US, Singapore to work together on counter-drone, electronic warfare tech

SINGAPORE — The U.S. and Singapore have agreed to collaborate more closely on defense innovation as part of a broader effort by the Pentagon to pair the American defense industry with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Signing the agreement on the U.S. side was Doug Beck, head of the Defense Innovation Unit, which helps the Defense Department adopt commercial-style technology.

In line with that mission, the new memorandum of understanding commits the two countries to cooperate on adopting tech that has both commercial and military uses. The main areas of focus for this work will be on maritime security and counter-drone systems, according to a Defense Department statement.

Part of the agreement will include “joint challenges” for counter-drone tech launched from ships, while another portion focuses on making systems resilient to jamming and other electronic warfare capabilities. The challenges are a way to kick-start the two countries’ work, Beck said in an interview.

The dates for each challenge aren’t set, but Beck said the goal is to start them both in about a month. The U.S. and Singapore will agree on the specific goals and criteria, and then allow companies from either country to apply. From there, the U.S. and Singapore will decide what kind of contracting tool they want to use to buy the offerings.

“That’ll yield winners that will then go into each of our systems,” he said.

These challenges resemble one held earlier this year by the U.S., the U.K. and Australia as part of AUKUS, a defense pact focused on nuclear-powered submarines and other advanced technology. The AUKUS competition allows defense companies from all three countries to compete around a problem focused on electronic warfare .

Alongside Beck, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue , a security summit that draws officials across the Indo-Pacific. The event is hosted by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.

One of the U.S. government’s top messages at the conference — as it has been during President Joe Biden’s term — has been linking America’s defense industry with other countries.

In the last several years there have been multiple agreements to do so. General Electric agreed last year to manufacture fighter jet engines in India for the country’s Air Force. Japan and the U.S. agreed to work together on the development of glide-phase interceptors, which are meant to counter hypersonic missiles . And under AUKUS, American and Australian defense companies are working closely together .

Such co-development has become a higher priority amid the war in Ukraine, which has highlighted issues in America’s own ability to surge production of key weapons as well as innovate against the latest challenges, including electronic warfare.

Beck said the first time he spoke with partners in Singapore was last fall, shortly after he took his current job. He cited this agreement, seven months later, as evidence of how fast the partnership could move.

“We said let’s make something happen,” Beck said.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

新加坡——美国和新加坡已同意在国防创新方面开展更紧密的合作，这是五角大楼将美国国防工业与印太地区国家联系起来的更广泛努力的一部分。

代表美方签署协议的是国防创新部门负责人道格·贝克，该部门负责帮助国防部采用商业化技术。

根据这一使命，新的谅解备忘录承诺两国将在采用兼具商业和军事用途的技术方面开展合作。美国国防部的一份声明指出，这项工作的重点领域将是海上安全和反无人机系统。

该协议的一部分将包括针对舰载反无人机技术的“联合挑战”，另一部分则侧重于提升系统抵御干扰和其他电子战能力的能力。贝克在接受采访时表示，这些挑战旨在启动两国的合作。

各项挑战的具体日期尚未确定，但贝克表示，目标是在一个月左右的时间内启动这两项挑战。美国和新加坡将就具体目标和标准达成一致，然后允许两国公司申请。之后，美国和新加坡将决定使用何种合同工具来采购产品和服务。

“这样就能产生优胜者，然后这些优胜者将被纳入我们各自的系统中，”他说。

这些挑战与今年早些时候美国、英国和澳大利亚作为AUKUS防务协议的一部分而举办的一项挑战赛类似。AUKUS协议是一项专注于核动力潜艇和其他先进技术的防务协议。AUKUS竞赛允许来自这三个国家的国防公司围绕一个以电子战为重点的问题展开竞争。

与贝克一同出席香格里拉对话的还有美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀，他与新加坡总理黄循财在香格里拉对话期间举行了会晤。香格里拉对话是一项汇聚印太地区各国官员的安全峰会，由总部位于伦敦的国际战略研究所主办。

美国政府在本届大会上传递的主要信息之一——正如乔·拜登总统任期内一直强调的那样——是将美国的国防工业与其他国家联系起来。

过去几年里，各方已达成多项合作协议。通用电气去年同意在印度为印度空军生产战斗机发动机。日本和美国同意合作研发滑翔拦截器，用于对抗高超音速导弹。此外，在“奥克斯”（AUKUS）合作框架下，美国和澳大利亚的国防企业也在密切合作。

在乌克兰战争期间，这种联合研发变得更加重要，这场战争凸显了美国自身在大幅提高关键武器产量以及创新应对最新挑战（包括电子战）方面的能力存在问题。

贝克表示，他第一次与新加坡的合作伙伴洽谈是在去年秋天，也就是他上任不久之后。他以七个月后达成的这项协议为例，说明这种合作关系进展之快。

贝克说：“我们当时就想，不如做点什么吧。”

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。