SEA POWER INTERNATIONAL
Yards Compete for Denmark's
Command and Support Vessels
By ANTONY PRESTON
Antony Preston, a London-based naval analyst and broadcaster, is co-founder
of the international newsletter NAVINT.
The design of the new command and support vessels for the Royal Danish
Navy (RDN) was finalized earlier this year, to the extent that the Naval
Materiel Command (NMC) could invite tenders from Danish shipyards for
the building of the two vessels.
The ships will have a length of 136 meters, a beam of 19 meters, and
a draft of 6.3 meters. They will have a light displacement of 4,100
tons and be powered by a diesel propulsion plant. The hull design was
finalized after extensive trials in the 250-meter-long test tank at the
Danish Maritime Institute. The equipment and weapons planned for installation
will be based on the proven Standard Flex (SF) concept. Basically,
the ships will be armed with a 3-inch L/62 OTOBreda dual-purpose gun
and with vertical-launch SeaSparrow air-defense missiles. However, the
flexibility of the SF concept will allow the rapid installation of numerous
additional equipment.
The main characteristics of these vessels will be their capacity to
operate two large helicopters, and their relatively large two-deck-high "flex
deck" stretching forward from the fantail. The flex deck is designed
to take armored or other types of army vehicles, and standard commercial-size
containers; it also can be used for troop accommodations, or as a field
hospital, or for whatever else might be required for various ad hoc
operations.
Three Danish yards are competing for the order: Danyard
Aalborg, the Maersk-owned Lind Yard near Odense, and the Ørnskov Yard in Frederikshavn.
A contract is expected to be awarded later this year, following negotiations
with the three bidders.
Iranian Admiral Shamkami
Fails in Presidential Bid
The Defense Minister of Iran, Rear Adm. Ali Shamkani, failed in his
bid to be the first serving military officer to become president of Iran
when the incumbent president, Mohammad Khatami, was re-elected with a
handsome majority.
The former chief of the Revolutionary Guards had tried to reassure
voters and the local media that his bid for the presidency did not foreshadow
a change to military rule. He did, however, contrast his willingness
to "act instead of mouthing slogans"--an oblique dig, presumably,
at Khatami's well-known and sometimes inexplicable abstractions on
Islam and freedom.
The 45-year old Shamkani, a member of Iran's Arab minority from southern
Khuzestan, was studying agricultural engineering at the time of the
overthrow of the Shah in 1979; Saddam Hussein's unprovoked invasion
the following year persuaded him to join a local defense formation.
Despite this year's failed bid he is, because of his age and office,
a possible presidential contender for another two decades, if not
longer.
Malaysian Patrol Vessels
Now Building at B+V
A start-of-production ceremony for the first of two MEKO 100 patrol
vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy took place on 7 June in the new
laser hall of Blohm+Voss. The patrol vessels are designed to have low
radar detectability, low noise, and low heat dissipation as well as an
economical cruising speed.
The vessels will be delivered by Blohm+Voss to Malaysia in the form of
large modules. The ships will then be completed by Penang Shipbuilding & Construction-Naval
Dockyard Sdn Bhd at Lumut in Perak. The first vessel will be delivered
in June 2004.
In addition to the two patrol vessels built at Blohm+Voss, up to 25
units are planned to be built locally.
U.K. Evaluates Options
for Hospital Ship Requirement
The U.K. Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Defence Procurement Agency (DPA)
is seeking "expressions of interest" in the work to be undertaken
during the assessment phase of the requirements for a new Primary Casualty
Receiving Ship (PCRS).
The options being considered will include an integral system in a purpose-built
hull and a modular system capable of being installed in an existing
hull.
The U.K.'s 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) concluded that enhancements
to the Defence Medical Services should include the procurement of a
200-bed PCRS, with a second ship available on contract at longer notice.
