Bedok Class Mine Countermeasures Vessel
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The ''Bedok'' class are
mine countermeasures vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Sim ...
s of the
Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the Naval warfare, maritime Military branch, service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any seaborne threats and as a guarantor of its sea lines of ...
(RSN). They play an important role in the maritime security of Singapore, ensuring that the
Singapore Strait The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...
and the sea lanes surrounding Singapore remain mine-free and open to international shipping. It is estimated that closure of Singapore's ports would result in direct trade losses amounting to more than US$1.2 billion daily, posing a serious threat to Singapore's economy. The four ships form the Sixth Flotilla of the RSN.


Planning and acquisition

The RSN first acquired mine countermeasures capabilities in 1975, when the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
's and were re-activated by the RSN's engineers and technicians in California. These s were commissioned as RSS ''Jupiter'' and RSS ''Mercury'' respectively. RSS ''Jupiter'' was scrapped on 15 August 1986 and RSS ''Mercury'' was decommissioned on 31 March 1993. The need for modern minehunting vessels saw Singapore entering into an agreement with Sweden in 1991 to purchase four s. The ships were named after coastal areas in Singapore, and were selected from a name-the-ship contest held in 1993.


Design and construction


Platform

The ship's design incorporates a number of features important for mine countermeasures – low acoustic and magnetic signatures, as well as shock resistance to
underwater explosion An underwater explosion (also known as an UNDEX) is a explosive material, chemical or nuclear explosive, nuclear explosion that occurs under the surface of a body of water. While useful in anti-ship and submarine warfare, underwater bombs are not ...
s. The ''Bedok'' class is made of
glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
, designed by the
Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...
and
Kockums Saab Kockums AB is a shipyard headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, owned by the Swedish defence company Saab AB. Saab Kockums AB is further operational in Muskö, Docksta, and Karlskrona. While having a history of civil vessel construction, Kocku ...
(then known as Karlskronavarvet). Its low magnetic and acoustic signatures reduces the possibility of setting off mines. It is highly durable, fire- and shock-resistant, easy to repair and is maintained only by painting. The ship's bridge, major combat equipment and engines are also shock-mounted to cushion against underwater explosions. Each ''Bedok''-class MCMV is powered by two independent vertical
Voith Schneider Propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneousl ...
s, designed specifically to ensure excellent manoeuvrability and low noise signature. The first ship, RSS ''Bedok'', was built by Kockums in Sweden based on the ''Landsort''-class design. The hulls of the remaining three ships were prefabricated in Sweden and transferred to Singapore for final assembly by Singapore Technologies (ST) Marine.


Mine countermeasures

Each ship operates the ECA K-STER expendable mine disposal system from France, for the identification and destruction of mines. The MCMVs also work closely with the explosive ordnance disposal divers from the Naval Diving Unit for mine disposal. The ''Bedok'' class is equipped to operate the Kockums remote-controlled catamaran minesweepers, and are also capable of laying a defensive minefield. It has also been reported that the ''Bedok'' class operate two REMUS
unmanned underwater vehicles An uncrewed vehicle or unmanned vehicle is a vehicle without a person on board. Uncrewed vehicles can either be under telerobotic control—remote controlled or remote guided vehicles—or they can be autonomously controlled—autonomous vehicl ...
as part of their mine countermeasures suite.


Sensors

The ''Bedok'' class is equipped with a
Thales Underwater Systems Thales Underwater Systems or TUS (formerly ''Thomson Sintra ASM'', ''Thomson CSF DASM'' and then Thomson Marconi Sonar) is a subsidiary of the French defense electronics specialist Thales Group. It was founded in 2001 and belongs to its naval div ...
TSM 2022 MkIII hull-mounted minehunting
sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...
. The sonar has a detection range of for submarines and for mines. The classification range for a mine is typically . The ships are also equipped with a
Thales Underwater Systems Thales Underwater Systems or TUS (formerly ''Thomson Sintra ASM'', ''Thomson CSF DASM'' and then Thomson Marconi Sonar) is a subsidiary of the French defense electronics specialist Thales Group. It was founded in 2001 and belongs to its naval div ...
towed
synthetic aperture sonar Synthetic-aperture sonar (SAS) is a form of sonar in which sophisticated post-processing of sonar data is used in ways closely analogous to synthetic-aperture radar. Synthetic-aperture sonars combine a number of acoustic pings to form an image wi ...
. The ship's navigation
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
is the Norcontrol DB2000 operating at I band.


