Italian Warship Authority Focuses on Frigate Project

By ANTONY PRESTON

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

Leading Italian industrial group Finmeccanica and shipbuilder Fincantieri are close to finalizing an agreement on a joint venture that will function as a warship design authority for the Italian Navy and also will operate in the international market.

The new company, to be based in Genoa--and in which Fincantieri will have a 51 percent stake--will initially respond to a requirement for ten frigates for the Italian Navy and will oversee the entire project, including design, building, and marketing. The new company will have strong industrial links with a range of enterprises, including Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS), a leading supplier of naval combat-
management systems.

The Navy wants to take delivery of the ten new frigates by 2015. They will be additional to four Orizzonte-type air-defense frigates being designed and built in a venture that links Finmeccanica with Fincantieri and with France's Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and Thales. in the naval sector, Finmeccanica subsidiary Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) is collaborating with Thales Underwater Systems (TUS) and DCN to manufacture the advanced lightweight torpedo, the MU 90. WASS, TUS, and DCN are collaborating on the SLAT anti-torpedo countermeasure system; WASS and TUS are jointly producing the Elisonar helicopter sonar. WASS's heavyweight Black Shark torpedo already has been ordered by the Chilean Navy for its new submarines.

Finmeccanica, Italy's second largest manufacturing group, launched a restructuring program in 1997 aimed at consolidating its core defense and aerospace activities. The process was given new impetus with last April's appointment of Pierfrancesco Guarguaglini as chairman and CEO. The acquisition this summer of Marconi Mobile and Telespazio--leaders in the Italian defense communications and satellite services sectors, respectively--also helped, and negotiations for the purchase of trainer aircraft producer Aermacchi have started. Finmeccanica is reported also to be considering buying a stake in Paris-based Eutelsat, the world's third largest satellite operator.

Some divestment of Finmeccanica's transport and energy interests seems likely, but no diminution of the Italian government's 37 percent stake is expected. Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica and European aerospace group EADS had been planning a joint venture--European Military Aircraft Company (EMAC)--but those plans stalled last year over differences in asset valuations following the global aviation recession triggered by the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States. Finmeccanica insiders say that future project-specific joint ventures are likely to take precedence over the mega-mergers that have characterized the global defense sector in recent years.

Armaris Rises From Marriage Of DCN and Thales Companies

The new joint company set up by Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and Thales has been named Armaris. Its prime objectives are to win new business on the world market for warships and combat systems by bringing together the founding partners' naval prime contracting and commercial resources.

Armaris officially opened for business on 1 September. The company seeks to become a leading player in European naval prime contracting, under the leadership of Executive Chairman Pierre Legros and Managing Director Alain Bovis, by proposing global solutions to the challenges facing today's navies and to undertake programs targeting international market needs and/or involving international cooperation at various levels.

Armaris will act as the commercial arm of DCN and Thales Naval France for international sales of the partners' warships, combat systems, and related services. The new company also will act as overall prime contractor for cooperative programs and for programs undertaken for international client navies. It already has assumed responsibility for France's contribution to the Franco-Italian Horizon frigate program (DCN and Thales teams had been working together on this project for some time).

The French government also may entrust to Armaris a number of national programs considered likely to attract international sales. The parent companies will continue to own and manage their own facilities and shipyards, including those on which Armaris will directly depend to conduct programs under its responsibility.

Armaris, a public limited company, will be managed by a supervisory board and an executive board--with equal representation by both partners. Thales Naval France and DCN Développement each hold a 50 percent interest in Armaris. The new company has taken over the interests previously held by DCN and Thales in joint subsidiaries UDS International and SFCS, as well as the French stakes in Horizon SAS and EuroSysNav.

UDS International specializes in prime contracting for submarine combat systems. SFCS is responsible for combat systems for the Saudi Arabia Sawari II frigates. Horizon SAS is prime contractor for the Franco-Italian Horizon anti-air warfare (AAW) frigate program. EuroSysNav is a Franco-Italian joint venture acting as prime contractor for the Horizon combat system.

