Singapore launches second multirole combat vessel RSS Valour three months ahead of schedule.

The Republic of Singapore Navy launched its second Victory-class Multi-Role Combat Vessel, RSS Valour (89), at ST Engineering's Benoi Yard on July 23, 2026. The 8,000-ton vessel replaces outgoing 595-ton corvettes to serve as a command ship and mothership for autonomous aerial, surface, and underwater systems. Incorporating early lessons from lead ship RSS Victory accelerated RSS Valour's build timeline, reducing the period between steel cutting and launching to 455 days.

The RSS Valour features an Integrated Full Electric Propulsion system producing 30 MW, enabling an operational range exceeding 7,000 nautical miles and an endurance of over 21 days with a crew complement under 100. Weapon systems and sensors integrated onto the 150-meter hull include the Thales Sea Fire active electronically scanned array radar, a 32-cell vertical launch system for Aster 30 Block 1 NT and VL MICA NG missiles, and Leonardo's 76 mm STRALES main gun.

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Each new Victory-class vessel will combine frigate-level air defense, surface warfare, underwater surveillance, aviation support, mission-module capacity, and control of unmanned vehicles in a single hull. (Picture source: Singapore Navy)

On July 23, 2026, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) launched the second Victory-class Multi-Role Combat Vessel (MRCV), the RSS Valour (89), at ST Engineering’s Benoi Yard, as part of a six-ship construction program intended to replace the eponymous Victory-class missile corvettes commissioned between August 1990 and May 1991. The ceremony was officiated by Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam, while his spouse served as the ship’s sponsor, and Lieutenant-Colonel Timothy Low is expected to become the vessel’s first commanding officer. The RSS Valour entered the water nine months after the lead ship RSS Victory (88), which was launched on October 21, 2025, and is scheduled for delivery in 2028, while the RSS Valour is due to follow in 2029. 

The acquisition preserves the six Victory-class corvette names and pennant numbers: Victory (88), Valour (89), Vigilance (90), Valiant (91), Vigour (92) and Vengeance (93), but replaces these 595-ton missile ships with six vessels displacing 8,000 tons. At 150 m long, 21.04 m wide and 5.7 m in draught, the new MRCV is 87.9 m longer, 12.54 m wider and more than thirteen times heavier than the corvette it will replace. The increase can easily be explained, as the MRCV combines the functions of a frigate with the storage, launch, recovery and command infrastructure required to operate unmanned aerial, surface and underwater systems during deployments exceeding 7,000 nautical miles and 21 days.

Singapore signed the contract for six MRCVs with ST Engineering Marine on March 27, 2023, assigning the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) responsibility for acquisition, systems engineering and integration management, while DSO National Laboratories participates in the development and adaptation of onboard technologies. Steel cutting for the RSS Victory began on March 8, 2024, its keel was laid on October 22, 2024, and the hull was launched on October 21, 2025, producing an interval of 592 days between first steel and launch. The RSS Valour reached the same point more rapidly: steel was cut on April 24, 2025, the keel was laid on January 27, 2026, and the ship was launched on July 23, 2026, an interval of 455 days from steel cutting to launch and 177 days from keel laying to launch.

ST Engineering chief executive Vincent Chong said the second vessel was launched three months faster than the first because production lessons from the Victory were incorporated into the Valour’s construction. On April 29, 2026, steel was cut simultaneously for the RSS Vigilance and RSS Valiant, placing four ships in construction, fitting-out or integration at the same time and leaving only the RSS Vigour and RSS Vengeance at the ordered stage. Shipyard resources must now support hull assembly on later ships while the Victory undergoes fitting-out at Gul Yard, propulsion activation, combat system installation, harbor acceptance work and sea trials. The RSS Valour also provided an opportunity to correct small construction and integration problems found aboard the lead vessel before the third and fourth hulls reach comparable stages.

The outgoing Victory-class corvette displaces 595 tons, measures 62 m in length, 8.5 m in beam and 2.6 m in draught, carries 49 personnel and reaches 37 knots through four Maybach MTU 16V 538 TB93 diesel engines producing 12,600 kW. In contrast, the MRCV displaces 8,000 tons, measures 150 m by 21.04 m, draws 5.7 m and is intended to operate with fewer than 100 personnel, although an earlier design configuration listed 110. Displacement increases by 1,245%, length by 142%, beam by 148% and draught by 119%, while crew requirements rise by no more than 104% if the complement remains below 100. In practical terms, each sailor aboard the existing corvette corresponds to 12.1 tons of displacement, compared with more than 80 tons per sailor aboard the MRCV, illustrating the degree to which machinery control, navigation, combat management, surveillance and damage monitoring were automated.

