SINGAPORE: Mr Chan Chun Sing made his first visit to high-readiness units in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) on Tuesday (May 27) as the newly minted defence minister.

Mr Chan, who was previously the education minister, took on his new role at a swearing-in ceremony last Friday. 

During his visit on Tuesday, he observed routine readiness training by units from the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), and the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS).

He also caught the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) outfield helicopter deployment exercise known as Exercise Rover, which is conducted from May 22 to May 31.

Mr Chan was joined by Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad, Minister of State for Defence Desmond Choo, Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee, Chief of Defence Force Vice Admiral Aaron Beng, Permanent Secretary for Defence Development Melvyn Ong, and other senior officers from the SAF and Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

Speaking to reporters, Mr Chan said he was happy to see how the SAF has progressed. Before he entered politics in 2011, Mr Chan was the Chief of Army.

"As you know, we are in a changing world. There are new challenges, new disruptions caused by technology, new forces that we have to contend with," he said.

"This is also why we have to come up with new ways to overcome our challenges. And the very nice thing about this morning, from what I've seen, is that the SAF is not resting on its laurels."

He added that the SAF constantly re-examines the way it operates.

"For many of the things that I saw this morning, some of them were capabilities that we were talking about many years ago, and today it is a joy to see them operationalised," said Mr Chan.

"Some of the capabilities are new and they are still being developed, and I have every confidence that the determination of the men and women serving in the SAF will, in time to come, be able to operationalise many of these new capabilities to address the new scenarios that we will have to confront."

On Tuesday, SAF's Army Deployment Force (ADF) showcased the unit's response to peacetime contingencies such as terrorist attacks, disasters and domestic security threats. 

The ADF is equipped with skills and capabilities to carry out various operations, including responses to homeland security threats and disaster relief, MINDEF said in a news release. 

At the RSAF's Exercise Rover, part of Sembawang Country Club's golf course was converted into a temporary helicopter deployment area. 

This makes it capable of supporting a range of helicopter missions, such as air defence and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, MINDEF said.

About 600 RSAF personnel - of whom 230 are operationally ready national servicemen - were involved in the exercise. Two AH-64D Apache helicopters were activated to respond swiftly to a simulated air defence threat.

Mr Chan also witnessed how the RSN's Maritime Security Task Force neutralised a simulated terrorist attack against Singapore from the sea.

During his visit to the DIS’s Joint Intelligence Command (JIC), Mr Chan was briefed on its support for counter-terrorism operations.