Sep 11, 2013 ASDNews Source : BAE Systems PLC

We are awarding four key design contracts for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship, demonstrating the momentum building behind the programme to deliver the UK Royal Navy's next generation complex warships

The Design Development Agreements with Rolls-Royce, MTU, David Brown Gear Systems and Rohde & Schwarz cover propulsion and communications equipment for the ship design.

Geoff Searle, Type 26 Global Combat Ship Programme Director at BAE Systems, said: “Confirming our first major equipment design partners is a huge step forward and reflects the maturity we have achieved in the ship's design. We are working closely with the Ministry of Defence and our suppliers, bringing expertise together from across industry and we are now at the stage of developing detailed design of systems and equipment that will go into the ships.

“Using proven products and technology, ensures we are delivering the highest level of service and capability, giving confidence to the Royal Navy and prospective customers in the global market.”

The UK's Type 26 Global Combat Ship will employ a Combined Diesel Electric or Gas Turbine propulsion system. This will enable the ships to achieve high speeds, whilst also providing an economic power to the onboard systems and will allow the ships to operate quietly in cruising mode. Rolls-Royce has been selected as the design partner for Gas Turbines, while David Brown Gear Systems Ltd will develop the Gear box and MTU the Diesel Generator Sets. Rohde & Schwarz has been selected to design the Integrated Communications System for the ships.

The Assessment Phase for the Type 26 programme began in March 2010, with a joint team of 550 engineers from BAE Systems, Ministry of Defence and wider industry working across Bristol, Portsmouth and Glasgow to develop the detailed specification for the ships. The Ministry of Defence is expected to make its Main Investment decision around the middle of the decade, with manufacturing planned to start in 2016 and the first Type 26 set to enter service as soon as possible after 2020. The planning assumption is for a Class of 13 anti-submarine warfare and general purpose ships to replace the capability of the UK Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates with enhanced, flexible modern warships.

The Global Combat Ship will be a multi-mission warship capable of undertaking a wide range of roles from high intensity warfare to humanitarian assistance, either operating independently or as part of a task group. Designed with an acoustically quiet hull, it will support anti-submarine warfare, air defence and general purpose variants. The Global Combat Ship will take full advantage of modular design and open systems architecture, ensuring it can be easily upgraded as new technology develops and can accommodate sub-systems and equipment to individual customer needs.

Sep 11, 2013 ASDNews Source : Airborne Systems

Airborne Systems, a division of HDT Global, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to supply its Mk59 naval floating corner reflector decoy system.

The contract to supply the Mk59 naval floating corner reflector decoy system is valued at $41.7 million over the next five years and will see the decoy system fitted to U.S. frigates/destroyers.

The Mk59 corner reflector decoy offers a unique countermeasure protection against the most advanced emerging RF seeking missiles.

“The U.S. Navy has recognised the capability that the Mk59 system offers, and to win this contract is a major achievement for Airborne Systems,” says Dr. Vicki Panhuise, President, Airborne Systems.

“The award of this contract further confirms the position of Airborne Systems as the world leader in naval decoy technology.”

“This is one of a number of electronic warfare decoy products being designed and manufactured by Airborne Systems’ European facility, and represents a growing market, states Chris Rowe, Managing Director, Airborne Systems Europe.

“In addition to providing protection for the forces of our allies, it also provides and sustains high quality jobs in the UK, and more particularly in South Wales.”

Peter Barrett the Airborne Systems Business Development Manager for naval decoys adds,

“As newer and more advanced threats emerge on the marketplace, navies will have to re-examine their strategies for defeating RF missiles, as the more traditional countermeasures that have been utilised for many years will be increasingly ineffective against these advanced missiles.”

The Mk59 decoy system being supplied to the U.S. Navy represents several generations of advancements to the previously supplied ANSLQ49 decoy which went out of service with the U.S. Navy in the early 2000’s.      

Airborne Systems corner reflector decoys have been fitted to the UK Royal Navy frigates since 1986, with the latest version for the UK Royal Navy entering service in 2006, including their latest Type 45 Destroyer. Other NATO nations have also fitted various versions of the decoy system onto their vessels.

