Singapore Launches First MRCV Mothership

SINGAPORE launched its first Multi-Role Combat Vessel (MRCV), Victory for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) at ST Engineering Marine Benoi shipyard. The MRCV is designed to be a mothership for unmanned aerial, surface and sub-surface systems, with mission modularity, and will be the largest surface vessel in the RSN. With higher endurance, payloads and mission flexibility, the MRCV marks a quantum leap in the RSN’s capabilities.

The launching ceremony is a milestone event where construction of the ship on land is completed, and the ship is ready to enter the water to continue her outfitting and subsequent trials, before commissioning. Six MRCVs will supplant the existing Victory-class missile corvettes (MCVs) progressively from 2028 onwards.

The ceremony was officiated by Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing and his spouse who served as the Lady Sponsor who formally christened the ship. In addition, the ceremony was also attended by the city-state’s Minister of State for Defence Desmond Choo, Chief of Defence Force Vice Admiral Aaron Beng, Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Sean Wat, and top brass from the Ministry of Defence, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).

Speaking at the ceremony, the defence minister highlighted that a strong and capable Navy was integral to safeguarding Singapore’s sea lines of communication and ensuring the nation’s security and survival amid an increasingly complex global security environment. “Today, our strategic lines of communications extend much further. That is why we need new capabilities, working together as an integrated SAF, to defend and secure our sea lines of communications, and to make sure that no one with ill intent can disrupt our day-to-day. It is critical to our lives and our livelihoods, and also to the global economy because of the critical geostrategic location that Singapore is in”, Chan said.

Equipped with advanced sensors, weapon systems and network capabilities, this class of vessel is capable of handling a wide range of threats, and function as a Command ship with advanced automation. Furthermore, an MRCV will be able to operate safely and effectively with a smaller crew compared to other warships of similar size and capability.

While it is a mothership, the MRCV carries an array of armaments, including MBDA’s MICA and ASTER surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and surface-to-surface missiles (SSM) in addition to Leonardo’s STRALES 76mm gun along with Rafael’s 30mm Typhoon Mk30-C remote weapons station (RWS).

Its operational range exceeds 7,000 nautical miles, twice that of the Formidable-class frigates which are RSN’s principal combatants. Meanwhile, it has an endurance of over 21 days without refuelling or resupplying.

Next, MRCV Victory will be undergoing outfitting, platform and combat systems integration, and acceptance trials. In parallel, pioneer MRCV crew will also begin training to prepare them to operationalise the ship in the coming years. Following the Victory, the subsequent vessels will be named Valour, Vigilance, Valiant, Vigour and Vengeance, retaining the names of the older Victory-class corvettes as well as their pennant numbers.

Built by the republic’s ST Engineering, the MRCV is the result of a joint development spearheaded by the DSTA, DSO National Laboratories and ST Engineering, together with international partners including Swedish firm Saab Kockums who is responsible for providing the vessels’ composite superstructures, while Denmark’s Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) contributed to the design.–-shp/adj/dl (Pix:RSN, MINDEF)