Danish Decoy System For Australian Adelaides

Terma's Naval and Communications Systems Division has won a contract for the supply of SKWS naval decoy systems to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The contract covers an update of the Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff (SRBOC) decoy launching systems on the RAN's six Adelaide-class (FFG-7 type) frigates. ADI Ltd., the prime contractor for the Adelaide-class upgrade program, benefits not only from Terma's ability to deliver a modern and flexible system, but also from the Danish company's commitment to meet very strict performance, qualification, and logistics-support requirements.

The SKWS decoy system features an advanced control unit based on touch-sensitive flat-screen technology; another key feature is its intuitive and interactive functionality to and with the users. These features, combined with the unique SKWS automatic ammunition identification system compatible with all existing 130mm decoy rounds, will provide the upgraded ships with a modern and efficient self-protection capability against attacking missiles. SKWS also will provide interfaces for integration with modern electronic support measures (ESMs) and combat-management systems.

The contract validates Terma's reputation as a worldwide supplier of decoy systems for warships ranging from fast attack craft to frigates (with projects in Denmark and elsewhere in Scandinavia, as well as Northern Europe), and could lead to participation in other RAN projects.

Terma A/S is owned by another Danish company, Thrige Holding A/S. Its headquarters is located at Lystrup, near Aarhus. The group has departments and subsidiaries both in Denmark (at Alleroed, Birkeroed, Grenaa, and Taastrup) and overseas--in Germany, The Netherlands, and Italy.

Lloyd's Register to Develop Trimaran Rules for Royal Navy

Lloyd's Register has been contracted by the Sea Technology Group (STG) of the U.K. Ministry of Defence's (MoD) to develop a set of technical rules that will cover the design and operation of multihull vessels, including trimarans. The development will use data collected during the two-year trials program carried out by the MoD and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in RV Triton, the QinetiQ-owned trimaran research vessel.

The need to provide a set of rules that will significantly reduce the risks in the development of designs for such future projects as the RN's Future Surface Combatant (FSC) and/or the U.S. Focused-Mission Ship is crucial to achieving the benefits offered by multihull warships. Because of the more complex hull response from torsional effects of side hulls, a method of designing this type of vessel, without the need to build complex finite element models, is one of the major challenges facing ship designers. By providing a simplified process that uses proven data embedded in empirical formulae, designers can produce a robust design in a much shorter time frame. Advanced tools can then be used, with confidence that the general design is sound, to refine the hull's more innovative features.

The Trimaran Rules will complement the existing Lloyd's Register Rules for Naval Vessels that are now uniquely being applied to a range of new and in-service front-line warships for maintenance in Lloyd's Register Class. Because there is significant commercial interest in vessels with similar hull forms, including pentamarans, the embedding of military research findings in public-domain technical standards offers to lower the economic risks of numerous related projects.

Russian Official Warns Of Nuclear Pollution Risk

Viktor Akhunov, the head of Russia's Department of Ecology and the official in charge of the decommissioning of Minatom (the Russian atomic energy ministry), has issued a stark warning about the risk of pollution from abandoned nuclear waste on Russia's eastern and Arctic coasts.

Speaking at an international conference in Vladivostok on nuclear security, Akhunov said that 39 corroding hulls pose "the greatest danger" to the environment and security of the region. He also said that the level of security around the nuclear material has been "frighteningly lax." In the wrong hands the nuclear waste could be used to make a "dirty" bomb, he said, or could be processed for use in a nuclear device.

Akhunov declined to name any of the ships or to indicate where they are based, but he confirmed that one of a fleet of tankers used to store spent fuel is already six years past the date when she was intended to be decommissioned. Only 71 of the 190 submarines taken out of service since the collapse of the Soviet Union, he said, have had their nuclear cores removed; the rest are docked and rotting along Russia's northern coastline and pose a major threat to the environment; two reactors have already started to leak, Akhunov said, making salvage operations even more dangerous.

Vladimir Shishkin, chief designer of Minatom's Institute for Energy Equipment Research and Design, said at the same conference that the Russian government plans to build a shelter to house the submarines until the fission capability of their reactors ends--in about 300 years. The Russian government is struggling, though, to find the funds needed to decommission the submarines. (Last month's warning was accompanied by an announcement that $70 million is to be set aside each year to improve nuclear security, but Russia's military hierarchy regards that sum as paltry.)

