By Rachel Chan

APTLY named after a mighty winged horse in Greek mythology, the 155mm/39-calibre howitzer Pegasus is no sitting duck.

Its only other equivalent in the world is the American M777, but even that pales in comparison to the Pegasus.

The M777 is not heli-portable and does not have an auxiliary power unit, said Mr Teo Chew Kwee, deputy general manager of Kinetics Design and Development. He was speaking to my paper at the Defence TechX exhibition yesterday.

He led the team of engineers at ST Kinetics that came up with the world's first lightweight, self-propelled 155mm howitzer. A creation of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the Defence Science & Technology Agency and ST Kinetics, the Pegasus is slated to replace the SAF's 37 ageing French Nexter Systems towed 105mm LG1 light guns.

Mr Teo elaborates on what makes the Pegasus special:

• Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)
  It provides the gun with a short-range self-propelled capability. With the APU, the system can manoeuvre over terrain at a speed of 12 kmh. Mr Teo said: "By incorporating this power pack, we allow the Pegasus' functions to be automated. This is unlike the M777, which is manually operated by six people on each side of the legs, with brute force.'
• Ammunition Loading System (ALS)
  Powered by the APU, the ALS loads ammunition to alleviate crew fatigue. This allows the crew to operate the Pegasus longer with a burst rate of three rounds in 24 seconds. "It's like sticking a bomb into the barrel," Mr Teo said.
• Innovative recoil management
  The recoil of the Pegasus is a third lower than conventional 155mm howitzers. "That's how we reduce the overall loading on the gun structure," he explained.
• Ease of deployment
  The Pegasus is easy to configure. Through a simple seesaw action that shifts the gun's centre of gravity to suit different missions, it can be deployed in less than 2.5 minutes with eight men. Mr Teo said: "An M777, when fired upon, cannot move. But the Pegasus can quickly fold up and move elsewhere."
• Lightweight materials
  The Pegasus employs lightweight materials like titanium and high-alloy aluminium that provide the strength and stability required to withstand the recoil force. "The Pegasus looks totally unconventional. Every component is multi-tasked," said Mr Teo.

Urban Warriors
CLOAKED in darkness, the eight enemy targets inside the pitch-black room can easily go undetected, but are instantly revealed with night-vision goggles.

Outside, a head-mounted display allows a section commander to see beyond his field of vision by using a weapon interactor to scan the area he needs to view.

These urban-warfare scenarios are not scenes from the latest action movies - they are from the Defence TechX exhibition, organised by the Ministry of Defence and Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).

Visitors can witness how a soldier is transformed into a real-life Robocop with the Advanced Combat Man System (ACMS) (right). The ACMS - comprising a personal radio, communication keypad, portable computer, headmounted display and weapon interactor - heightens situational awareness, battlefield-monitoring capabilities and survivability. It is being developed by DSTA to become "lighter and more rugged".

The exhibition, on at the Singapore Science Centre till tomorrow from 10am to 6pm, is expected to attract about 25,000 people.

For more my paper stories click here.