Veteran weapons developer snares tech prize
SINGAPORE — Over the last 30 years, he has had a role in the development of customised solutions for artillery weapons for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), from the first to the third generation of weapons.
Mr Teo Chew Kwee, chief engineer for weapon systems at Singapore Technologies Kinetics, has worked on almost all of Singapore’s artillery engineering projects such as the innovative self-propelled Howitzer Primus, and the world’s first 155mm Singapore Light Weight Howitzer Pegasus.
Mr Teo, who won the engineering award for the individual category at this year’s Defence Technology Prize, said: “For (an) industry like us, it is technology that brings us to the product, (so) we are always looking out for the latest technology that we can integrate into the products.”
The 55-year-old recounted the challenges that he and his team faced for the first locally designed howitzer, the Field Howitzer 88 (FH-88) project, in 1988.
Back then, Singapore did not have the capability and facility to carry out the project, and many even doubted the wisdom in embarking on such an endeavour. The FH-88 eventually came to fruition with the Ministry of Defence’s endorsement, and today, it remains an iconic achievement for the SAF.
Mr Teo, a father of two daughters and a son, viewed the heli-portable Pegasus as his most challenging project in his years as a weapon designer. “The overriding requirement was for a lightweight howitzer to punch like a heavyweight. The Pegasus had to be so light it could be transported by helicopter and yet deliver the equivalent firepower of a much heavier 155mm artillery system ...”
Commissioned into the SAF in October 2005, the Pegasus became the world’s first self-propelled and heli-portable howitzer.
Noting that only Singapore and the United States have an artillery weapon such as the Pegasus, Mr Teo said: “(For) a small country to (be able to) do something (like this), I feel very proud of our achievements.” STACEY LIM
