The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) received its first Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV) as the ‘Independence’ finished sea trials and cruised to its new home at Tuas Naval Base on May 26.
LMV Independence is one of the eight LMVs that will replace the current Fearless-class Patrol Vessels (PVs). The new ships will be more efficient than their predecessors in areas such as speed and versatility.
Speaking at the event, Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral (RADM) Lai Chung Han said: “It is an important milestone for the (LMV) programme. The homecoming of LMV Independence marks the conclusion of almost 2 years of the construction phase.”
“It also marks the beginning of about 11 to 12 months of ICIT (Installation, Checkout, Integration and Testing). I think this is something we can be very proud of and something that we want to thank all involved for bringing the project to this point.”
Touching on the commissioning of LMV Independence next year, RADM Lai said: “This will be a significant moment to mark the Navy’s coming of age at 50 years, as we complete our 3rd Generation transformation, as we move into our redesign for LMV Indy to be the lead platform, to be, if I can borrow the phrase, the ‘flagship of our future Navy’.”
The event also marked the renaming of 182 Squadron (SQN) and 189 SQN, which are formed by the current eleven PVs – to 182 SQN. The new logo for 182 SQN was also unveiled. The eight LMVs will be fully operational by 2020 and they will then complete 182 SQN.
Sovereignty, the second of eight vessels, was launched this year in Singapore on April 16.
According to ST Marine, a Singaporean shipyard involved in the construction of the ships, the 80-meter vessels with a displacement of 1,250 tonnes are 2.5 times larger than the current class of patrol vessels in service with the Republic of Singapore Navy.