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RSS Sovereignty and RSS Unity at its commissioning ceremony on 14 November. Source: IHS Markit/Ridzwan Rahmat
Key Points
- The Republic of Singapore Navy has inducted two more Independence-class vessels
- Service is making good progress towards operating a class of eight Littoral Mission Vessels by 2020
The platforms, which have been named RSS Sovereignty and RSS Unity with pennant number 16 and 17 respectively, were inducted in a commissioning ceremony on 14 November at RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base.
The ceremony was officiated by the country’s minister of defence, Ng Eng Hen, who described the LMV platform as a “quantum jump” compared to its predecessor, the Fearless-class patrol vessels. “Whether it is speed, endurance, anti-air or command, control, communications, and computers [C4] capabilities, the LMVs outperform by leaps and bounds the patrol vessels that were built in the 1990s,” he added.
Sovereignty and Unity are the second and third ships out of eight LMVs ordered from shipbuilder ST Marine in January 2013. First-of-class RSS Independence was commissioned on 5 May.
The LMV measures 80 m in length, 12 m in breadth, and has a hull draught of 3 m. The platform is powered by two MTU 20V 4000 M93 engines in a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) configuration, and has a top speed in excess of 27 kt and a standard range of 3,500 n miles (6482 km) at 15 kt.
The 1,250-tonne warship platform has a baseline crew complement of 23 including five officers, and has a mission endurance of 14 days. The LMV is armed with one Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid naval gun, two Oto Melara Hitrole 12.7 mm remote-controlled weapon stations, and a Rafael 25 mm Typhoon stabilised naval gun system in the aft section.
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http://www.janes.com/article/75640/singapore-commissions-two-littoral-mission-vessels