The decoy system itself comprises of deck mounted launch tube, which is already preloaded with the Mk59 decoy, and upon pressing the fire button in the Ops room the process then becomes fully automatic. The decoy is launched out of the tube, and fully inflates alongside the ship’s hull on the sea surface, before automatically being released and free floating past the stern. This entire deployment and inflation process takes a very short period of time, making the Mk59 effective against even supersonic threats.

MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti)

A senior Russian defense official has unveiled “new rules” for the country’s military shipbuilding industry in a bid to shake up warship production, Kommersant daily reported Friday.

Citing unnamed sources who attended the closed-door meeting at the Krylovsky research center in St. Petersburg, Kommersant said Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov’s address “in fact set out new rules of the game” in the shipbuilding industry. Similar meetings will soon take place on the military aerospace and space sectors, the sources told the paper.

Borisov said Russia's new military shipbuilding program until 2050, which has to be drafted by November, should primarily focus “on quality.” He said less funding will be provided for the program than previously, but did not say by how much.

The new naval shipbuilding program will cut the number of ship types while increasing their number, and also ensure more efficient budget spending throughout the entire life cycle of each ship, Borisov said according to Kommersant.

“We need ships that will serve 50 years, not 30 years and that can undergo five or six modernizations,” Borisov said, the paper reported, adding that it was important to encourage shipbuilders to build fewer ships of better quality.

Under the rearmament program for the period until 2020, some 5 trillion rubles ($150 billion) has been allocated for the Navy, Borisov said, of which 47 per cent will go into building new ships.

Borisov criticized previous state rearmament programs, that he said had not been fulfilled due to “wrong assessment of planned spending, the high inflation rate, low level of prepayment, underestimated costs and out of control growth in prices” for warships. He compared the cost of building a ship to the "budget of a city," saying pricing is a burning issue for the industry, the report said.

Borisov’s ultimatum to the industry is the latest in a series of direct addresses by senior Russian officials to naval shipbuilders, and in particular the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Last May, President Vladimir Putin fired the corporation’s boss Andrei Dyachkov after just ten months in the job, replacing him with the head of tank maker Vladimir Shmakov, with a brief to shake up the sector.

In August, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry, said all contracts for naval ships should be “unified,” including all systems on board including weapons, in a bid to keep control of costs.

SNA du type Astute. crédits : ROYAL NAVY

10/09/2013 Mer et Marine

On le sait peu, mais le groupe français est, désormais, un fournisseur régulier de l’industrie navale britannique dans le cadre des grands programmes de la Royal Navy. DCNS a, ainsi, travaillé pour les six nouveaux destroyers lance-missiles du type 45, dont la tête de série (HMS Daring) est en service depuis juillet 2009 et le dernier exemplaire (HMS Duncan) sera prochainement livré par BAE Systems. Agissant pour le compte du groupe britannique, DCNS a réalisé sur son site de Nantes-Indret les groupes turbo-alternateurs des T45, ainsi que les lanceurs verticaux Sylver (destinés à accueillir les missiles surface-air Aster), fournis par son établissement charentais de Ruelle.

Dans le même temps, le groupe français a discrètement remporté, en 2001, un contrat pour la livraison d’équipements destinés aux nouveaux sous-marins nucléaires d’attaque du type Astute. Il s’agit, dans ce cas, de la conception et de la réalisation des échangeurs embarqués sur ces bâtiments. Ces échangeurs, chargés d’assurer les fonctions de refroidissement à bord des sous-marins, sont réalisés à raison de deux exemplaires par SNA. Les quatre derniers équipements, destinés aux sixième et septième Astute, dernières unités de la série, viennent d’être commandés par BAE Systems.  Livrables d’ici la mi-2016, ils sont produits par Indret. Le centre ligérien de DCNS, spécialisé dans les systèmes propulsifs, s’appuie sur un long savoir-faire, ayant conçu et réalisé plus de 500 échangeurs, dont 170 équipant des sous-marins conventionnels et nucléaires de 10 marines dans le monde. « La conception et la réalisation des échangeurs font appel à un savoir-faire technologique très particulier. DCNS a acquis ces compétences au travers de la réalisation de différents programmes de sous-marins conventionnels ou nucléaires, (et) apporte son expérience des équipements haute pression en proposant un système sur mesure répondant aux performances d’endurance, de rendement avec un haut degré de discrétion acoustique », précise le groupe naval.

