Financial security, political stability and a consistent and clear defence development programme has ensured that Singapore, despite its relatively small size, possesses the most advanced and well equipped military force in the SE Asian region. Given the fact that Singapore's small territory does not give it the luxury of trading space for time in a conflict while at the same time mindful of its limited military manpower, it is not surprising that the county, in order to compensate for these limitations, has consistently pursued the development of an armed forces equipped with advanced capabilities and well ahead of the technological curve compared to its regional neighbours. For example, while other SE Asian navies have yet to operate USVs, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) acquired the Rafael PROTECTOR USV in 2004 and fielded them the following year in a deployment to the Arabian Gulf; and in 2015, during its maritime security exercise "Highcrest" held in Singapore, Mailed the modular and scalable VENUS USV platform built by Singapore Technologies (ST) Electronics, a subsidiary of ST Engineering. Two configurations of the 16m version of the VENUS USV were Mailed in the exercise, a coastal defence variant and a mine countermeasures variant. While the RSN has stated that the vessels were being Mailed and has yet to give any indication that the design would be put in service, its participation in the exercise indicates that it will eventually enter service with the RSN soon.
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