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DESPITE its modest size, Singapore has big ambitions in the highly-competitive global arms industry, which is dominated by big players like the US and Russia.
Its competitive edge is to go for smaller but smarter weapons and systems instead of the megasize military projects and programmes of the Big Boys.
This is why the small - but nimble - kid on the block is already a player in the global arms industry.
It has produced weapons that have gained an international reputation for their inventiveness, quality and practicality.
Made-in-Singapore weapons and military systems are also better, smarter and more lethal.
Another strategy that the Singapore arms industry - the Temasek-controlled Singapore Technologies Engineering - adopts is to go beyond merely producing and offering military products.
Mr Patrick Choy, Executive Vice President of Singapore Technologies Kinetics, told my paper this week: "We don't just produce military products. We are capability-centred.
"We provide integrated solutions that encompass our aeronautics, marine, land and electronics divisions."
Some of these creative weapons are showcased this week in the ST Engineering pavilion at the Singapore Airshow.
Among them is a 40mm round that has a camera embedded in it. Fired over enemy territory, it allows the troops on the ground to have a real-time view of the enemy and their positions.
Another is the Singapore-designed Compact Personal Weapon (CPW), a lightweight, low-cost weapon that has a low recoil and is extremely accurate.
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