Local firm ST Engineering and Shield AI signed a memorandum of understanding at the Singapore Airshow here on Feb. 5 to combine the Hivemind autonomy software on different platforms manufactured by the national defense-tech champion.

An ST Engineering spokesperson told Defense News the company sees possibilities for integrating Hivemind into its manned-unmanned teaming operating system, or MUMTOS, marketed on the firm’s website as a tool for balancing “human judgment and machine precision.”

The open-architecture system is designed to connect a wide range of unmanned platforms, such as micro-drones, unmanned surface vessels, and robotic ground vehicles.

The Singaporean Armed Forces have been experimenting with collective drone operations. During its largest overseas exercise in Australia recently, the military deployed the largest number of drones in its history, according to the Singapore-based news network CNA. Over 100 drones logged 560 flight hours during Exercise Wallaby.

Hivemind allows unmanned systems to sense and adapt while executing missions by generating new navigation alternatives based on targets and environmental conditions. According to Shield AI, it is designed to continue operating in a GPS- or communications-degraded environment without constant remote control.

The company’s V-BAT drone equipped with Hivemind has been deployed in Ukraine. The AI-intelligence software provides the platform with a global navigation satellite, or GNSS-denied state estimator, that merges sensor data to continue navigation in jammed areas.

“To date, V-BAT has completed about 200 flights in Ukraine [including operational and training missions] – in 2025 alone, it identified more than 200 Russian targets, and we are working with Ukrainian company Iron Belly to integrate Hivemind onto more autonomous strike platforms,” a Shield AI representative said.

Steve Sheehy, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of Aeronautics International Business Development, predicted in a briefing at Singapore Airshow 2026 that more than 300 F-35s will be present in the region by 2030. This figure includes American F-35s based in Japan and Alaska.

Australia has 72 F-35A fighters, the last of which arrived in December 2024. In fact, Australia is currently the largest F-35 operator outside the United States.

However, that moniker will eventually transfer to Japan once the Japan Air Self-Defense Force gains its full complement of 105 F-35A and 42 F-35B jets. Japan received its first four F-35Bs last year.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korea took delivery of 40 F-35As and has another 20 on order.

Singapore is set to receive four F-35Bs before year’s end, based on a 2019 order. They will initially operate from Ebbing Air National Guard Base, before F-35s are introduced at Tengah Air Base in Singapore in around 2029, according to Lockheed Martin.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has a further eight F-35Bs on order, these due for handover in 2028. Then, in February 2024, eight F-35As were added to Singapore’s order book and these should be delivered by 2030. This will give the RSAF a total of 20 F-35s in two variants.

Major Gen. Kelvin Fan, Singapore’s Chief of Air Force, commented: “The F-35As, with greater endurance and higher payload capacity, will provide sustained reach and persistence, while the F-35Bs with short take-off and vertical-landing capability will offer greater operational agility.”

Along with 40 F-15SG fighters and around 60 F-16C/Ds brought up to F-16V configuration, the RSAF eclipses every other Southeast Asian nation in terms of air combat power.

Of four F-35 heavy maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities around the world, two are in Asia-Pacific – in Australia and Japan. The others are in Italy and the United States.

Sheehy said his company delivered a record 191 F-35s last year. However, that number was swollen by delays in rolling out Technology Refresh 3 updates. He said the TR-3 backlog has been cleared, and he expected 156 F-35s to be delivered this year.

Further F-35 customers in Asia-Pacific may be difficult to find, however. Both Taiwan and Thailand have been rebuffed in recent years, although U.S. President Donald Trump invited Indian interest last year.

“We’re no strangers to drones, having used them for almost 40 years, but they will play a much bigger role in the Republic of Singapore Air Force in terms of scale,” Maj. Gen. Kelvin Fan, the chief of Singapore’s Air Force, told Defense News. “We are currently operationalizing our Orbiter 4 and Hermes 900 UAVs.”

Both drones are produced by Israeli-based companies, namely Aeronautics Group and Elbit Systems, and were center-stage at the static display of this year’s Singapore Airshow.

The Orbiter 4 is a close-range drone for maritime and land operations, designed for surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions. It can fly for up to 24 hours and has a maximum range of 150 kilometers, according to a fact sheet from the Singapore Ministry of Defense.

The country purchased an undisclosed number of the drone in 2022 and acquired the variant that is launched via a catapult and recovered with a parachute.

