The new face of Sigma
The new face of Sigma
On January 18 this year, the first patrol frigate SIGMA 10514 for Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut (TNI-AL, Indonesian Navy) was launched at the PT PAL state-owned shipyard in Surabey. The vessel, named Raden Eddy Martadinata, is the latest member of a successful family of ships designed by Dutch shipbuilding group Damen. It's hard to get bored with it, because so far each new version is different from the previous ones. This is due to the use of a modular concept that allows you to create a new version of the ship based on proven units, taking into account the specific needs of the future user.
The idea of geometric standardization SIGMA (Ship Integrated Geometrical Modularity Approach) is already well known to us, so we only briefly recall its principles.
The SIGMA concept minimizes the time required to design a multipurpose small and medium combat ship - corvette or light frigate class - which can thus be best adapted to the often different needs of different contractors. Standardization mainly concerns cases, which are made from blocks of given sizes and shapes. Their shape was based on the High Speed Displacement project developed by the Dutch Marine Research Institute Netherlands MARIN in the 70s. It was consistently improved and tested during model tests of subsequent incarnations of SIGMA-class ships. The design of each subsequent unit is based on the use of hull blocks with a width of 13 or 14 m and a distance between transverse watertight bulkheads of 7,2 m (submarine). This means that the hulls of individual variants of a series of types have, for example, the same fore and aft sections, and the length differs by adding more blocks. The manufacturer offers ships with a length of 6 to 52 m (from 105 to 7 bulkheads), a width of 14 to 8,4 m and a displacement of 13,8 to 520 tons - that is, from patrol ships, through corvettes to light frigates.
Modularization also included interior fittings, gyms, electronic equipment, including navigation, security systems and weapons. In this way - within reason - the new user can configure the unit according to his own needs, without having to design it from scratch. This approach not only results in the aforementioned shortening of the delivery time, but also in the reduction of the technical risk of the project and, consequently, a competitive price.
The first ships of the SIGMA class were purchased by Indonesia. These were four project 9113 corvettes, i.e. units 91 m long and 13 m wide, with a displacement of 1700 tons. The contract became final in July 2004, the construction of the prototype began on March 24, 2005, and the last ship was commissioned on March 7. 2009, which means that the entire series was created in four years. An even better result was obtained with another order - two corvettes SIGMA 9813 and a light frigate SIGMA 10513 for Morocco. The implementation of the 2008 contract took less than three and a half years from the start of construction of the first of the three units.
