Cyclist shot near SAF range: How far do Singapore military rounds travel?

SINGAPORE: A 42-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound on Sunday (Jun 15) while cycling in a restricted forested area of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, near where the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was conducting a live-firing exercise.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) confirmed that the activity was taking place at the Nee Soon 500m Range, about 2.3km from where the incident occurred.

Investigations are ongoing, and the authorities have not identified the specific weapon involved. It is also unclear how a bullet could have travelled such a distance and struck someone outside the training perimeter.

Mr Mike Yeo, Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief of news outlet Breaking Defense, told CNA that the bullet might have ricocheted.

“But in this case, maybe the bullet fired hit kind of a wrong angle and it kind of ricocheted out of the range. So in this way, there is a possibility that … the bullet may (have) ricocheted out and it travelled a lot further.”

A weapon’s maximum range is the furthest a bullet can travel, while its effective range is the distance at which a weapon may be expected to be accurate and achieve the desired effect. The maximum ranges for the weapons used by the SAF are not readily available.

While the circumstances remain under review, the incident has prompted questions about the range and reach of weapons used in SAF training.