Although the manufacturer advertises that it can operate in harsh weather, some RSAF operators here told Defense News that it has struggled in windy conditions.

Singapore confirmed last year, meanwhile, that it bought the medium-altitude long-endurance Hermes 900. Elbit lists the system as having a maximum takeoff weight of 1,180 kilograms, or 2,601 pounds, and an endurance of up to 36 hours.

In a 2024 interview, the former RSAF chief stated that the service’s fleet of Hermes 450 and IAI Heron 1 drones needed to be replaced, with the former having entered into service in 2007.

As part of the country’s move to becoming more drone-centric, Singapore will implement drone training for all operationally ready national service members, known as the trained reservist force that has already completed their two-year full-time national service duty.

The first units are set to begin training in mid-2026. The preparation will include videos and theory, simulations and flying drones in urban environments. It will then move on to operating them in the field.

Fan also highlighted that in July, the island country established a new Drone Rapid Operational, Integration, and Deployment, or DROID, unit tasked with experimenting, modifying and operationalizing small drones.

It also created a dedicated UAS Warfare and Tactics Centre, whose role is in part to support research and trials of micro and mini drones.

Singapore is unique in that it is an entirely urbanized city-state, where all of its population of over 5.6 million resides in urban areas. According to the World Bank, the vast majority of its land is dedicated to non-rural infrastructure and industry.

This environment makes operating military drones vastly different and in many ways more challenging than in open-field operations, considering the complexity of obstacles, risks to civilians and signal interference.

“Just as we harness the potential of drones, we are also developing the counter-drone shield, especially against low-cost and swarm attacks,” Fan added.

In a speech given in Parliament last year, Singaporean Minister for Defense Ng Eng Hen said that the country’s air force is focused on developing sensors, jammers and other weapons to detect and counter smaller drones in addition to existing air defense capabilities.

The new tactical loitering munition from Singapore’s best-known defense company — dubbed the EagleStrike, and the first weapon in this category from ST Engineering — should be ready for production in early 2027.

The beyond-line-of-sight airborne weapon was developed at the company’s initiative, but it will presumably be offered to the Singapore Army in due course.

Jackson Tean, assistant vice president of International Business, Advanced Material Engineering, Land Systems, said the loitering munition has reached Technology Readiness Level 7. Further testing and certification will occur this year to fully mature it.

The company listed the munition’s range at 12.4 miles, with a 30-minute loitering time. Traveling at speeds of 67 miles per hour, the EagleStrike possesses a 7-ounce dual-mode shaped-charge warhead optimized for top attack against lightly protected targets.

The EagleStrike is launched from a canister. It is expected that a pod of 16 such canisters could be carried on a suitable vehicle.

ST Engineering has a range of drones in its portfolio, but Singapore’s military has shown a predilection for Israeli-made unmanned aircraft.

At Singapore Airshow 2026, for example, it publicly exhibited for the first time its large Hermes 900 drone from Elbit Systems as well as the Orbiter 4 from Aeronautics. The Hermes 900 is replacing the Singapore air force’s Hermes 450, which was in service for more than 20 years.

Turning to small arms, ST Engineering unveiled a new family of 5.56mm-caliber rifles based on Colt’s AR-15 design. This rifle family contrasts with the SAR-21 bullpup rifle that ST Engineering supplies to the Singapore Armed Forces.

This AME modular family of rifles is designed to equip an army squad with a range of five weapons comprising a carbine, assault rifle, grenade launcher, light machine gun and sharpshooter rifle.

The smallest member is the AME-A510 with a 10.5-inch barrel, which could be ideal for a vehicle crewman, for example. Next, the standard AME-A514 squad rifle boasts a 14.5-inch barrel. Specifications released by ST Engineering state a length of 32.3 inches and a weight of 6.4 pounds unloaded.

The same rifle can have an under-barrel 40mm grenade launcher attached, which changes its nomenclature to AME-A514GL.

More capable is the AME-A516L, which possesses a 16-inch barrel and integrated heat sink so it can act as a squad’s light machine gun.

Finally, the family boasts the AME-A520SS designated marksman rifle with a bipod.

A spokesman told Defense News that these rifles are aimed primarily at the export market. He also confirmed international sales have been achieved already.

Enhancements compared to the original AR-15 include enhanced barrel harmonics, a two-stage trigger, a muzzle brake that reduces recoil by 20% and ambidextrous controls.

A representative said the rifles are designed to be reliable, simple and cost-effective.

