Singapore navy's sailors undergoing training to handle new submarines

They prepare for scenarios, get drilled on systems via command courses and simulator work

- Jean Iau

A leaky seal in a submarine's trash disposal unit can result in water flooding in as the vessel dives. This eventually corrodes the battery cable housing, which causes the battery to glow, spark and then explode.

This nightmare scenario of a submarine flooding and catching fire from the inside out while still underwater is not hypothetical, but was what led to the death of three US crew members on board the USS Bonefish on April 24, 1988.

Ahead of taking command of the Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) four new Invincible-class submarines the last of which, the Inimitable, was launched in Kiel, Germany, on April 22 - Singapore's sailors are undergoing rigorous training to prepare them for all scenarios.

Through simulator work and punishing command courses, the objective is for the crew to train and be drilled until competent handling of the new boats' systems becomes almost muscle memory, said Lieutenant-Colonel Xander Lim, head of operations and training at the submarine project office.

For instance, a virtual procedural trainer (VPT) replicates about 12 million parts of an Invincible-class submarine in software, and links with other simulators such as a combat trainer, a steering and diving trainer system, and a new maintenance trainer.