Current plans, according to Akhunov, call for making 131 submarines safe by 2010 (at a cost of $3.9 billion), but progress has been slow because of the limited funds available. Two decommissioned submarines sank at their moorings, in the late 1990s, but they were raised quickly before damage to the environment could occur.

The warnings issued at Vladivostok coincided with talks between U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and his Russian counterpart, Aleksandr Rumiantsev, to discuss nuclear cooperation between the two countries. The possibility of U.S. financing of the Russian efforts to clean up nuclear waste was high on the agenda. There is, however, a divergence between the U.S. and Russian aims. The U.S. government is more interested in reducing the military threat by dealing with more modern submarines rather the older boats. Minatom sources say that the United States is not as concerned about the ecological threat, and estimate that a full cleanup would cost $4 billion or more.

Pakistani Scientists Report Shaheen III Missile Ready

Pakistani scientists claim to have succeeded in producing a modern ballistic missile capable of evading hostile radars and antiballistic missile (ABM) systems, according to reports from Islamabad. The Shaheen III is credited with using solid fuel and possessing a terminal-guidance system--with a nuclear payload and a quoted range of 750 kilometers. Specifically, it claims to be able to defeat the Israeli Arrow ABM system, which India hopes to acquire.

The Shaheen III was developed by the new National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM). Its circular area of probability is claimed to be only 25 kilometers. Cold tests have been completed, and live firing will start shortly.

The process of handing over the Hatf III missile to the Pakistani Navy has started. Tests show the Hatf III to be a very successful weapon, which claims to give the Pakistani Navy the most effective strike weapon it has ever had. It also is light enough to be fired from frigates and destroyers against surface and air targets out to a maximum range of 150 kilometers.

Indian Navy Programs Advance on Broad Front

The world has been eagerly watching the Indian Navy's plans to acquire the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov from Russia. An intergovernmental agreement signed on 4 October 2000 provided for the acquisition of the Admiral Gorshkov free of cost with its refit and modernization to be paid for by India. The committee formed to examine the detailed project document received from Russia has only recently submitted its final report and Defense Minister George Fernandes has stated that the final decision on the acquisition of the Admiral Gorshkov, for $450-500 million, will be taken soon.

Some reports suggest preliminary work on the carrier already has commenced (at Severodvinsk). In August, the Indian price negotiation committee, headed by Vice Adm. S. V. Gopalachari, the deputy chief of naval staff, concluded price negotiations with Russia for the acquisition.

The 24 MiG-29K aircraft and the six Kamov helicopters offered as a package with the 44,000-ton carrier will push the total cost above $1 billion as the single-engined Naval LCA is beset with delays, making the Navy skeptical about the plane. The Gorshkov deal--connected with other agreements--will, if carried through to fruition, be India's second biggest single defense agreement (after the Su-30 MKI deal), presuming that its cost exceeds the price of the deal for the 66 Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT)--which also is expected to be in the $1 billion range. The Indian defense minister also stated that price negotiations with BAE for the Hawk C115s had been concluded and only awaited Cabinet approval.

The carrier deal has other hidden costs. The Admiral Gorshkov is too big to enter Mumbai Harbor, which is the ideal location for basing the aircraft carrier as it is essentially intended for force-projection on the Western seaboard. A new naval base being built near Karwar, further south, will take a decade to complete. The Navy is confident of handling the situation and Cochin Shipyard has bid to refit the upper structure of the Gorshkov as it has gained experience by refitting INS Viraat, which is presently docked there.

The defense minister also stated that the order for the Navy's Air Defense Ship (ADS) at Cochin Shipyard would be processed speedily. In 1988, DCN of France was given the task of designing a 24,000-ton aircraft carrier. The Navy later decided that the design would not meet its requirements and opted for a larger 37,500-ton ADS, with help from the Russians. The conventional-takeoff and vertical/arrested-landing configuration has been finalized for the MiG-29Ks and Sea Harriers. The line drawings of the ship and basic machinery also have been completed, and working drawings are in progress. Advance funding has been provided to Cochin Shipyard. *