Singapore DTSA, AFCEC explore partnership opportunities

  • Published
  • By Jess Echerri
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Representatives from Singapore's Defense Science and Technology Agency visited the Air Force Civil Engineer Center's Tyndall Detachment recently to explore future partnership opportunities related to airbase resiliency and recovery.

Of particular interest to the two organizations are data exchange agreements for sharing past research results, and research and development agreements to work together on new, mutually beneficial research.

AFCEC and DSTA started evaluating the possibility of collaborative efforts about six months ago when AFCEC Director Joe Sciabica was presented with the Singapore Defense Technology Distinguished Fellowship by Singapore Minister for Defense Dr. Ng Eng Hen.

"It is extremely important to have these kinds of foreign relationships," said Dr. Alessandra Bianchini, airbase recovery and acquisition subject matter expert in the AFCEC Readiness Directorate. "Cooperation establishes an influence in regards to technology and capabilities, and supports foreign organizations in their developmental efforts by providing a valid and already tested technological or scientific base as a starting point."

During the conference, DTSA engineers expressed their needs related to a new airbase scheduled to be operational in 2020. A central topic of discussion was opportunities for improving the current airbase design to provide better integration of civil engineer operations such as explosive ordnance disposal, fire protection, infrastructure maintenance and repair, and utility systems.

"We discussed using robotics to automate typical operations like cargo loading and aircraft fueling," Bianchini said. "Some activities, normally performed by individuals, can be definitely replaced by robots or partially automated due to the activity characteristics or the high risk involved."

During the conference, attendees discussed non-specific partnership opportunities with future efforts aimed at identifying specific opportunities that will be most beneficial to each party, Bianchi said.