thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) on April 22, 2024 launched RSS Inimitable the fourth Type 218SG Invincible-class submarine for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) at a
ceremony in Kiel, Germany. The launch was attended by Teo
Chee Hean, Singapore's Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for
National Security, and Boris
Pistorius, Germany's Minister of Defense.
Image: TKMS. Note the 'panel' next to the visible torpedo tube muzzle, likely a sonar module. --- |
As I mentioned in
my "State
of ASEAN Submarine Forces: Singapore" article in June 2023,
with the introduction of the Invincible class, Singapore will have undergone
three generations (Challengers, Archers, now Invincibles) of submarines in the
space of 25 years.
After a contest between TKMS and Naval Group (Scorpene), TKMS was awarded a contract for two boats (then called Type 218SGs) in 2013, and a second order of two in 2017. Construction, in Kiel, Germany, on the lead (renamed Invincible class sub) RSS Invincible, started in 2014 - it was launched in 2019. Then the second, RSS Impeccable and third, RSS Illustrious, were simultaneously launched in 2022.
TKMS states that the Invincible class, at "70m length and around 2,000 tons" displacement, currently are the largest submarines the yard has built. If this statement is true, then the Invincibles are slightly larger than their Israeli cousins, the Dolphin II (68.6m length, 2,050 tons surface displacement), through the upcoming Type-212CD class boats that entered production in September 2023, and the Israeli Dakar class, ordered in 2022, will be larger boats.
RSS Inimitable is the fourth and last of the class (as stated in a press
release by Singapore's Ministry of Defense). TKMS
will hand over the sub to the Republic of Singapore Navy in 2025,
after testing and outfitting.
Image: TKMS. Note flank sonar arrays (often classified items shielded from public view) have not yet been fitted. --- |
RSS Invincible still remains in Kiel for RSN crew training at the German Navy's Submarine Training Centre, at Eckernfoerde Naval Base. TKMS has also signed an MoU with Singapore's ST Engineering to 'enhance the Type 218SG Type 218SG submarines over their operational lifetimes". This further enhances the relationship the RSN and ST Marine have established with TKMS and the German Navy.
Video: RSN Youtube channel: Join ME5 Francis Lee as we follow him in a day of his life as a Submarine Project Officer in Kiel, Germany
RSS Impeccable arrived in Singapore in July 2023 (see my article) for local sea trials and workup, and will be fully operational and commissioned later this year. This will likely coincide with the retirement of the RSS Conqueror, a 57-year-old boat that has been in Singapore commission for 20 years.
Singapore media claims the RSS Inimitable will
be delivered to Singapore by 2028.
Here and above. Channel News Asia (cna) announced RSS Inimitable's launch.
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