The 20-year-old Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Argus, a converted container
ship, is currently being refitted, and one of the options under consideration
by the DPA is making her available as a 90-bed PCRS by using a modular
hospital. There is some risk in extending the life of the Argus,
which has already had to be stiffened to rectify major cracks in her
hull.
The PCRS originally was scheduled to enter service in 2005. The delays
in procurement may be a stratagem adopted to deflect attention from
the watering-down of the SDR commitment. One 90-bed PCRS does not
equal a 200-bed PCRS, no matter how earnestly the MOD tries in its
efforts to persuade people otherwise.
Swedish Navy Receives
First of New Tp 62 Torpedoes
At a 12 June ceremony at Motala in Sweden, the first new heavyweight
533mm torpedo, designated Tp 62, was formally handed over to the Swedish
Defence Materiel Administration (FMV). The torpedo, presented by the
president of Saab Bofors Underwater Systems, Mikael Grodzinsky, was accepted
by Rear Adm. Bertil Björkman, head of the FMV Production Group.
In June, Saab Bofors Underwater Systems delivered the first batch of
series-production torpedoes to FMV. Included in the Tp 62 order is
equipment for testing of the fire control system and evaluation of the
results after firing, as well as documentation and training of crews
in handling the system at land bases and on board warships.
Like its predecessors in the Tp 61 series, the Tp 62 is driven by high-test
peroxide (HTP) thermal fuel to achieve very high speed, but a new
engine has been designed. Tp 62 is the Swedish Navy designation; the
export version is designated Tp 2000. The first export order already
has been received from Brazil.
British Back JSF Option
for Future R.N. Carriers
Fears that the re-elected Blair administration will fund its ambitious
spending plans by launching an attack on the armed forces are apparently
without foundation. A government report leaked to the press in late June
suggests that one of the two consortia competing for the planned future
aircraft carriers (CVFs) will be down- selected shortly. Many U.K. media
commentators had assumed that the new U.S. Bush administration would
cancel the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), forcing the Ministry of Defence
(MOD) to follow suit by cancelling the two CVFs needed by the Royal Navy.
The good news from Washington about the JSF program continuing to receive
funding generated optimism on the other side of the Atlantic, particularly
because the MOD has invested heavily in JSF development. Both BAE Systems
and its French rival, Thales, have confirmed that their CVF designs
allow for a cancellation of the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL)
variant of the JSF.
Switching to another option at this stage is still possible in the
design process. A reversion to conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL)
aircraft would result in an increase in CVF size to 60,000 tons,
but this would not significantly affect overall cost, officials said.
Even if the JSF is cancelled the CVFs could operate the F/A-18E or
F versions of the U.S. Super Hornet strike fighters, provided the
decision is made early. All experience with previous CV and CVN designs
indicates that last-minute changes to the composition of the air
wing can play havoc with operational efficiency.
Russian Spokesman Says
Kursk Wreck to Be Scrapped
The hull of the Russian Navy's sunken nuclear-powered submarine Kursk
will be scrapped after the submarine is raised from the Barents Sea and
examined, a spokesman for the head of the Russian Navy, Captain 1st Rank
Igor Dygalo, announced on 13 June.
"After the Kursk is lifted its hull will be thoroughly examined with
the aim of obtaining information about the cause of the catastrophe. Afterwards,
the hull will be scrapped," Dygalo said.
The first--i.e., bow--compartment of the submarine "will be separated
from the hull and examined by divers; a decision on what will be done
to the first compartment will be made later," Dygalo said. He
said the Russian Navy's senior command officials hope to receive additional
information about the initial cause of the blast and the submarine
catastrophe. "However," he
said, "the presumed explosion may have destroyed much of the proof
of the blast's initial cause."
The torpedoes that remain in the bow compartment and "around the
submarine" are believed to be nonhazardous if there is no external
interference; the reason for cutting away the bow compartment, he said,
is to remove any "minimal danger."
Given the unpleasant properties of the kerosene high-test-peroxide
mixture used as a thermal fuel in Russian torpedoes (the probable
cause of at least one of the original explosions, according to non-Russian
submarine experts), that assertion seems optimistic.