Upgrade

In November 2007, it was reported that three companies were shortlisted to compete for the supply of a new one-shot mine disposal system to equip the ''Bedok'' class.
Atlas Elektronik Atlas Elektronik GmbH is a naval/marine electronics and systems business based in Bremen, Germany. It is involved in the development of integrated sonar systems for submarines and heavyweight torpedoes. The company was a subsidiary of BAE Syste ...
, ECA and Gaymarine were selected for detailed technical and commercial evaluation following an initial assessment of five candidate systems.
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) is one of three business units of Kongsberg Gruppen (KONGSBERG) of Norway and a supplier of defence and space related systems and products, mainly anti-ship missiles, military communications, and command and we ...
and L-3 Ocean Systems, offering their Minesniper system and Mk 8x Expendable Mine Destructor respectively, were eliminated from consideration.
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
was unable to provide its Archerfish system for evaluation within the required timescale. In November 2008, the ''Bedok''-class upgrade programme was revealed. Of the four vessels, two are planned to be fully refitted with modifications to the hulls and mine-hunting systems, while the other two will receive partial refits. A decision between two competing European bids was expected to be made by April 2009, with completion of the first platform expected 18 months later. On 12 May 2009, Thales announced that the Defence Science and Technology Agency of Singapore awarded it as the prime contractor for the ''Bedok''-class Life Extension Programme. Thales will provide an integrated mine countermeasure combat system, including the mine information system, a hull-mounted sonar, a towed
synthetic aperture sonar Synthetic-aperture sonar (SAS) is a form of sonar in which sophisticated post-processing of sonar data is used in ways closely analogous to synthetic-aperture radar. Synthetic-aperture sonars combine a number of acoustic pings to form an image wi ...
and expendable mine disposal systems. The towed synthetic sonar array is the DUBM 44, an unmanned underwater vehicle that uses onboard processing of digital signals to provide high-resolution imagery. The DUBM 44 is not autonomous and is connected by cable to the surface ship. Thales will also be in charge of making any structural alterations to the vessels in relation to the integration of new systems and equipment.


Operational history

After the crash of
SilkAir Flight 185 SilkAir Flight 185 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by a Boeing 737-300 from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia to Changi Airport in Singapore that crashed into the Musi River near Palembang, S ...
on 19 December 1997 in the Musi River near Palembang, RSS ''Bedok'', RSS ''Kallang'' and RSS ''Punggol'' were deployed as part of a
Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...
contingent to assist Indonesian authorities in their search and recovery operations near the crash site. The RSN was the first navy invited by the Indonesian Navy to conduct mine countermeasure operations to clear
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
mines off Tanjung Awar Awar, north-east of
Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
in February 1997. RSS ''Bedok'' and RSS ''Kallang'', together with two Indonesian Navy vessels, successfully neutralised eight buried mines. The ships were also involved in search and rescue operations after a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to t ...
helicopter crashed into the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
together with its two personnel on board during a training exercise on 23 September 1998. The RSN was the first navy in the world to fire a deployed expendable mine disposal vehicle, during a live firing on 23 April 2012. In December 2014, RSS ''Kallang'' was deployed in the search for Airasia Flight QZ8501 after it crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December 2014; along with RSS ''Supreme'', RSS ''Valour'', RSS ''Persistence'', MV ''Swift Rescue'', and two
Lockheed C-130H Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designe ...
.


Major exercises

The ships frequently participate in
military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...
s with various countries. These include: *Western Pacific Naval Symposium MCMEX/DIVEX, a multinational exercise involving 21 countries *International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX), a multilateral defence exercise hosted by
United States Naval Forces Central Command United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea. It consists of the ...
*Exercise Bersama Padu, a
Five Power Defence Arrangements The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are a series of bilateral defence relationships established by a series of multi-lateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, all of which are Commonwe ...
exercise *Exercise Mercury, an annual exercise with the United States Navy *Exercise Lejon Singa, an annual exercise with the Swedish Navy *Joint MINEX, an annual exercise with the
Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...
*Exercise Milan, a multilateral exercise hosted by the
Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...


See also

*
Koster-class mine countermeasures vessel The ''Koster'' class is a class of five mine-countermeasure vessels currently in use by the Swedish Navy. Built between 1982 and 1993 as part of the seven-strong s, the last five ships of the class were given a comprehensive midlife upgrade betwe ...
*
Landsort-class mine countermeasures vessel The ''Landsort'' class mine countermeasures vessel were built by Swedish shipbuilding company, Kockums (formerly Karlskronavarvet) for the Swedish Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) between 1983 and 1996. Design As a mine countermeasur ...


References


External links


Bedok-class mine countermeasures vessel
{{Kockums Naval Solutions Mine warfare vessel classes Minehunters of the Republic of Singapore Navy