Pictures of the new singapore frigate (formidable class)

[QUOTE=wd1]the FLIR/CCD/laser sensor complex on the RAFAEL Typhoon, or for that matter the optronic/radar firecontrol systems used by most naval 76mm guns simply does not provide the sensitivity, tracking, ranging and high-speed processing capability needed to deal with modern ASMs. they were designed to shoot at boats and planes not missiles.QUOTE]

This shows the benefit of such systems as the RAMS and SADRAL, fire-and-forget. As long as you know where the missile is coming from, you can fire these missiles at the target without needing the complex target tracking.

—–JT—–

i dont think its so simple – proper CIWS systems are actually big and complex things, a look at a Sa’ar 5 corvette will show the real bulk of the Phalanx relative to the ship itself. and they are big because shooting down incoming missiles is a very complicated task that necessiates a capable and dedicated search/track/firecontrol radar system. hence the big lump on top of the Gatling gun of the Phalanx.

the FLIR/CCD/laser sensor complex on the RAFAEL Typhoon, or for that matter the optronic/radar firecontrol systems used by most naval 76mm guns simply does not provide the sensitivity, tracking, ranging and high-speed processing capability needed to deal with modern ASMs. they were designed to shoot at boats and planes not missiles.

that being said though you may still get the occasional lucky hit, and it is always better to have something shooting at the incoming ASM then nothing at all. hence i called it an “elementary” capability, you may still get to shoot down something like a Silkworm. but it isn’t just a matter of loading airburst ammo and calling it a CIWS.

AHEAD itself has its own dedicated FCR, and the ship will have to mount something like that for the Typhoons to obtain a true antimissile CIWS capability.

[QUOTE=wd1]

in any case locally-licensed versions of the RAFAEL Typhoon 25mm Gun System (http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/naval/typhoon/Typhoon.html) will be installed on the Formidables in two positions on the port and starboard corners of the helicopter hangar. these are mainly for engaging small boats (bomb-laden terrorists ala USS Cole) but provide an elementary level of antimissile CIWS as well.
QUOTE]

You know, combining one of these systems with some air-burst ammunition (like the AHEAD rounds) could make these fairly effective as a last ditch CIWS. Not sure if they’ve gotten these ABM rounds down to 25mm but I believe they have made them in 30mm calibre, so 25mm may not be far behind.

Also, don’t forget that the Oto Melara 76mm system can fire the new DAVIDE guided round which turns it into a very effective CIWS.

—–JT—–

The SPY-1K was developed for vessels in the 3.000 t range or even less. Of course his performance are far from the SPY-1D, but in the same degree, I suppose, that the Herakles compared with de Arabel/S1850 combination.
At this moment, the only aplication that I know for the SPY-1K is the spanish-american AFCON Corvette design (2.600 t), that was considered some time ago by the Armada and offered to Israel.

It was not me who was comparing them to the 052C.

Herakles can be combined with a large 3d surveilance radar (SMART-L, S1850 etc) in the same way that Sampson, Arabel and APAR can, you would know this if you read the PDF I posted.
India could have gone down the Aster route but didnt becouse they cannot afford it. They could have had the Arabel system (As on the Sawari 2s and the new franco-italian DDG’s) They could have had Herakles (as on the Fromidable class and the upcoming FREMM frigates) or even Sampson (T45) but these options were too expensive for India so it went for the much inferior top-plate/Stil combination with far less advanced RCS technology built into the vessels. India is even having to wait to get a VLS version of the Stil.

wd1 compared to the 052C DDG 🙂

I know what the next generation DDG’s will have Indian, I was reffering to frigates.

Sealord, all the next gen DDGs have a large phased array radar for target tracking and missile guidance on fwd mast and a huge 3D surveillance radar on the rear mast(SMART-L, S1850). dutch, italians, french, germans, british….the spanish & danes with the SPY1 have surveillance on the flat panels of superstructure and smaller guidance radars SPS(?) . all of these designs are > 5000t.

there are reasons why they are doing this and not going with Heracles even if the weapons like aster15 are same for british, italians and french.

a smaller ship probably doesnt have the stability to support 15 ton assenblies like the APAR high up on a mast.

I dont think you could fit SPY-1F on this ship. The Nansen class is over 5000t, thats 2000t heavier than the Formidable class.
I realy cannot see how you can call Herakles the weak point-its simply not.

A PDF from Thales about Herakles

http://www.thales-naval.com/naval/pdf/herakles1.pdf

The reason India hasnt bought it is that they cannot afford it with Astor so instead India is left with the top-plate and Stil combination, for which it is being forced to wait for the VLS version.

Isn’t there a yet smaller SPY-1K version available or in the making?