The statement is the latest effort by Saab in sweetening the pot for Canada to give the Swedish company a slice of its fighter jet business.

“We need to ramp up our [fighter jet] production capabilities, to a level where it’s not only for Canada – we do see that [the potential line] will produce for export as well,” Mikael Franzén, chief marketing officer for the Gripen at Saab, told reporters at the Singapore Airshow here.

During a press briefing overviewing ongoing and future fighter programs, executives showed a map of current and possible Gripen E customers, which included Canada and Ukraine, among others.

Since last March, Ottawa has been undergoing a strategic review of its fighter capabilities and is exploring the potential of a mixed fleet that could combine F-35 and Gripen aircraft. The government announced in 2023 that it was spending $19 billion to acquire 88 jets from Lockheed Martin, but it has only committed to buying 16 for the time being.

In a recent interview with the aviation magazine Skies, Canadian Chief of Air and Space Force Development Maj. Gen. Jeff Smyth did not rule out that the final purchase might include a higher number to replace aging CF-18 Hornet fighters.

“Eighty-eight jets are not a lot for a country the size of Canada – if the government decides to buy more in the future, that would be welcome for us and our allies,” he told the publication.

Saab has been marketing the Gripen across the North American country for some time, calling it “The Made-in-Canada Fighter.”

Late last year, company officials claimed they could generate approximately 10,000 Canadian jobs if the country opted for the Swedish option, and pledged to build, maintain, and upgrade the aircraft with several Canadian industry partners.

Franzén told Defense News the plan entails that the first aircraft could be produced in Sweden to get started quicker, but that the rest would be made in Canada, “as the country has highly competent industries for software, hardware and airframe.”

He explained that the company is ramping up to achieve a production rate of 36 aircraft per year, but this estimate includes both existing and future lines.

“Many are speculating, will they replace the F-35 with the Gripen? I don’t think that is what they’re looking for. I think they’re looking for how their air force could be stronger in having a mixed fleet, and could it be that you have a certain number of F-35s and you add on Gripens on top of that,” Franzén said.

Company boss Micael Johansson has floated the possibility previously that, if established, a production facility could also support potential orders from Ukraine for over 100 Gripen.

The Asian country is thought to be eyeing an order of 24 M-346 jets to replace aging Hawk aircraft.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defense selected the M-346 F (Fighter) Block 20 light fighter version of the jet, Leonardo said at the Singapore Airshow.

The Italian firm also said it had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Indonesian firm PT ESystem Solutions Indonesia and the Indonesian Ministry of Defence “aimed at cooperating for the supply and support” of the aircraft “to meet Indonesian Air Force operational requirements.”

That meant supporting maintenance, overhaul and training on the aircraft, the firm said.

Leonardo added, “The parties will now move into the next stage of discussions intended to achieve a procurement contract signing soon.”

In a statement Leonardo said its new M-346 F “Block 20” light fighter configuration came with a Large Area Display (LAD), active electronically scanned radar, a Link 16 data-link, electronic countermeasures, and new weapons systems.

The M-346 originated as a pure trainer jet which has been sold to Italy, the Republic of Singapore, Israel, Poland, Qatar and Greece.

Its more recent trainer-light fighter version has previously been sold to Turkmenistan and Nigeria and, in December, to Austria, which ordered 12 aircraft. The fighter version boasts seven external hard points able to integrate air-to-air and air-to-surface munitions and targeting pods linked to Helmet Mounted Displays.

“In terms of our partnership with Indonesia, it’s no longer an active campaign for us,” a Boeing executive said Tuesday, the opening day of the Singapore Airshow.

Bernd Peters, vice president of business development and strategy for Boeing’s defense division, added, “With that being said, we remain deeply committed to the government of Indonesia and the military needs. We have an installed base of Apaches as well as [ScanEagles]; we’re going to continue to support those products.”

Boeing’s declaration is unsurprising, given how Indonesia conducts its defense acquisitions. The memorandum of understanding simply indicated Jakarta’s interest in the F-15EX, and no contract ever eventuated.

Simultaneously, the Indonesian Air Force has acquired new Rafale fighters from France, the first three of which arrived last month.

In recent years, the Indonesian government has expressed interest in second-hand Austrian Eurofighters, the F-15EX, second-hand J-10s from China and JF-17s from Pakistan. It has also paid money in South Korea’s KF-21 Boramae development program and signed an agreement for Turkish Kaan fighters.

