Singapore Receives Fourth Littoral Mission Vessel

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has taken delivery of its fourth Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV).

The warship, which will be in service as RSS Justice with pennant number 18 once it is commissioned, was handed over by Singapore shipbuilder ST Marine on 31 October, sources close to the matter confirmed with Jane’s on the day after.

Justice , which was launched by ST Marine in March 2017, will now undergo an installation, checkout, integration, and testing (ICIT) phase for various systems on board the ship in the next few months. The platform is currently scheduled for commissioning in 2018.

Justice is part of a contract awarded to ST Marine in January 2013 for eight LMV platforms. The vessels are progressively replacing the RSN's fleet of Fearless-class patrol vessels that have been in service since the mid-1990s. First-of-class LMV, RSS Independence (15) was commissioned in May 2017 and is currently deployed with the RSN’s 182 Squadron as an operational component of the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF’s) Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF).

The LMV platform measures 80 m in length, 12 m in breadth, and has a hull draught of 3 m. Powered by two MTU 20V 4000 M93 engines in a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) configuration, the 1,250-tonne warship has a top speed in excess of 27 kt and a standard range of 3,500 n miles at 15 kt.