Speaking about Thales, APAR is also available and a smaller version (geared towards working with ESSM and Mk41 tactical) called SeaPar is in the works.

Lol yup excellent ! except for when the crew need to EVAC.

I dont think you could fit SPY-1F on this ship. The Nansen class is over 5000t, thats 2000t heavier than the Formidable class.
I realy cannot see how you can call Herakles the weak point-its simply not.

A PDF from Thales about Herakles

http://www.thales-naval.com/naval/pdf/herakles1.pdf

The reason India hasnt bought it is that they cannot afford it with Astor so instead India is left with the top-plate and Stil combination, for which it is being forced to wait for the VLS version.

their weak point is probably the Heracles radar – thales had been trying to sell that into india’s new ships without success so far, Heracles is inferior to EMPAR which is what you need to be a bigstick these days. its more suitable for a corvette…no gun ciws and no smaller missiles to avoid wasting the aster15/30. not bad for a small ship, but a stretch to compare to 6500t designs like 052x.

EMPAR, SAMPSON, AEGIS and the like are generally too heavy for a 3000ton class vessel. the frigate-size mini Aegis SPY-1F would be a treat but we were buying french; we wanted the extra-stealth Lafayette design.

besides what would we need EMPAR for anyway. who is going to do a saturation ASM attack on our fleet? no one for the forseeable future. with Herakles we still have by far the best naval MFR in south east asia. singapore cannot afford to have “bigstick intentions”, and the frigates are more than good enough.

since we do not face a saturation ASM threat the need for high-grade antimissile defense (for eg. an outer Aster-30 screen, intermediate Aster-15 and point-defense Phalanx/Goalkeeper) does not exist either. there simply wont be enough incoming missiles to run down the onboard Asters.

besides the Formidable-class’ s much reduced RCS and heat emissions cuts down ASM terminal homing effectiveness as well.

in any case locally-licensed versions of the RAFAEL Typhoon 25mm Gun System (http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/naval/typhoon/Typhoon.html) will be installed on the Formidables in two positions on the port and starboard corners of the helicopter hangar. these are mainly for engaging small boats (bomb-laden terrorists ala USS Cole) but provide an elementary level of antimissile CIWS as well.

thanks for all the good comments guys.

PS: Pinko i have noo idea! i dont read jap.

Nice, very nice indeed.

Wow, Great picture , And the following ships will be built in Singapore as well.

BTW, is the 2 picutres showing the FFG doing sea trial or on the way back home( Singapore)?

Nice ship……

Plus:

Singapore is one of those countries I really envy…………….

but as a proud singaporean i’m very pleased with the Formidable-class.

You ought to be.

Saudi or Taiwanese Lafayette are high end model, but I heard that SIngapor has bought even better model.

It’s noticeable for the superstructure which is supposed to be lower than previous model.

their weak point is probably the Heracles radar – thales had been trying to sell that into india’s new ships without success so far, Heracles is inferior to EMPAR which is what you need to be a bigstick these days. its more suitable for a corvette…no gun ciws and no smaller missiles to avoid wasting the aster15/30. not bad for a small ship, but a stretch to compare to 6500t designs like 052x.

was shocked that you guys thought it was fake! actually now that i think of it the first pic DOES look like a plastic mockup.

but as a proud singaporean i’m very pleased with the Formidable-class.

they are by far the most capable surface combatants in their class in the region, almost at the level of china’s new 052Cs and the new indian AAW destroyers. presently their main armament would be Aster 15s, but in time i believe Aster 30 will be deployed for wide area air defence of our island nation to fulfil a capability gap left when we retired our Bloodhound SAMs.

there is also the possibility of installing the larger Sylver A50 launchers to allow VL Storm Shadow capability. that would be awesome but is thought to be a little too intimidating for the neighbours

vajt, that is indeed the stealth turret 🙂

interestingly, we will be operating S-70B Seahawks from the frigates, their specs being similar to the USN SH-60R. american choppers operating from french ships, hmm

from sgforums.com:

FORMIDABLE CLASS MULTI-MISSION FRIGATES, SINGAPORE

Six Formidable Class multi-mission frigates are being built for the Singapore Navy. The first of class, RSS Formidable, was launched on 7 January 2004 at the Lorient dockyard in Brittany, France. The Republic of Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) awarded the contract in March 2002 to DCN in France for the design and construction of the frigates. The contract includes a technology transfer program under which the construction of the first frigate is carried out in France and then five further frigates are built in Singapore by Singapore Technology Marine (STM) at the Benoi shipyard. The frigate programme is named Project Delta and is being managed by Singapore’s state-owned Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).