This smorgasbord indicates the rather haphazard way Indonesia conducts procurements.

However, Boeing may not feel too disappointed, as it is busy giving the U.S. Air Force its promised quota of F-15EXs. Bernd said his company “remains deeply committed to the U.S. Air Force”, and that its priority is to be able to deliver 24 F-15EX Eagle II fighters annually.

Furthermore, there are two F-15 modernization programs in Asia.

Boeing is helping Japan upgrade its F-15J fighters, including installation of AN/APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array radars, new mission computers and the BAE Systems AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS).

“The F-15 upgrades are not just another upgrade program; it’s a total transformation of the jet, delivering contemporary capabilities to Japan at par with those in the current-production F-15,” Boeing told Defense News.

Even more recently, on Friday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Boeing had received a $2.8 billion contract to upgrade South Korea’s 59 F-15K fighters. This work, conducted in St. Louis, Missouri, should be completed by the end of 2037.

Turbo Sjogren, vice president and general manager of government services for Boeing Global Services, would not disclose what is being upgraded on Korean aircraft because of sensitivity issues.

“But here’s what we can tell you. The aircraft have been out there for 20 years, so a lot of obsolescence issues, but there are opportunities to upgrade the cockpit,” Sjogren said.

A Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification dated Nov. 19, 2024, indicated the F-15K modernization would follow a similar pattern to Japan’s.

Singapore is the only other Asian F-15 operator, and it is expected to eventually upgrade its F-15SG fleet. Singaporean Air Force pilots told Defense News at the airshow here that the aircraft are currently used mostly for training, and that no interception missions such as the one carried out in October 2024 have recurred.

On Oct. 15, 2024, the Singapore Air Force scrambled two F-15SG jets to escort an Air India Express Flight following a bomb threat. The pilots added that the integration of the fighters with the country’s new F-35s, which they are hoping to receive sometime later this year, will be gradual.

When asked whether they anticipate such an integration to be challenging, one of the pilots said that “if the United States can and has done it, we also will be able to.” Several of them will soon be heading to the U.S. for F-35 training.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo in Singapore contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with a Boeing representative’s quote, who misspoke in a reference to ScanEagle aerial drones, per the company.

The contract, worth an undisclosed amount and announced on Jan. 26, will see the Singapore Army adopt the Titan 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle — or IFV — which is based on ST Engineering’s 35-ton Terrex s5.

Working with Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and Defence Science and Technology Agency, ST Engineering is customizing the Terrex s5 with “additional capabilities.” Deliveries will commence in 2028.

MINDEF stated the Titan “has stronger firepower and is equipped with a 30mm cannon mounted on a remote-controlled weapon station.”

At the airshow, ST Engineering displayed the prototypical Terrex s5 with the company’s Adder remote turret armed with a Leonardo 30mm X-Gun.

However, an ST Engineering representative told Defense News this does not necessarily mean the Titan will feature this same cannon.

“With our multi-domain expertise and engineering depth, we’re confident that the new IFV will deliver outstanding mobility, advanced smart technologies and unmatched adaptability to support Singapore’s future fighting force,” said Lim Kok Ann, president of Land Systems at ST Engineering.

The prototype debuting in Singapore employs hybrid electric drive, with Cheng Ze Wei, director of ST Engineering’s Wheeled Platforms Business-Combat Platforms, explaining the main advantage of this propulsion is an abundance of power to support associated platforms and sensors.

It is unclear if Singapore is adopting the hybrid electric drive variant, as ST Engineering offers a conventional diesel engine, too.

Another advantage of the hybrid configuration is that it occupies far less space than a regular power pack in the front of the vehicle hull.

“The Titan is designed with new digitalized systems, advanced vehicle electronics and a command-and-control architecture to support networked motorized operations,” MINDEF also noted.

For example, the Terrex s5 features two rear-mounted launcher boxes containing four drones each that can perform reconnaissance. Unmanned ground vehicles, like ST Engineering’s Taurus 4×4, can also be controlled from inside the Terrex s5.

At Singapore Airshow 2026, ST Engineering demonstrated the technological potential of the Terrex s5 in a proof-of-concept exhibit entitled the Vehicle AI Cockpit. If a customer chooses, this solution is ready to be installed in any armored vehicle.

It relies on AI in three ways — for vehicle control, surveillance and unified manned-unmanned teaming.

A top-mounted camera displays the vehicle’s 360-degree surroundings on a panoramic screen at the front of the vehicle interior. AI can then automatically identify drones, people and vehicles with color-coded prompts.

