Wudi. So it is true ppls of guangdong are descendents of these tribal ppls, thus they look a little different from the northern ppls

For once, I will have to disagree with what andrew said.

This is not a PAP issue but a national issue. No matter which party, is in power today, they will have to stand up to protect the national iterest and sovereignty of our country. I believe this also applies to Malaysia. As eventhough they know their chances of winning the case is quite weak, but due to the strategic locations of those islands, they are trying to fight to the best position and advantage for their country.

Regarding your comments that if SG did not act in a so called arrogant and high-handed position, they will concede those island to us with a fair agreement. This statement might sound logical, but the question is, will the MY govt voluntarily cede those island to SG when it involves sovereignty and strategic interest? Under what conditions and terms will SG give in to them to get their acknowledgement that those islands belongs to us; and at what cost?

Regarding the so called military installations on those islands. I think the MY side is trying to raise a ruckus over a small issue or just cooking up some hearsay stories. Yes, they claim SG have military related installations on PB, but do they have evidences to that claim? If there is really some secret installation on that island that an threaten MY, why did their govt not openly exert diplomatic pressure on SG to remove them?
In fact, this is not the first time this type of hearsay, no-evidence nonsense appear on their main newspaper to stir up MY citizens' feeling against SG. Remember the "Johorean fishermen witness SG UAV flying in MY airspace and scaring away fishes" or the "SG military firing mortat bombs into MY waters". All these accusations after investigations all boiled down to rumors and false information, even MY official later made a public statement that such events never happened.
Besides, sir Elihu, is the lawyer for MY, for the sake of professionalism and the interest of his client, like a typical lawyer, hes has to twist and turn fact to the advantage of MY.

I doubt you can compare directly the various types of bows as described in the pics. These bows are designed and exploited with respect to the doctrine, tactics, availability of materials and geography of the terrain........
Like the pic of the mongolian archer, his bow must be short so as to ensure the flexibility of the user on horseback.........

I have read a book by Joseph needham a sinologist regarding the ancient Chinese usage of ballistics weapon. According to him, longbows are already in wide usage back in the 200BC. On top of that, crossbows were also widely used as early back in the Qin era. Crossbows though short in range, allows a heavier blow against a enemy at close range. Thus it is popular among the Chinese army as the time needed to train the user is shorter and it can penetrate the wooden shields used by the xiongnu.

A special type of crossbow known as "zhuge nu" was also created slightly later than Qin era, but it's creation is wrongly attributed to Zhuge liang. It is known as "lian nu" repeated crossbows. They have 5 bolts housed in a wooden built in magazine that allows the bolts to fall into the chamber when the bolt is fired, thus saving the time on reloading.

According to the book, the may difference between Chinese crossbow and western crossbow is that western bows fired full length arrow and deploys as complicated crank system, thus no doubt the range is slightly further than the Eastern design. The eastern design is more simple and more rapid in terms of firing.

Actually, I am quite disappointed with what Mr low has said. But we can see this perhaps as a technique to divert PXP's big guns from pointing at them, ever since the last election.

But look at it this way, in my opinion, opposition SHOULD EXIST TO CRITICISE. There is no such thing as a 'good' 'all-rounded' policies. So it is critical that we do have opposition to provide alternative point of views, alternative solutions so as to ferret out all possible flaws, possible negative outcome of a certain policy. Ppls can also make better decision and all views,scope are well-covered. This is just like doing project, even if a member in the team has a brilliant idea, a rigorous debate must be done so as to ensure the idea is not too biased or extreme.........

Look done the memory lane, haven't we seem too many examples of so called "good policy-gone wrong"? The two is enough campaign seen large amount of efforts to utilise education, media to enforce the idea of controlling the population growth. All these "SG cannot handle a 4 million population, too large population bring more harm than good" is just based on one man's perception and prediction into the future. Had SGreans been more vocal and hardline back then, SG today will not need to beg PRCs, Indians to bcome citizens and the disaster can be adverted.

Many will say "hey the p65 PXP mps can act as the alternative voice, lift the party whip", in theory yes, but in practise no. Bcos p65 are at the end of the day, members of PXP, would a bright promising PXP mp volunteer to criticise, thus killing the goose that lays the golden eggs? No. Even foreigners in SG can see who is the most impt figures and which 'clan' holds the most power within the PXP circle, so dun expect those p65 to be a chivalrous knight to fight against the authority. Most prob his/her fate will be like that of pres Ong. Besides, most PXP scholar mps have been living a life of luxury with their 10k salary, so most prob they dun understand the issues of ppls living in poverty.

All this talk abt merger, I think more or less it is a ruse tactic or merely one of those controversial talks let out of the loose gun(LXX).
I doubt he is crazy enough to even push forward the plans for a merger now as there are many underlying reasons.
SG broke awayf rom the federation due to the fact that PXP cannot agree with the Malaysia for malays system the UMNO had put forward back then. So if SG merge with MY, then it means LXX "kowtow" to the demands of UMNO or he has lost all means to let SG grow and develop further. Thus, he is willing to play second fiddle. But is he so stupid to allow such situation to happen. Think of it this way, would he rather be a king in a small kingdom or a small minister in a huge empire? No prize for guessing. With the bumi policy in place for so long, how would LXX gain their support if a merger is to happen? PXP may literally drown in the sea of this huge atmosphere.
Why I think this is a ruse is bcos. Most prob the PXP is gonna make news out of his comments, like running articles on the "lives of SGreans under merger". They will say things like unequal opportunities, racial policy, high crime rate, thus by contrasting to SG, they can "inflate" their so called success in these areas.

