Primus guns can't be tested here as they are designed to hit targets 30km away, like from Changi to Jurong
By David Boey
SIX of the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) newest artillery guns are now travelling aboard a cargo ship to New Zealand for a live-firing exercise called Thunder Warrior.
This will mark the first time that full-time national servicemen (NSF) will fire the locally-developed Primus heavy artillery guns.
Six Primus guns were shipped out early this month, the Ministry of Defence told The Straits Times.
Once they reach the New Zealand Army's huge live-firing range in Waiouru, on the North Island, they will be prepared for the mid-February exercise.
Looking like a tank, the Primus is a 155mm gun mounted in an armoured turret on a tracked vehicle. It's designed to blast the enemy with heavy artillery, then scoot off to a safe location before enemy guns can respond.
It was designed and developed by Singapore Technologies Kinetics, defence engineers from the Defence Science & Technology Agency and Singapore Artillery gunners, under a project that began in May 1996.
Being self-propelled and immune to small arms fire and shell splinters, Primus offers better mobility and cover compared to guns towed behind trucks.
NSF gunners from the 21st Battalion Singapore Artillery were the first to use the Primus. They trained with these weapons for more than a year before the Ministry of Defence unveiled them last November.
As these guns can hit targets some 30km away, which is about the distance between Changi and Jurong, gunners from the battalion have never had the chance to fire these weapons here.
Travelling to New Zealand allows battalion gunners to use the guns to full effect.
Captain John Tucker, Defence Adviser at the New Zealand High Commission, said the upcoming live-firing exercise underscored long-standing ties between the two countries' armies.
He noted that Singapore is the only country that test-fires heavy artillery on New Zealand soil.
'The history of the relationship between our armies goes back a long way. New Zealand had an infantry battalion at Dieppe Barracks in Singapore until 1989,' Capt Tucker said.
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envy envy...
