Australia Picks Three Firms to Vie for Air Warfare Destroyer

By AMI INTERNATIONAL INC.

Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill announced March 14 that three international ship designers have been invited to participate in the Royal Australian Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Program.

The three ship designers are:

Spanish shipbuilder IZAR, with an evolved-concept design based on their Alvaro De Bazan-class Frigate, in service with the Spanish Navy.
Blohm+Voss of Germany, with a version of the Sachsen-class Frigate, currently in service with the German Navy.
U.S. ship designer Gibbs & Cox, with a modified version of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, in service with the U.S. Navy.

The three designers are participating in Phase 1C of the project. During Phase 2, the concepts identified in Phase 1C will be developed into a detailed and fully costed design necessary to enter into contractual arrangements for the build phase, Phase 3. Phase 2 should commence in early 2005, with a final construction award expected in 2007. The AWD construction program presently is estimated to cost $3.4 billion to $4.5 billion, with the first unit delivering in 2013.

Australia’s Tenix Defense Systems and the Australian Submarine Corp. will be assisting the Defense Ministry with the assessment of the designs and advice on how to maximize native participation in the program.

Bulgaria Mulls Frigate Buy As Part of NATO Integration

As part of its integration into NATO this month, Bulgaria is considering the purchase of a frigate for its Navy. The Bulgarian Navy has expressed interest in frigates from the U.S. Navy’s Oliver Hazard Perry class and Belgian Navy’s Wielingen class.

The Wielingen-class frigate Wandelaar is expected to complete its mid-life upgrade by the end of the year and immediately decommission as part of the general reduction within the Belgian Navy, making it available for purchase.

Several Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates are already available. A used Western frigate would replace the Bulgarian Navy’s Soviet-era Koni-class corvette as an interim measure until new construction corvettes can be procured. Future planning calls for the acquisition of up to six new corvettes, although current funding considerations suggest only two units will be procured in the near term.

China Eyes Ukrainian Slava-Class Cruiser

Ukrainian Defense Minster Oleksandr Olinyk announced March 2 that the Slava-class cruiser Ukraina will be offered for sale on the international market. He said China most likely will be the buyer of the warship, which, despite lengthy construction delays, is 96 percent complete.

China is in the midst of procuring large, multipurpose surface combatants from Russia, such as the Sovremenny-class destroyers, while also building new units of the Lanzhou- and Guangzhou-class destroyers in order to improve the sea service’s air defense, surface strike and antisubmarine warfare capabilities. The Slava-class cruiser, however, adds the new dimension of long-range surface-strike capability with 16 P-500 Bazalt surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 297 nautical miles.

This capability would give the Chinese Navy a standoff capability against large air-capable combatants such as aircraft carriers, amphibious ships and other large surface combatants.

If China accepts the cruiser as is, it likely will transfer the vessel to China for completion and outfitting, since it will be able to finish the work at significantly less cost than if completed in the Ukraine. Current estimated value of the Ukraina is $500 million.

Yemeni Navy Beefs Up Coastal Patrol Capabilities

The Yemeni Navy is expecting delivery of its first two 37.5-meter patrol boats from Austal Ships of Australia this month. The delivery will be followed by two vessels per month through September to complete the class of 10 units.

The vessels were ordered from Austal Ships under a $50 million contract in June 2003. The 37.5-meter patrol boats were ordered to beef up the Yemeni Navy’s patrol capabilities along its long, porous coastline as part of the general war on terrorism. In addition, the sea service is expected to receive up to 15 41-foot utility boats from the U.S. Coast Guard through the end of this year.

Ecuador Orders Three New Coast Guard Vessels

England’s FBM Babcock Marine, in partnership with Astilleros De Murueta of Spain, announced March 4 that the team had been awarded a construction contract for three 45-meter patrol vessels for the Coast Guard Command of the Armada de Ecuador.

Astilleros De Murueta, using FBM Babcock Marine’s Vigilante patrol vessel design, will build the three vessels in Spain, with the first unit being delivered to Ecuador by mid-2005. The second and third units likely will be delivered by the end of 2006. The patrol boats will be used for coastal patrols as well as offshore roles as far as 600 nautical miles out to the Galapagos Islands.

The Vigilante is a variant of the 33-meter Protector class currently in service with the United Kingdom and Chile. The Vigilante-class features a steel hull with an aluminum deck house and a trawler-type bow affording excellent sea-keeping in addition to achieving a top speed of 25 knots. The Vigilante is capable of a 12-knot, single-engine cruise speed with 3,000-nautical-mile endurance.

Maltese Coast Guard Orders First Large Patrol Boat

The Maltese Coast Guard has ordered its first large patrol boat (more than 100 tons) from Fincantieri of Italy. The contract between the Maltese Armed Forces and Fincantieri calls for the construction of the vessel and associated training and logistic support package.

The new patrol boat program is being undertaken with the technical advice and assistance from the Italian Ministry of Defense.

The vessel is of the same design as the Saettia-class patrol boat currently being operated by the Italian Coast Guard. At 54 meters in length and displacing 540 tons, this vessel will be the largest operated by the Maltese Coast Guard to date and supplement two U.S.-financed Marine Protector-class patrol craft delivered in 2002.

Philippines Commissions Cyclone-Class Patrol Ship

On March 9, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo formally commissioned the BRP General Mariano Alvarez, the Cyclone-class patrol ship procured from the United States for $3 million in February 2002.

The 54-meter vessel is armed with one Mk38 25mm gun, one Mk96 stabilized 25mm gun, four Mk19 automatic grenade launchers, chaff launchers, four .50-caliber machine guns and one M-60 machine gun. It is equipped with HF data and satellite communications as well as an 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat armed with a .50-caliber machine gun.

Originally built by Bollinger Shipyards of Louisiana and commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1993, the vessel was modernized prior to delivery, at a cost of $17 million. The single Cyclone class in addition to the four used Sea Dolphin-class patrol boats delivered from South Korea — two in 1995 and two in 2003 — will form a new task group that will be deployed along the nation’s border with Malaysia and Indonesia.

AMI International Inc., Bremerton, Wash., is an international consulting and naval intelligence services company located on the web at http://www.amiinter.com/