Sinkies very song or not? Still waiting for the reason why we need this despite having almost no territorial waters to speak off.
Multi-Role Combat Vessel - MRCV Picture Credit: Republic of Singapore Navy
The Republic of Singapore Navy’s future MRCV, which is set to become the first surface combatant ship designed as a drone mothership, is based on a fusion of designs from Sweden and Denmark.
Designs from Saab Kockums and Denmark’s Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) were initially two separate entrants into the MRCV program.
However, as the process developed, the two companies decided to merge their respective proposals according to officials from Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) speaking at the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA) Warships 2024 conference in Adelaide, South Australia.
The final design, which incorporates elements from both companies’ reference designs, was eventually successful in fulfilling the MRCV requirement – beating out offerings from an unknown number of other companies.
OMT’s initial design was based on an enlarged version of the Royal Danish Navy’s Absalon-class and Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates, modified to meet Singaporean payload requirements and to allow for future payload growth. Saab Kockums, meanwhile, proposed a smaller, corvette-sized, vessel building on the heritage of the Royal Swedish Navy’s Visby-class.
When the designs were merged, design elements, systems and approaches from both reference designs were incorporated into the new design. The companies also agreed to cooperate as if both were equal, despite OMT being formally only a subcontractor to Saab Kockums.
A diagram showing the evolution of Singapore’s MRCV. Credit: DSTA
On the OMT side, the MRCV design incorporates the enlarged Absalon/Iver Huitfeldt’s hull lines and structural steel design, as well as its proposed payload management system. Where it differs is on the combat system and propulsion side, where the design takes heavily from the Saab concept, most notably in its use of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic in the superstructure and masts as well as its approach to integrating weapons and sensors.
During the 2023 edition of IMDEX Asia, Naval News learned that the MRCV would have a displacement of around 8,000 tons and a crew complement of about 80 sailors, indicating a high level of automation in the platform. The following sensors and weapons are set to be fitted on the ships:
To enable flexibility and growth, the DSTA decided to mandate an Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) for the MRCV. IFEP is an arrangement where diesel engines and or gas turbines generate electricity which can be used for both ship services – such as the combat system – and propulsion via electric motors.
The key advantage of this arrangement according to the DSTA is that it is flexible as electricity can be directly moved from propulsion to powering combat systems, or vice versa, as needed. Typically, in other warship designs that incorporate IFEP power arrangements, the electrical system is powered by both gas turbines and diesel engines with the turbines only turning on when power demand spikes.
However, for the Republic of Singapore Navy, this wasn’t an option as it would require them to set up a whole other maintenance, sustainment and training pipeline to support marine gas turbines given that no other Republic of Singapore Navy vessel uses gas turbine engines.
Instead, the DSTA opted for a fully-diesel powered IFEP arrangement which limits the ship’s ability to generate massive amounts of power to enable high-speed operations or faster acceleration. This, the DSTA judged, was acceptable for the MRCV because of its role as an uncrewed and autonomous systems mothership. This means that it isn’t required to be small and light with a high power-to-weight ratio, as missions that would require those capabilities can be performed by its embarked systems.
Multi-Role Combat Vessel - MRCV Picture Credit: Republic of Singapore Navy
DSTA Reveals Origins Of Singapore’s MRCV
At the Warships 2024 conference held in June in Adelaide, Singapore's DSTA officials shared some new details on the Republic of Singapore Navy's future Multi Role Combat Vessels (MRCV).
Ben Felton 05 Sep 2024The Republic of Singapore Navy’s future MRCV, which is set to become the first surface combatant ship designed as a drone mothership, is based on a fusion of designs from Sweden and Denmark.
Designs from Saab Kockums and Denmark’s Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) were initially two separate entrants into the MRCV program.
However, as the process developed, the two companies decided to merge their respective proposals according to officials from Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) speaking at the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA) Warships 2024 conference in Adelaide, South Australia.
The final design, which incorporates elements from both companies’ reference designs, was eventually successful in fulfilling the MRCV requirement – beating out offerings from an unknown number of other companies.
OMT’s initial design was based on an enlarged version of the Royal Danish Navy’s Absalon-class and Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates, modified to meet Singaporean payload requirements and to allow for future payload growth. Saab Kockums, meanwhile, proposed a smaller, corvette-sized, vessel building on the heritage of the Royal Swedish Navy’s Visby-class.
When the designs were merged, design elements, systems and approaches from both reference designs were incorporated into the new design. The companies also agreed to cooperate as if both were equal, despite OMT being formally only a subcontractor to Saab Kockums.
On the OMT side, the MRCV design incorporates the enlarged Absalon/Iver Huitfeldt’s hull lines and structural steel design, as well as its proposed payload management system. Where it differs is on the combat system and propulsion side, where the design takes heavily from the Saab concept, most notably in its use of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic in the superstructure and masts as well as its approach to integrating weapons and sensors.
During the 2023 edition of IMDEX Asia, Naval News learned that the MRCV would have a displacement of around 8,000 tons and a crew complement of about 80 sailors, indicating a high level of automation in the platform. The following sensors and weapons are set to be fitted on the ships:
- Leonardo’s 76mm naval gun in the STRALES variant;
- MBDA’s VL MICA NG and Aster B1 NT air defence missiles;
- ST Engineering / IAI Blue Spear anti-ship missiles;
- Thales’ SeaFire multifunction radar
- Safran’s PASEO XLR EO/IR system;
- Safran’s NGDS decoy launching system.
To enable flexibility and growth, the DSTA decided to mandate an Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) for the MRCV. IFEP is an arrangement where diesel engines and or gas turbines generate electricity which can be used for both ship services – such as the combat system – and propulsion via electric motors.
The key advantage of this arrangement according to the DSTA is that it is flexible as electricity can be directly moved from propulsion to powering combat systems, or vice versa, as needed. Typically, in other warship designs that incorporate IFEP power arrangements, the electrical system is powered by both gas turbines and diesel engines with the turbines only turning on when power demand spikes.
However, for the Republic of Singapore Navy, this wasn’t an option as it would require them to set up a whole other maintenance, sustainment and training pipeline to support marine gas turbines given that no other Republic of Singapore Navy vessel uses gas turbine engines.
Instead, the DSTA opted for a fully-diesel powered IFEP arrangement which limits the ship’s ability to generate massive amounts of power to enable high-speed operations or faster acceleration. This, the DSTA judged, was acceptable for the MRCV because of its role as an uncrewed and autonomous systems mothership. This means that it isn’t required to be small and light with a high power-to-weight ratio, as missions that would require those capabilities can be performed by its embarked systems.
