PHOTO: AsiaOne/Ong Chin Wee
Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim officially unveiled the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) new amphibious firefighting and rescue vehicle (ARFV) on Wednesday (Nov 19).
Assoc Prof Faishal, who is also the Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, was gracing the inaugural Singapore-International Disaster and Emergency Management Expo (SIDEX) 2025 held at the Singapore Expo.
The three-day conference, starting Nov 19, features conferences on civil protection and safety, emergency preparedness and response, and disaster management and humanitarian response.
To mark the SCDF’s Transformation 2030 vision of being future-ready and prepared the agency has also launched a book which captures the lifesaving force’s evolution.
New amphibious firefighting and rescue vehicle
The SCDF’s new AFRV will enhance SCDF’s response to emergency incidents within inland water bodies such as reservoirs and rivers.
Jointly developed with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), the AFRV is a specialised vehicle capable of carrying out missions such as search and rescue, casualty recovery and firefighting.
In a media statement on Nov 18, SCDF said that the AFRV can bridge the gap between land-based and marine operations with its unique capability of traversing both land and water terrains.
“The AFRVs are strategically deployed at four different fire stations across Singapore to provide rapid deployment during any activation,” SCDF said.
Innovation and technology to transform SCDF’s capabilities
In his opening speech at the event, Assoc Prof Faishal said that SCDF has benefited from platforms such as SIDEX to transform its capabilities over the past two-and-a-half decades.
He pointed to the piloting of the unmanned firefighting machines as an example of how technology has helped the SCDF to manage risks during operations.
Beyond responding well with technology, Assoc Prof Faishal also highlighted the SCDF’s Fire Research Centre as an example of how research and innovation can help in prevention and risk reduction.
The Centre’s work focuses on anticipating new and emerging risks such as electric vehicles and energy storage systems, and developing practical solutions to deal with such risks.