Formidable-class Frigate

## Formidable-class Stealth Frigate

RSS Supreme

The ***Formidable*-class** multi-role stealth frigates are multi-mission derivatives of the French Navy's *La Fayette*-class frigate with the Republic of Singapore Navy. The six ships form the First Flotilla of the Navy.

### Planning and Acquisition

The search for a replacement for the aging *Sea Wolf*-class missile gunboats, which entered into service in 1972, started in the mid-1990s. The United States, Sweden and France participated in the bid for the contract. In March 2000, the Singapore Ministry of Defence awarded the contract to DCNS for the design and construction of six frigates. A key feature of the contract was the technology transfer arrangement. Under the arrangement, DCNS was to design and build the first frigate in its Lorient yard in France while the remaining five frigates were to be built locally by Singapore Technologies (ST) Marine at its Benoi yard in Singapore. Subsequent maintenance and mid-life retrofit will be done by ST Marine.

Construction of *Formidable* began in late 2002, when the keel was laid down in Lorient in November 2002.

### History

The six frigates form the 185 Squadron of the RSN.

RSS *Formidable* participated in Exercise Malabar 07-2 in September 2007, a Theater Security Cooperation engagement involving the navies of the United States, India, Australia, Japan and Singapore. The exercise involved more than 20,000 personnel on 28 ships and 150 aircraft, including the USS *Kitty Hawk* Carrier Strike Group.

RSS *Intrepid* conducted the navy's inaugural live firing of the French-made Aster 15 surface-to-air missile on 2 April 2008, off the French coast of Toulon. The frigate successfully shot down an aerial drone simulating an enemy target with an Aster missile. It was reported that the frigate sailed halfway round the world to test fire the Aster missiles due to the crowded air and sealanes around Singapore and the lack of an instrumented firing range needed by defence engineers to track and measure the performance of the Aster missile.

RSS *Steadfast* participated in the world's largest multilateral naval exercise RIMPAC for the first time from 27 June to 31 July 2008, which involved 20,000 personnel from 10 countries operating over 35 ships, six submarines and over 150 aircraft. During this exercise, RSS *Steadfast* launched a Harpoon missile on a decommissioned USN warship on 14 July 2008 and also refueled at sea with a contingent of USN vessels. Participation in this exercise also validated the RSN's ability to conduct sustained sea operations.

On 16 November 2009, the Republic of Singapore Air Force established its Peace Triton Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk Naval Helicopter detachment at the USN Maritime Strike Weapons School in San Diego, California to undertake qualification and operational training under the umbrella of the USN's SH-60F Aircraft Qualification Course. RSS *Stalwart* was deployed to southern California to support ship/air integration activities. On 25 March 2010, the Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean announced that the Seahawk integration programme had successfully concluded with a "high-tempo, week-long exercise" involving assets from both the RSN and USN, including five surface ships, a submarine, maritime patrol aircraft and F/A-18 Hornet combat jets.

In September 2012 the RSN deployed RSS *Intrepid* and an S-70B naval helicopter in support of Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151), a multinational effort to fight piracy in the shipping lanes off Somalia. This was the first operational deployment of a Formidable-class frigate and naval helicopter for counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. This was followed by a second deployment in March 2014 of a task group comprising RSS *Tenacious* and another S-70B, the fifth such mission undertaken by the SAF.

On 9 March 2014, RSS *Steadfast* was deployed along with other air and sea assets to assist with the search and rescue operations of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

In December 2014, RSS *Supreme* was deployed in the search for Airasia Flight QZ8501 after it crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December 2014; along with RSS *Valour*, RSS *Persistence*, RSS *Kallang*, MV *Swift Rescue*, and two Lockheed C-130H Hercules.

On 26 July 2021, RSS *Intrepid* conducted a passage exercise with HMS *Queen Elizabeth*, the flagship of United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group 21 and her escort ships, together with RSS *Unity* and RSS *Resolution*, marking the first time the RSN has conducted an exercise with a UK Carrier Strike Group.

On 2 March 2022, MINDEF announced plans to upgrade the Formidable class frigate as part of its plans for a modernized, next generation SAF 2040. This entails comprehensive upgrades to all of its subsystems, including armament, combat systems and communications equipment.

From 1 to 7 November 2022, RSS Formidable participated in the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force's 70th anniversary International Fleet Review in Yokosuka, Japan alongside 38 other ships from 13 countries. During the visit, the crew participated in a city parade marching alongside other navies as well as participating in the review sail-past by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. RSS Formidable was also included in a multilateral search and rescue exercise conducted by the JMSDF.

### Armament

* **Anti-ship**: 8(Up to 24) × RGM-84 Harpoon SSM
* **Anti-air**: 2 × Sylver A50 8-cell VLS for MBDA Aster 15/30, 2 × Sylver A43 8-cell VLS for MBDA Aster 15
* **Anti-submarine**: 2 × B515 triple tubes with reloads for EuroTorp A244/S Mod 3 torpedoes
* **Guns**: OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid gun (mounted in stealth cupola), 4 × STK 50MG 12.7 mm (0.50 in) HMG, 2 × 25mm Mk 38 Mod2 Typhoon Weapon Station Stabilised Gun

### Ships in Class

* RSS Formidable
* RSS Intrepid
* RSS Steadfast
* RSS Tenacious
* RSS Stalwart
* RSS Supreme