Parade and Ceremony, Total Defence Display: What to expect at NDP 2022

This year’s National Day Parade (NDP), which will be held at The Float@Marina Bay, will see its parade and ceremony segment and Total Defence Display segments combined and renamed as Strength of Our Nation.

According to the organisers, the Strength of Our Nation segment aims to commemorate the strength and commitment of Singaporeans from both the military and civilian sectors in defending Singapore.

It is also intended to rally Singaporeans to build a better future together through all facets of Total Defence, they added.

This year’s parade and ceremony also marks the return of physical youth, social and economic contingents, featuring approximately 2,000 participants from 29 physical and eight virtual marching contingents.

The parade will be commanded by Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (NS) Desmond Fu, the seventh NSman in history to lead the NDP parade. 

Despite being a full-time portfolio manager and a young father, the 40-year-old parade commander still makes time to be part of the parade preparations.

He shared: “Most of the participants like myself have day jobs and families. We all know that the symbolic element of NDP is what brings us together and motivates us to do our part while juggling all these responsibilities.”

The parade will also pay a special tribute to all the past and current national servicemen in commemoration of this year’s 55 years of National Service (NS55) celebrations.

It will feature a Tribute to NS55 video, a physical transformation of the youth contingents to form an NS55 formation, and a salute to all NSmen, families and employers.

The parade and ceremony highlights include the Military Tattoo, which consists of a hybrid physical and virtual performance by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Precision Drill Squad, SAF and Singapore Police Force (SPF) combined band, combined school bands and the virtual choir.

The virtual choir performance will also include sign language interpretation.

Audiences can also look forward to the the State Flag Flypast flown by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Chinook helicopter escorted by RSAF Apache Helicopters and Salute-To-The Nation bomb burst flown by F-16C/D fighter aircrafts.

The parade will also feature the Presidential Gun Salute and Feu-de-Joie.

The Dynamic Defence Display will make its return after five years, under a new name – the Total Defence Display (TDD). It will showcase more than 500 participants and feature more than 50 assets from the SAF and the Home Team.

The TDD will consist of two parts – Defending Our Country and Securing Singapore Together.

Defending Our Country will highlight the role of the SAF in its efforts to protect Singapore’s sovereignty and independence. It will feature a variety of technologically advanced assets from the SAF, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), and the RSAF.

Audiences will witness several showcases, such as the RSAF’s F-16C/D fighter aircrafts manoeuvring around the Marina Bay, the RSN’s Naval Divers jumping off an RSAF CH-47F Heavy Lift Helicopter into the waters of Marina Bay and the Singapore Army’s Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank driving onto the promenade at the floating platform.

The SAF’s Hunter Armoured Fighting Vehicle will also appear in the TDD for the first time. 

The second part of the TDD segment, Securing Singapore Together, will showcase Singapore’s inter-agency response to a range of peacetime contingency scenarios such as firefighting, first aid and counterterrorism operations.

The scenarios will feature the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)’s Light Fire Attack Vehicle (Red Rhino), the Pump Ladder (fire truck), the SPF’s Rapid Deployment Troops, Tactical Response Motorcycles and Armed Strike Teams, as well as the SAF’s Army Development force.

For the first time at NDP, the Special Forces from the SAF Special Operations Task Force will also showcase a live demonstration of a hostage rescue from a “hijacked bus”.

The SCDF’s Pumper Firefighting Machine and the SPF’s Next-generation Fast Response Cars will also make their TDD debuts.

To add to the NDP 2022 celebrations, Singaporeans are also encouraged to upload their videos and photographs and share their well-wishes, reflections or stories on social media through the use of #StrongerTogether and #NDP 2022 hashtag.

Alternatively, Singaporeans may also tag the official NDP social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.