GPC-DFA, resource panel members visit Navy's frigate

Members of the Government Parliamentary Committee - Defence and Foreign Affairs (GPC-DFA) and its resource panel visited the Navy's frigate, RSS Formidable, at Changi Naval Base on 31 Oct.

The ship tour was arranged to give the GPC-DFA and its panel resource members a better understanding of the roles and capabilities of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

"The visit gives you a tactile and visual sense of what the men do on board," said GPC-DFA Chairperson Indranee Rajah, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

"You hear about it, you read about it, but until you are actually on the ship - seeing the system, the way the men operate - you don't realise what an important role technology has, what an amazing ship it is and what an achievement it is to be able to run the ship on very lean manpower," she added.

RSS Formidable is the lead ship of the RSN's Formidable-class frigates.

The 114.8 metre-long stealth frigate is designed for multi-missions and equipped with advanced combat systems. It can carry a Sikorsky S-70B helicopter, which complements the ship in anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare.

Leveraging technology allows the ship to be manned by a smaller crew of 71 naval personnel and an air detachment crew of 15.

As RSS Formidable sailed along the Singapore Strait, the visitors were briefed on the frigate's operational capabilities as they toured the bridge, machinery control room, combat information centre and the crew's living quarters.

One of the GPC-DFA members, Mr Zainudin Nordin, said that the message he would like to relay to Singaporeans is "we should not take defence for granted".

"We see many young people working in the background for the defence of our country," he said. "But defence is everyone's business."

"As parents, we must support our sons when they go for National Service," said the MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

The Ministry of Defence organises regular visits to ground units to familiarise the GPC-DFA and its resource panel members on the Singapore Armed Force and its operations.

Source : Mindef