Singapore’s Formidable-class frigates contracted for upgrade

ST Engineering Marine will upgrade Republic of Singapore Navy Formidable-class frigates under a contract signed with Singapore’s MoD.

The company will undertake the design and engineering of the frigate’s marine and electrical systems’ upgrades, including the ship management system and power generation system.

The frigates will be upgraded progressively, with the first frigate expected to complete its upgrades from 2028.

A key upgrade will be to the combat management system to harness the latest developments in advanced technologies such as in artificial intelligence. Together, with improved sensors, this will enable the frigates to better detect and react faster to potential threats.

Upgrades will be made to the frigates’ weapons and communication systems to retain the capability and flexibility to meet evolving operational demands.

The current Harpoon Surface-to-Surface Missile (SSM) will be replaced with the Blue Spear SSM while the ships' communication systems will be refreshed to increase the networking capacity of the frigates with the rest of the armed forces.

The fleet management system will be incorporated into the upgraded frigates. Information collected on the ships’ platform and combat systems health status will be collated and used for pre-emptive engineering actions, to enhance the frigates’ operational readiness.

Plans for the upgrade were first announced in March 2022.

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Blue Spear (5G SSM)