Singapore tests airborne 5G and counter-UAS concepts

C-UAS equipment mounted on pickup trucks at Exercise ‘Wallaby' 2026. (Singapore MINDEF)

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is conducting trials of a 5G-enabled aerial communications node (ACN) and mobile counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) technology at its annual Exercise ‘Wallaby' 2026.

The trials are being carried out jointly by Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and the Singapore Army.

Exercise ‘Wallaby' is being held at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in Queensland, Australia from 6 September to 2 November 2026.

In a statement issued on the trials of these systems, Singapore's Ministry of Defence said the trials concern the systems' operational utility and potential integration into SAF operations.

The ACN aims to provide a high-bandwidth, low-latency data link between forward-deployed soldiers and their commanders.

It was first tested at the 2025 iteration of Exercise ‘Wallaby' but the ACN then was tethered to the ground, which restricted its mobility and coverage.

Meanwhile, the C-UAS system being trialled at the exercise is a suite of undisclosed sensors that utilise algorithms to differentiate between hostile and friendly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

For Exercise 'Wallaby' 2026, DSTA and the Singapore Army mounted different configurations of these sensors on pickups to test their effectiveness in various battlefield scenarios.

This makes the sensors more mobile, expanding its coverage across wider areas of the battlefield.

Exercise ‘Wallaby' 2026 involves approximately 6,000 personnel and 1,200 platforms from the Singapore Army, the RSAF and the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS).

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