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ST Marine celebrates the launch of the third Littoral Mission Vessel for Republic of Singapore Navy.

13 Oct, 2016 9:40 | 2016

Naval Industry News - Singapore

ST Marine celebrates the launch of the third Littoral Mission Vessel for Republic of Singapore Navy

Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd (ST Marine), the marine arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering), successfully launched the third Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV), Unity, designed and built for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

The launching of the third Littoral Mission Vessel - Unity, built by ST Marine for the Republic of Singapore Navy.

The ceremony was officiated by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) and Senior Minister of State for Defence. Mrs Diana Ong, spouse of Mr Ong, took on the role as the lady sponsor in accordance with naval traditions to name and launch the vessel at ST Marine’s Benoi Yard. The event was witnessed by many senior officials from Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces.

“The launch of the third Littoral Mission Vessel – Unity is yet another gratified moment for ST Marine,” said Ng Sing Chan, President for ST Marine. “We are making great strides in the LMV programme, made possible only with the hard-work and commitment from the project teams from MINDEF, RSN, DSTA and our many other partners. We are honoured to be given the opportunity to prime this contract and showcase our engineering expertise and the ability to manage large scale engineering systems.”

ST Marine was awarded the contract by MINDEF in 2013 to design and build eight LMVs for the RSN. The vessels are expected to be delivered from 2016 and be fully operational by 2020. They will replace the PVs designed and built by ST Marine in the 1990s. The LMV programme is in serial production at ST Marine with eight ships under construction or in the pre-construction phase. The first LMV, Independence has returned to Tuas Naval Base on 26 May 2016 and is performing the Checkout, Integration and Testing (CIT) for weapon systems on-board. The second LMV, Sovereignty is preparing for sea trials while the third LMV, Unity will embark on harbour acceptance trials after her
launch.

A unique design feature of the LMVs is the co-location of the ship's vital controls in an Integrated Command Centre. This area in the ship houses the LMV's Bridge, Combat Information Centre, and Machinery Control Room - which are usually housed in separate parts of a warship.
Picture of LMV Independence by RSN/ Chua Soon Lye

Smarter, faster and sharper, the LMVs are highly capable warships designed and equipped with advanced combat capabilities and technologies to further strengthen the RSN’s ability in protecting our sea lines of communication. With an innovative design and vast array of sense-making and decision support systems, the LMVs can operate smarter with a leaner crew for greater effectiveness and efficiency. The 80m long vessels are 2.5 times larger in size and can travel faster than the current Fearless-class Patrol Vessels (PVs). They are highly manoeuvrable and can operate in confined and congested littoral waters effectively. Equipped with sharper and advanced combat capabilities and technologies, the LMVs can be quickly configured with mission modules to take on a wide spectrum of operations, allowing the crew to deliver calibrated responses using lethal and non-lethal options to deal with a range of maritime threats.

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ST Marine celebrates the launch of the third Littoral Mission Vessel for Republic of Singapore Navy.