SONDRA conducts research in areas important to Singapore’s national defence and national security. The multi-alliance collaboration has worked on projects from electromagnetic signal propagation modelling, compact antenna design to radar concept studies via a French PhD programme.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2014, the research alliance will continue to foster scientists’ exchanges between France and Singapore and bring forth more innovations for the two countries.

The propagation of radar waves in the urban environment is especially complicated, due to multiple reflections of the electromagnetic waves by buildings (just like looking into multiple mirrors). This makes the interpretation of radar images for urban areas very challenging. DSO has worked closely with ONERA researchers in France to conduct Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Radar detection system concept, where multiple scenarios were designed and data was collected with the ONERA motor glider platform.

By using advanced signal processing techniques, line-of-sight radar returns can be differentiated from non-line-of-sight radar returns. The close interaction between DSO and ONERA researchers has led to a better understanding of the electromagnetic reflection phenomena, which has applications such as radar localisation in the urban environment. 

DSO, the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTO), Australia, and the United States Army Medical Research Institute on Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have jointly developed a ricin test kit to facilitate the quick diagnosis of suspected ricin poisoning cases. The first of its kind in the world, this kit can detect traces of ricin in humans using as little as two drops of blood or faeces, with results out in 100 minutes. This is down from the usual 2.5 hours needed in a clinical laboratory.

The ricin test kit has since been licensed to Prestige BioResearch Ltd for commercialisation.