Progress on Royal Navy CVF Project

Program Moves to Assessment Phase

By ANTONY PRESTON

Antony Preston, a London-based naval analyst and broadcaster, is co-founder of the international newsletter NAVINT.

The two consortia bidding for prime contractorship on the U.K. Royal Navy’s Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) project are now well into the assessment stage. One of the teams is led by Thomson-CSF and includes Lockheed Martin; the other team is led by BAE Systems.

The CVF project is the "flagship" program of the new Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and a major "Smart Procurement" initiative. Two contracts for the assessment phase were awarded to the potential prime contractors. Downselection is expected before the Main Gate in 2003. Ship procurement will be linked to the Future Carrierborne Aircraft (FCBA), for which the front-runner is the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

The key functional requirements imposed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) relate to the needs for a sortie-generation profile, battlespace integration, and ship speed sufficient to ensure both rapid deployability and the conduct of air operations. Nonfunctional requirements include availability, survivability, adaptability, enough stowage space for both ship and aircraft fuel, and adequate stores.

The DPA already has received expressions of interest from 22 companies in its quest to build a technology demonstrator for an electromagnetic catapult (EMCAT). The plan here is to establish the criteria needed to determine if the CVFs should be designed for assisted takeoff.

The CVF project team is examining a range of carrier designs produced by BAE Systems and Thomson-CSF and their respective partners during the assessment phase. It has long been recognized that the options include short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL), short takeoff but assisted recovery (STOBAR), and conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL). The CTOL design would require a catapult launching system, particularly for the fixed-wing airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft that may replace the current AEW Sea King helicopters. An EMCAT system also might be needed to launch tactical unmanned air vehicles (TUAVs).

The problem facing designers is that the conventional steam catapult is not compatible with the electric-drive system planned for the CVF. An auxiliary steam plant with considerable output therefore would be required. Hence the interest in EMCAT, which would use the electrical power generated by the ship’s integrated power plant.

However, such a system would not be without its drawbacks. Some critics say that the electromagnetic field generated by an EMCAT might set off munitions already loaded on aircraft and/or being brought up from magazines. An aircraft carrier that has to stop catapult launches while aircraft are on the flight deck would be virtually useless, of course.

On the other hand, if the alleged risk of electromagnetic interference with ordnance turns out to be exaggerated, EMCAT would offer a hedge against cancellation of the JSF, because an EMCAT CVF could operate a range of fixed-wing aircraft. The choice here would be limited, though, to: (a) the French Rafale-M; (b) the latest version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet; or (c) a navalized variant of the Typhoon Eurofighter.

BAE Systems claims that adoption of the naval Eurofighter (which does not yet exist) would add about 10,000 tons to the ship’s displacement; the Thomson-CSF team claims on the other hand that the ship can be designed with enough flexibility to operate whatever aircraft the MOD finally selects.

For the moment CVF still remains something of an enigma, if only because the computer-generated images now available provide few insights about the MOD’s latest thinking. What is now taken for granted is that displacement will be at least 40,000 tons, and that the air group will include up to 50 airplanes. Informed opinion suggests that a 50,000-ton ship is more likely, but whether this is a light displacement or full load figure is deliberately kept vague. The British Treasury has a well-known habit of producing seemingly firm cost-per-ton figures by dividing the cost by the displacement, only to see the price escalate later when other cost parameters are included.

The potential opposition of the Royal Air Force is another factor that cannot be ignored. Some RAF leaders have accepted the CVF concept very grudgingly. Any sharp rise in displacement, therefore, could spark off another sterile debate on the merits of land-based vs. sea-based air power.

France and Italy Order Four New AAW Frigates

The French and Italian defense ministers have signed an agreement to build four Horizon-class anti-air warfare (AAW) frigates at a cost of approximately $2.4 billion. The French Defense Ministry announced an order for two 6,000-ton Horizon frigates to be delivered in 2006 and 2008; they will replace the AAW fregates Suffren and Duquesne. The Italian defense ministry said that the two frigates it has ordered will be operational in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

The Horizon program was originally launched in 1994 with a projected cost of $13 billion to build 22 ships: 12 for the U.K. Royal Navy, six for Italy, and four for France. Britain withdrew from the project early last year. France and Italy decided to continue the program, but on a more limited scale.

