Honolulu, HI - MG Cai Dexian, Chief Of Army, Singapore Armed Forces gave a speech on the transformation of his nation's military during LANPAC 2026.

AFP was there to report.

Dexian focused on three areas he expects his soldiers to keep in mind -- Be resilient, dynamic, and rooted in your family, culture and country.

I'm paraphrasing some highlights...

"It's important to be resilient in many areas...individual soldiers, but also as a nation, and that means partnering with local industry to expand domestic defense manufacturing, 3D printing. We want to be more mobile, more unmanned and more resilient. We must have supply chain intelligence.

"Resilient also means energy - storage and reducing dependencies. We must use current technology to provide the energy needed for our military but also seed new technologies. Mobile storage is important. Our ecosystem must be better than the enemy's ecosystem.

"We must be dynamic...the speed of transformation is accelerating. We must sense, strike, survive. We must accelerate the adoption of unmanned systems, challenge existing concepts, create a change in mindset and existing culture.

"Technology is forcing us to rethink assumptions. We must cultivate a culture of continuous learning and learn from every source globally. We must fall in love with the problem, not the solution.

"Our personnel must be rooted to be respected, rooted in their culture, family and nation. This is critical as our military is embedded in all facets of society from mandatory service. New recruits have a 2 year active stint, not by choice, followed by 10 years of reserve duty."