Following the launch of the RSS Formidable in January 2004, work started on fitting the combat and platform systems. The frigate will arrive in Singapore in 2005 and will enter service in 2007. All six Formidable class frigates will be in service by 2009.

As well as RSS Formidable (6, the class will consist of: RSS Intrepid (69), RSS Steadfast (70), RSS Tenacious (71), RSS Stalwart (72) and RSS Supreme (73). RSS Intrepid, constructed by STM, was launched in July 2004. RSS Steadfast was launched in January 2005.

The frigates will replace the six Sea Wolf Class missile gunboats that entered service in 1972 and are approaching the end of operational life.
FRIGATE DESIGN

The Project Delta design is a smaller derivative of the French La Fayette class stealth frigate with low radar, acoustic, infrared and electromagnetic signatures. A high level of automation and closely integrated combat and ship management systems have been selected to allow the frigate to be operated with a crew of just 70. The overall length is 114.8m with a beam of 16.3m and draught of 6.0m. The full load displacement is 3,200t.
FRIGATE COMMAND AND CONTROL

The Combat Management System was developed by the state owned DSTA with ST Electronics to meet the operational requirements of the Republic of Singapore Navy. DSTA also has responsibility for the combat systems integration. The Standard Operating Common Consoles, with 20in LCD displays, are supplied by Singapore Technologies Electronics, a subsidiary of ST Engineering.

The Integrated Communications System is also supplied by Singapore Technologies Electronics.
FRIGATE MISSILES

The frigate is armed with the Boeing Harpoon surface-to-surface anti-ship missile. The Harpoon missile has a range of 130km and uses active radar guidance. The missile is armed with a 227kg warhead.

The frigate is fitted with the DCN Sylver vertical launch system with MBDA Aster 15 surface-to-air missiles. There are four eight-cell SYLVER A43 launch modules with 32 missiles. The two-stage Aster missile is a very high agility and high manoeuvrability defence missile for deployment against incoming sea skimming anti-ship missiles which use evasive terminal manoeuvres and re-attack modes. In anti-missile mode the Aster 15 has a range of 15km. Aster also provides protection against manned and unmanned aircraft to a range of 30km.
FRIGATE GUN

The main gun is the Oto Melara 76mm/62 Super Rapid gun which fires 6kg shells to a range of 16km at a firing rate up to 120 rounds per minute.
ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE

The EDO Model 980 ALOFTS active low frequency towed sonar provides long-range detection and classification capability against submarines. ALOFTS comprises a variable depth sonar (VDS) towed body with a towed array. The frigate has two triple-barrelled lightweight torpedo launchers and is armed with the Eurotorp A244S torpedo.
FRIGATE AIRCRAFT CAPACITIES

The frigate has the capacity to operate a single medium size helicopter in the 10t class. The helicopter deck at the stern, approximately 22m x 16m (360m²), has a single landing spot. The hangar is fully equipped with helicopter support and maintenance systems. The frigate carries an additional 15 aircrew for helicopter flight operations.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force will fly the shipborne helicopter and helicopter mission crew will be from the Republic of Singapore Navy. In January 2005, MINDEF placed an order for six Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk helicopters to operate from the frigates. Deliveries are scheduled from 2008-10.
FRIGATE SENSORS

The Herakles multi-function radar, supplied by Thales, is the frigate’s primary surveillance radar. The phased array radar is a passive, three-dimensional, search and fire control radar operating over E- and F-bands. The radar, installed in a radome on top of the main mast, carries out long-range air and surface surveillance and weapon control. The Herakles radar is integrated with the Aster air defence missile system.

The frigates surface search and navigation radar is the Terma Scanter 2001, operating at I-band.

Countermeasures systems are yet to be announced.
FRIGATE PROPULSION

The frigate is powered by four MTU 20V 8000 diesel engines in a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) configuration. Each engine is rated at 8,200kW. The engines drive two shafts with constant pitch propellers.

The cruise and maximum speeds are 18 and 27 knots and the range is 7,200km (4,000 nautical miles)

COPIED FROM THE ORIGINAL POST BY MODERATOR CENTURION[/img]

[QUOTE=sealordlawrence]Just found the below link from the singapore ministry of defence with two great pictures of their new frigate.

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news_and_events/nr/2005/aug/05aug05_nr.html

QUOTE]

Nice looking boat. It does have a similarity to the Gowind designs, which makes sense since it is from the same firm.

Is that a stealthy 76mm Oto Melara turret?

—–JT—–

Its when you see and read about vessels like this that you realise just how backwards ships like the Talwar class realy are.

Well duh. Nobody in their right mind would describe the Talwar class as top of the line. But India’s P17s are a different proposition.