Two side-by-side control stations mean operators can seamlessly transition between driving the vehicle, firing its weapons or operating associated unmanned systems like drones. The AI also uses a Nova voice-activated system to perform tasks, such as choosing the most economic mode of driving.

The 27-foot-long Terrex s5 can carry a 13-ton payload and accommodate 12 troops. ST Engineering is already promoting this Terrex variant to export markets.

For the second consecutive year, Russian manufacturers were absent from the roster of attendees at the Singapore Airshow, the largest aerospace exhibition in Asia, which runs from Feb. 3-8.

Moscow previously had a much larger presence at the event, even launching joint exhibition pavilions at the 2020 show for Russian Helicopters and United Aircraft Corporation, which was attended by a range of officials. The country also used to showcase several aircraft models.

“What we are seeing is not a strategic pivot away from Asia, but a forced reallocation under severe structural constraints,” said Francesco Schiavi, research fellow at the Middle East Institute Switzerland. “Russia’s absence from these key shows reflects the shrinking, regionalized and increased concentration of its arms-export profile that has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.”

Russia’s arms exports to Asian customers peaked from around 2005 to 2011. During this period, it won major contracts with India and China. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2025, Beijing accounted for 60% of all Russian deliveries of major weapons.

A reminiscence of this past at this year’s airshow is the modified Sukhoi Su-30 MKM jets that the Malaysian Air Force flew during an aerial performance here. A Russian delegation led by the Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu did visit Myanmar this week to sign a military cooperation agreement.

Over the last year, Russian arms makers have increasingly courted potential Middle East customers, especially in the Gulf region. This has, in part, translated to reinforcing their presence at defense fairs, as was the case at the IDEX and NAVDEX exhibitions in February 2025 in Abu Dhabi.

The country had over a dozen exhibitors that afforded a prominent display of weaponry and pitched upgraded variants of their weapons.

Schiavi added that Moscow’s outreach to the Middle East and Africa is “selective and compensatory,” citing Algeria’s Su-57 purchase and continued engagement with Mali, eastern Libya and Ethiopia as examples.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said the national arms industry earned more than $15 billion in export revenues last year; however, the expert said that this figure has been widely questioned by Western analysts.

It is important to note that since February 2022, Moscow has not published official defense export information, rendering the verification process more challenging.

Russia also flew some of its military equipment to Saudi Arabia weeks ahead of the World Defense Show taking place next week. In an interview with the state news media TASS, the director general of Rosoboronexport said that the country will unveil new battle-tested systems at the event.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced last week that the country was discussing the potential transfer of JAS 39 Gripen jets and Meteor missiles to the war-torn country. These beyond-visual range, air-to-air missiles can currently only be integrated on the Gripen, Eurofighter, and the Rafale fighter jets, although the United Kingdom is leading ground-based integration testing on the F-35.

“The Meteor missile would be a natural content in a weapon package for any Gripen user, discussions are taking place with several export nations, including Ukraine,” Jussi Halmetoja, operations advisor in the air domain at Saab told Defense News at the Singapore Airshow here.

Halmetoja added that the Meteor missiles would enhance Ukraine’s operations by providing pilots with extended engagement ranges, denying Russian aircraft freedom of movement and control of the air.

Late last year, Ukraine and Sweden signed a letter of intent to export up to 150 Gripen fighter jets to Kyiv, although no final deal has been concluded.

The Meteor is 419-pound (190 kilo) munition manufactured by MBDA that first entered into service with the Swedish Air Force on the Gripen in 2016. It was developed in a joint project of six European countries, including Sweden, and led by MBDA.

It uses a rocket booster as well as a throttleable ramjet motor that can continue to power the missile until impact, allowing for late-stage maneuverability. That capability increases its kill-zone compared to more common rocket-powered air-to-air missiles that coast after their initial boost. Saab lists Meteor’s range as more than 100 kilometers and its speed at over Mach 4, though the range is regularly reported as being around 200 kilometers.

Meteor was “arguably the most capable AAM currently in service on Western combat aircraft,” the London-based International Institute for Security Studies wrote in a report in September 2022.

Last year, Sweden procured its third batch of Meteor missiles destined for the Gripen aircraft. The acquisition was done through international cooperation, whereby the British arm of MBDA is the one providing the systems.

MBDA did not return a request to comment at the time of writing.

Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris contributed to this report.