I was wondering since the recoil is negligible, why did the SAF bother to include the butt? I mean if we save up on the butt, the length of the weapon is shorter, thus making the user more mobile in cramp up alley, corridors, and the thick forst of SEA…......

Originally posted by CM06:

China needs them because they are a peace loving nation.

They respect the will of the people in other countries and so they do not lay a finger and interfer as the US does as international police.

Typical Chinese attitude of i will watch you die of thirst across the street while i relax in a pavillion drinking chill wine.

Thats bcos PRC is still developing it's infracstructure and economy to catch up with other developed nations. And she is not as silly as USSR to spend all it's time and money on building defense only. No doubt PRC can project naval power towards South china sea, but in terms of long term sustained long term projection, it is still not so possible. Therefore, I am not surprise that PRC is keeping a low profile and remaining cordial with the ASEAN claimants to the spratleys........

I more curious wad is RSAF next generation light lifting helo. The UH-1H have been retired from service for some time already but there is still no news for the replacements.

I thought all INF and GDS BDEs got snipers in them? The snipers are attached to the battalions during ops. Maybe they are getting more and more into urban ops, so they want to have snipers organic to the battalions rather than having snipers attached.
I was wondering why SAF never purchase semi-auto sniper rifles like M21 or M40. They provide more rapid fire power in enclosed urban operations where new targets might pop out more frequently........

Both America and Russians sell diluted version of a particular version of weapons to other countries. This is even so towards those nations very close to them. The Russian are also known to sell "monkey" versions of MBT and BMPs to the other countries and they equipped the satellite states with weaker weapons during USSR era.
So my qns is, so does ST sell diluted version of their weapons to other countries? Eg. if lets say country X is interested in the Bionix IFV, will MINDEF allow ST to sell a thinner armour, weaker firepower BX to them? Similarly, ST is working with OTOKAR to market the TERREX IFV to Turkey armed forces. But, MY purchases and is interested in purchasing more equipment from Turkey. Will this compromise our security if one day OTOKAR decides to sell the TERREX to MAF?
Another issue is the protection of sensitive info on military equipments. How much info will ST be willing to disclose to the buyer? I mean any foreign country can come forward to ST as a potential buyer, but in fact, they are trying to get info on some sensitive data on eg. BX or Tx..............

Neh........ I guess those must be some old stores that are already condemnned thus they give it to them, in the name of charity.
I wonder why SAF dun give them more practical stuffs. I mean showels and entrenching tools can be easily produced even in backyard iron mills, nothing really advanced.
Maybe SAF can give them old M-16 or SAR-80 rifles, I think the new Iraqi force need those arms more to combat insurgents.

Let me elaborate my stand more to clear some misunderstanding.......

I do not deny that it will be better for our troops to be equipped with sensor of 3G era.........BUT we got to see the situation too. I do not deny the POI guys need more protection as they may face terrorist acts, I do not deny that the UN teams need vest to protect them from rds fired from aggressor forces. But what I mean is that we need to factor in the level of mechanisation and the weather of the area of OPS. Eg. if 3SIR gets those vest, I have nothing to say, as they are operating in BUA ops and that SAF is toying with the idea of transforming some SIR into mechanised Inf, so the weight issue is not that significant. But for those general purpose infantry, with no luxury of mechanise support, the weight is going to kill them.........

Talking abt the basics, let me highlight an issue. Back in the days of using the 732 radio sets, they do not have a proper bandolieer to carry it. The funny thing is that it has been used for so long in SAF and no one bothers to invent a proper carrier setup!! End up the SC commander have to either put it in the poncho pouch or put it in the water bottle pouch, thus reducing the availability to drink fluids.

Sometimes, I thin SAF is obsessed with mimmicking the western armies in every way......

Yes, body armour is good, offer more protection against ballistic fragments, rounds, 3G FIBUA fighting gadgets and tools can increase the efficiency and capabilities of the troops in urban operations.......BUT SAF have forgotten that our infantry men are stil basically foot soldiers, and they carry whatever load they have to battle. Besides, our weather is very hot and humid, troops may end up suffering from heat exhaustion even before they hit for the objective. Western armies have wheeled AFV as mobility transport, so no matter how heavy the gear, they dun mind carrying. Furthermore, the built of westerners are larger, so their ability to carry more load is definite.

I think SAF should seriously spend more time to take care of the basics. Eg. is they should invent a variety of bandolieers that can carry things like maps, better LBV water pouch, more wear resistant LBV. Bcos even during my time, we have to carry those maps in those commercial plastic canister, and extra things have to be hooked onto the field pack using nets and bicycle hooks.

Originally posted by SpKCb:

according to the wiki page about the ultimax it says

"However, because the Ultimax 100 uses a different magazine catch from the M16, the magazines must be modified by drilling two holes on the left hand lip. The drum magazine is great for sustained fire, but can be reloaded only with the help of external tools because of its powerful internal springs. Due to this impracticality, the drum magazine is largely phased out of service in the Singapore Armed Forces.[citation needed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimax

I was just wondering if this was true or not.

Yes the M-16 magazines have to be drilled with two holes to allow the mag to be attached properly to the magazine well. I wonder with the introduction of SAR-21, is there any plans to introduce the SAR-21 mag into the ultimax100?