Range rises from 4,000 nautical miles at 18 knots to more than 7,000 nautical miles, an increase of at least 75%, while the MRCV can also sustain 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots and remain deployed for more than 21 days. Maximum speed falls to 22 to 25 knots, reducing sprint speed by 12 to 15 knots because the new class prioritizes fuel economy, electrical generation, payload volume, and persistent command functions rather than the high-speed surface attack profile for which the original corvettes were built. More interestingly, the mission spaces convert the additional hull volume into deployable capacity rather than simply increasing accommodation and fuel storage. The ship contains an internal bay for eight dedicated mission modules and can transport as many as twenty containerized payloads.

Onboard cranes, a cargo elevator and internal handling equipment allow containers, stores, weapons and unmanned equipment to be moved without relying entirely on shore cranes. Two launch-and-recovery systems are positioned on the port side and at the stern, permitting simultaneous or mission-specific use by rigid-hull inflatable boats, unmanned surface vessels and other small craft. Two RHIBs are allocated to interception, boarding, search and maritime security missions, while an unmanned surface vessel (USV) can be deployed through a dedicated launch-and-recovery installation. The Singaporean Navy previously identified the 16 m Venus USV as a planned embarked system, although the final operational mix for each ship has not been fixed.

The MRCV is also intended to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (UUVs), creating an offboard sensor network that can search beyond the ship’s radar and sonar horizons. A flight deck and enclosed hangar are sized to support a helicopter of up to 15 tons, giving the vessel the physical capacity to embark a medium naval helicopter rather than only a small fixed-wing UAV. Interestingly, the onboard simulator adds a training function at sea, allowing personnel to rehearse missile engagements, machinery failures and multi-vehicle control while preserving operational consoles and reducing the number of training events that must be conducted at shore establishments.

The machinery arrangement is built around an Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) supplied by GE Vernova, separating electrical generation from the propeller drive and allowing generated power to be distributed between propulsion motors, sensors, combat systems, communications equipment and embarked payloads. This power plant produces an output of roughly 30 MW, compared with 12.6 MW aboard the Victory-class corvette, although the two figures are not directly equivalent because the MRCV’s electrical output also supports all major ship systems. Singapore also selected a diesel generation without gas turbines because the surface fleet already relies on diesel propulsion, avoiding the need to create a separate gas turbine maintenance establishment for only six vessels.

This choice lowers top speed and acceleration, but reduces machinery diversity and gives the ship a common fuel and maintenance base with the rest of the fleet. The vessel is designed for operation in Sea State 6, corresponding to significant wave heights of 4 to 6 m, while the electrical reserve provides capacity for future radar processing, electronic-warfare equipment, additional communications nodes, and high-demand weapons. However, the usable margin will depend on how much of the 30 MW is required for propulsion at high speed and how power is prioritized during combat. Air surveillance and missile employment are centered on the Thales Sea Fire radar and a 32-cell vertical launch system. The Sea Fire uses four fixed active electronically scanned array faces integrated into the forward mast, allowing simultaneous search, track and fire control functions across 360 degrees without waiting for a rotating antenna to revisit a target.

The fixed-array arrangement is particularly relevant against sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, low-altitude unmanned aircraft and coordinated attacks in which multiple tracks must be updated every second rather than once per antenna rotation. Safran supplies the electro-optical and infrared surveillance system, which provides passive identification and tracking without emitting radar energy, while a hull-mounted sonar supports underwater search. For their part, the 32 launch cells are intended to carry a mixture of VL MICA NG and Aster 30 Block 1 NT missiles, making the MRCV the first RSN ship designed to combine missile families already associated separately with the Independence-class littoral mission vessels and Formidable-class frigates. The VL MICA NG uses either an imaging infrared seeker or an AESA radio-frequency seeker for point and local-area defense, while the Aster 30 Block 1 NT adds longer-range interception and a capability against ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 1,500 km.

