MOBILE COLUMN DISPLAY ROLLS ITS WAY INTO SINGAPORE'S HEART

This year's National Day Parade (NDP) marks not only a return to the historic Padang after five years, but also the first mobile column display featured since then.

Come 9 Aug, spectators can expect to be thrilled by an exciting array of over 200 vehicles and hardware from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Home Team, with more than a third making their debut in this perennial crowd favourite.

Introduced in 1969, the inaugural mobile column saw the SAF showcasing the then-newly acquired AMX-13 tanks for the first time to the public.

This year, expect to see the SAF and Home Team present some of their latest platforms and capabilities. These new additions include the Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tank, the Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) and the Firefly Firefighting Vehicle.

Noting the theme of this year's mobile column - "Ready and Relevant", Colonel (COL) Lam Pei Sien, chairman of the NDP's mobile column and celebrations committee, said: "The SAF and the Home Team have consistently built new capabilities and updated existing ones over the years, always keeping one step ahead of emerging threats."

"The SAF and the Home Team are the guardians of Singapore's peace and security," he added. "We take this sacred duty very seriously... and the mobile column aims to remind the public that despite Singapore's success and prosperity, we must never take sovereignty and security for granted."

Forming an impressive line-up of 2km in length, the mobile column segment will kick off at about 7pm at the Padang right after the aerial flypast, and comprises 11 waves representing various formations from the SAF and the Home Team.

More than 900 active servicemen and Full Time National Servicemen (NSFs) from the SAF and the Home Team will be taking part in this 15-minute display.

But if you don't have tickets to watch the NDP at the Padang, fret not. Singaporeans across the island can still catch a first-hand glimpse of the mobile column display from as close as 3 metres away.

Spearheaded by the 55-tonne Leopard tanks, the mobile column will leave the Padang area after executing the ceremonial drive past and presidential gun salute, and split into three different sections.

Keep a sharp look out for these machines as they thunder down highways and various roads, travelling a combined distance of more than 80km to make their way into the heartlands.

In conjunction with the NDP heartland celebrations, the mobile column will make their appearance at five sites in Sengkang, Eunos, Bishan, Woodlands and Chua Chu Kang.

Trials were conducted in November last year to check and verify that that no damage would be caused by the heavy military vehicles to the roads.

On the main challenges of organising the mobile column, Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Fox, the Mobile Column Commander, said: "Safety is always an issue to make sure that the public and every participants are safe as the mobile column rumbles through the roads. The other key concern is to make it a good show because this only happens once every five years, so the rehearsals put in require a lot of concentration and effort."

To ensure safety and minimise disruption as the mobile column moves through to the heartlands, the vehicles will travel at speeds of 30km/h with a safety distance of 30 meters between each vehicle.

In addition, organisers have adopted a "rolling carpet" safety system, where affected roads will only be closed temporarily for about 10 minutes at any point in time as the mobile column approaches, said COL Lam.

To find out more about the exact routes the three mobile column sections will go through, check out the NDP website at www.ndp.org.sg, and download the Mobile Column poster for a handy guide on the various types of vehicles.

Real-time updates on the location of these three columns will also be shown on the NDP website on 9 Aug.