The Russian Northern Fleet, which will assist in raising the Kursk,
will include warships, rescue ships and naval aircraft. As has previously
been pointed out, the Russian Navy's submarine-rescue capability
has been reduced virtually to zero, but commercial vessels may be
chartered for the task.
Indian Navy Benefits from Friendship With Russia
The third of three Project 1135.6 Talwar-class (Krivak III type) frigates
being built in Russian yards, the Tabar, was launched at St. Petersburg
on 25 May in the presence of India's defense secretary, Yogendra Narain.
India also recently started work on building its own variant of the Krivak
III, the Project 17 frigates, at Mazagon Dock Ltd. The first should be
ready by 2006-07.
The modernization of a Project 877 Kilo-type diesel-electric submarine
for India has been completed at the Admiralteyskiye Verf shipyard in
St. Petersburg. The submarine will be returned to the Indian Navy in
late summer and will then sail to India on her own.
Three more Indian submarines are being modernized in Russia--two at
the St. Petersburg yard and one at the Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk.
They are unique in that they are equipped with a mixture of Russian-made
and Indian-made equipment and with the advanced Klub-S antiship missile
system. The system includes, among other weapons, 3M-54E1 antiship
cruise missiles with a range, according to Itar-Tass, of approximately
22,000 yards.
Meanwhile, negotiations continue with DCN International and with Thales
to buy or build a pair of Scorpène-type submarines to meet the
Indian Navy's Project 75 requirement. If selected, the submarines will
not be equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems to match
those on the Pakistan Navy's French-designed Khalid-class boats. AIP
will, however, be considered as an option for retrofit at a later date.
Related Note: Indian sources told Sea Power that the decision to arm
the aircraft carrier Viraat with short-range Israeli Barak missiles
was driven by the failure of the indigenous Trishul missile to achieve
its promised performance. However, the cooperation of the Russians
in providing high-technology weapons has largely offset the losses
incurred by the costly and cumbersome procurement of locally designed
missile systems.
Irish OPV Deirdre Sold;
Replacement Delayed
The Irish offshore patrol vessel (OPV) LE Deirdre has been sold to a
British consortium for conversion to a luxury yacht. The 970-ton ship
was the first vessel designed and built from the keel up for the Irish
Naval Service. Built by the defunct Verolme Cork Dockyard to a Dutch
design similar to an ocean trawler, she was commissioned in 1972. Her
most memorable achievement was the 1973 capture of the IRA gunrunner
Claudia as part of a major international operation; the gunrunner was
first detected by a British submarine in the western Mediterranean, following
an intelligence tipoff.
An acute manpower shortage in the Irish Navy resulted in the early
decommissioning of the Deirde; she was not due to be withdrawn from service
until next year. The early decommissioning was deemed necessary to provide
a crew for her successor, the 1,700-ton LE Niamh.
Delivery of the new OPV by her builders, Appledore Shipyards of Devon,
U.K., was scheduled for the beginning of June, but had to be postponed
for at least two months after gearbox problems emerged during sea
trials.
The radar-guided AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air
Missile) has been launched from an AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft
for the first time. The test of the missile--fired over the test
range at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif.--was intended
both to ensure that the missile would safely separate from the AV-8B
and to verify that the Harrier's weapon system performed properly.
Integration of the AMRAAM into the Harrier is a collaborative effort
between the U.S. Marine Corps and the governments of Spain and Italy,
whose navies also fly Harrier IIs. AMRAAM system verification and
validation testing is scheduled to run from October 2001 through
February 2002. The AIM-120 is scheduled for fleet introduction in
Spanish Navy and Italian Navy squadrons in March 2002. U.S. Marine
Corps AV-8Bs will be equipped with the software necessary to fire
the missile, but currently there is no funded requirement for the
Marine Corps to procure AMRAAMs for its Harriers.