A computer-generated image of the new frigates shows a few external features of the design. A Sylver vertical-launch system forward houses the Principal AAW Missile System (PAAMS). Gun armament includes two-sided 76mm L/62 Super Rapid guns on the 01 deck, with another 76mm gun on the starboard side of the hangar aft and a sextuple launcher—for Sadral short-range missiles—to port. Two sets of quadruple MM-40 Exocet canisters are positioned athwartships, abaft the mast. The three 76mm guns fire at a maximum rate of 120 rounds per minute, and serve as the equivalent of a CIWS (close-in weapon system), firing prefragmented proximity-fuzed munitions.

Seewolf Reaches Milestone In Detection of Buried Mines

Tests carried out by STN Atlas Elektronik with a new sonar may prove to be the breakthrough step in the development of the proposed Seewolf system for locating buried mines. The German underwater specialists already had performed initial trials of the new parametric sonar system in April and May. Bottom-laid mines, buried in sand for the tests, were detected by the parametric sonar and displayed on a monitor. A modified Seefuchs system, the smaller variant of the future Seewolf system, was used as the test carrier.

Buried mines can be detected neither by optical means nor by traditional sonars. Parametric sonar systems are capable of penetrating into the seabed and thereby detecting buried mines. When used in combination with a remotely operated underwater vehicle, they form a system that can detect and destroy such mines.

The most important element in this functional chain, the parametric sonar used for the detection and localization of mines, was developed by STN Atlas, reportedly in cooperation with a British partner.

Two More Australian SSKs Scheduled To Be Upgraded

Australian Minister for Defence John Moore and Sen. Nick Minchin, the Minister for Industry, Science, and Resources, have announced a decision to modify two more Collins-class diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) and to approve other submarine-related work, at a total cost of $72 million.

The two submarines, HMAS Farncomb and the as-yet unlaunched Rankin, sixth and last of the class, will be upgraded with the same modifications approved last year for HMAS Dechaineux and HMAS Sheean. Changes to the submarines include modified propellers, modified casing sections, improved hydraulics components, and reliability improvements to the diesel engine system.

"HMAS Farncomb will enter refit later this year. ... The sixth submarine, Rankin, is due to be completed next year," said Moore. "Because these proven modifications can only be incorporated during build—or during scheduled refits—the government has approved their incorporation now in Farncomb and Rankin to resolve known deficiencies and reliability shortcomings," he said. The decision to proceed with the upgrade of an additional two SSKs, Moore said, reiterates the government’s commitment to the Collins class in advance of certain broader issues that will be addressed in the government’s upcoming Defence White Paper.

"The government is committed to bringing all six Collins submarines to full operational capability," Moore said. "A final decision on recommended options to achieve this capability will be considered in the context of the strategic outcomes of the White Paper."

BAE Systems Gears Up for New R.N. DDGs

BAE Systems Marine’s Scotstoun shipyard on the River Clyde, the builder selected for the Daring, first of the U.K. Royal Navy’s Batch Type 45 air-defense destroyers, is well into planning for the program. The affordability of the program could be a major issue, program officials said, and may require radical changes to how the yard does its business.

Subject to satisfactory negotiations, a contract is expected to be placed with the company by the Prime Contract Office "within the very near future," officials said. A second contract will cover assembly of the third ship, as yet unnamed, irrespective of which subcontractor does the steelwork.

Work on the Daring will involve an estimated 1,500 people; production is expected to begin in the spring of 2002.

The Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) plans a new approach for the Type 45 program, breaking the 12 ships down into "intermediate products." Sections will be built and partially outfitted at different sites and brought together for final assembly at the designated shipyard. The Type 45 team at Scotstoun has just completed a key design review for the DPA. This paves the way for a move forward to the main contract for the design and construction of the Daring.

The second of class, Dauntless, will be ordered from Vosper Thornycroft U.K. Ltd., but the Woolston yard is being closed, so production is to be moved to a new site in the naval base at Portsmouth, 18 miles away.