The loadout remains a capacity-management problem: a 16-missile allocation for each type would provide only sixteen long-range engagements and sixteen shorter-range engagements before replenishment, while assigning more cells to Asters would reduce the number available for closer threats unless the launcher permits multiple smaller missiles per cell. With six ships, the theoretical fleet capacity would be 192 vertical launch cells, but actual availability would be lower whenever vessels are undergoing maintenance, training, or transit and would also depend on Singapore’s stored missile inventory. The gun and underwater warfare fit creates additional engagement options but remains less completely defined than the air defense system. The primary weapon is Leonardo’s 76 mm STRALES, which can use conventional ammunition and guided DART projectiles, while Rafael’s Typhoon Mk-30C remotely controlled 30 mm cannon was selected over Leonardo’s Hitrole proposal for the secondary position.

The 76 mm gun provides a lower-cost means of engaging surface contacts, unmanned craft and some aerial threats without using a missile, while the 30 mm weapon covers the inner defensive sector against fast boats and low-altitude targets. The anti-ship missile has not been formally confirmed, although the Blue Spear, developed jointly by ST Engineering and Israel Aerospace Industries, has been linked to the requirement. The Blue Spear would replace the outgoing corvettes’ eight Harpoon missiles, which provide a range of 130 km. The underwater weapon remains equally important because the hull-mounted sonar can detect and classify contacts but cannot by itself attack a submarine. EuroTorp’s MU90 Impact and Leonardo’s A244 lightweight torpedo have both been considered, while the ship’s hangar could also support a helicopter carrying dipping sonar, sonobuoys and lightweight torpedoes if Singapore assigns such an aircraft.

Until the anti-ship missile, torpedo, helicopter and unmanned underwater package are fixed, the ship’s air defense and command capabilities are more clearly defined than its final offensive surface and anti-submarine load. The Victory-class MRCV also marks an industrial shift because Singapore is integrating a larger share of the vessel domestically while relying on foreign suppliers for specialized structures, sensors, propulsion and weapons. ST Engineering remains responsible for hull construction and final integration, DSTA controls system architecture and acceptance, and Saab Kockums is supplying six composite superstructures under a contract signed on August 22, 2024, working with Denmark’s Odense Maritime Technology on detailed design and structural engineering.

The composite structure weighs roughly 50% less than an equivalent steel assembly, lowering weight above the waterline, reducing the center of gravity and preserving top-weight margin for four radar panels, communications antennas and later additions. The first composite superstructure and mast were handed over on June 27, 2026, after composite sheets produced in Sweden were shipped to Singapore and assembled by Penguin Shipyard International. The forward mast weighs roughly 60,000 kg and had to be transported in separate sections before local reassembly because its shipment as a single unit was impractical. ST Engineering therefore used a full-scale digital ship model to check equipment access, piping, cable routes, compartment layouts and structural interfaces before fabrication, reducing the likelihood that completed blocks would need to be cut open for design corrections.

The resulting supply chain still leaves Singapore dependent on foreign support for Sea Fire radar components, MBDA missiles, GE Vernova propulsion equipment, Leonardo and Rafael guns, Safran electro-optics and Saab composite technology, but final integration and configuration control remain centered in Singapore. The operational transition is therefore larger than the unchanged six-ship fleet size suggests. The Victory-class corvettes were armed with eight Harpoon anti-ship missiles, sixteen Barak air defense missiles, a 76 mm gun and, before their removal during modernization, six 324 mm torpedo tubes with A244S torpedoes and variable-depth sonar. They carried 49 personnel, reached 37 knots and could travel 4,000 nautical miles at 18 knots, giving Singapore a compact surface-strike force optimized for rapid movement through the confined waters surrounding the Malacca and Singapore straits.

The MRCV shifts the emphasis to more than 7,000 nautical miles of range, a 15-ton helicopter facility, twenty containerized payloads, eight internal mission modules, a 32-cell air-defense battery, 30 MW of electrical generation, and control of aerial, surface, and underwater unmanned vehicles. One MRCV can therefore cover a wider area and coordinate more sensors than one Victory-class corvette, but the availability of the new class will depend on whether the Republic of Singapore Navy can sustain crews of up to 600 personnel across six ships, provide additional specialists for mission modules and unmanned systems, maintain sufficient VL MICA NG and Aster 30 Block 1 NT stocks and keep several vessels ready while others undergo maintenance.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.

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