ST Engineering displayed a digital drawing of the Joint Multi Mission Ship, the Endurance 170, at the Singapore Air show 2020 (February 11-16).
The ship is intended to host helicopters as well as the F-35B jets that the city-state will be buying from the US.
According to company specifications, the Endurance 170 will have five spots on it deck to host helicopters, and a hangar deck below to house a couple more rotorcraft. The boat has a displacement of 19,000 tonnes, length of 170 meters, range of 7000 nautical miles (12,900km) and can reach a top speed of 20 knots. The F-35B Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) jet requires 168 meter runway for take-off, so the new vessel could be just enough to double up as a light aircraft carrier.
An Endurance-class ship is capable of both vertical (helicopters) and surface (including ST Marine’s Brave class ship-to-shore connectors) lift operations. The vessel can provide a command and logistic hub capability besides being able to project both men and equipment including to areas stricken by natural disasters.