09 Sep 2013 By Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent - telegraph.co.uk

Britain must have two working aircraft carriers if it wants to be a global military player, a Foreign Office parliamentary aide has said.

Sept. 10, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Fincantieri; issued Sept. 6, 2013)

(Issued in Italian only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)

Riva Trigoso: Fincantieri Lays Keel of the Frigate “Luigi Rizzo”

Today at the Riva Trigoso shipyard, near Genoa, Fincantieri held a ceremony marking the laying of the keel of the frigate "Luigi Rizzo", the sixth ship of the FREMM program.

This event continues the construction of the European Multi-Mission Frigates, which remains to date the most important joint initiative between European industries in the field of naval defense.

The vessel, which will be delivered in early 2017, will be about 144 meters long, 19.7 wide, and will have a full load displacement of about 6,700 tons.

She will be able to reach a top speed of over 27 knots, and will accommodate up to 200 people.

The ship will be characterized by a high operational flexibility, and will have the ability to operate in multiple scenarios, particularly to maintain the security of the Mediterranean basin.

The ships of the FREMM program will represent the authority of the Italian state and of the European Union in the Mediterranean, and will replace the Italian navy’s "Lupo" and "Maestrale" class frigates, built by Fincantieri in the seventies.

The initiative involves the participation as prime contractor for Italy of Horizon Sistemi Navali (51% Fincantieri, Finmeccanica 49%) and for France of Armaris (DCNS + Thales).

This cooperative program has built on the positive experience of the previous French-Italian program "Horizon" that led to the creation of two destroyers for the Italian Navy, the '"Andrea Doria" and "Caio Duilio".

Sept. 09, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Congressional Research Service; issued Sept. 3, 2013)

Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress Ronald O'Rourke

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a relatively inexpensive Navy surface combatant equipped with modular “plug-and-fight” mission packages for countering mines, small boats, and diesel-electric submarines, particularly in littoral (i.e., near-shore) waters.

Navy plans call for fielding a total force of 52 LCSs. Twelve LCSs were funded from FY2005 through FY2012. Another four (LCSs 13 through 16) were funded in FY2013, although funding for those four ships has been reduced by the March 1, 2013, sequester on FY2013 funding. The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget requests $1,793.0 million for four more LCSs (LCSs 17 through 20), or an average of about $448 million per ship.

Two very different LCS designs are being built. One was developed by an industry team led by Lockheed; the other was developed by an industry team that was led by General Dynamics. The Lockheed design is built at the Marinette Marine shipyard at Marinette, WI; the General Dynamics design is built at the Austal USA shipyard at Mobile, AL. LCSs 1, 3, 5, and so on are Marinette Marine-built ships; LCSs 2, 4, 6, and so on are Austal-built ships.

The 20 LCSs procured or scheduled for procurement in FY2010-FY2015 (LCSs 5 through 24) are being procured under a pair of 10-ship, fixed-price incentive (FPI) block buy contracts that the Navy awarded to Lockheed and Austal USA on December 29, 2010.

The LCS program has become controversial due to past cost growth, design and construction issues with the lead ships built to each design, concerns over the ships’ ability to withstand battle damage, and concerns over whether the ships are sufficiently armed and would be able to perform their stated missions effectively.

Some observers, citing one or more of these issues, have proposed truncating the LCS program to either 24 ships (i.e., stopping procurement after procuring all the ships covered under the two block buy contracts) or to some other number well short of 52. Other observers have proposed down selecting to a single LCS design (i.e., continuing production of only one of the two designs) after the 24th ship.

In response to criticisms of the LCS program, the Navy has acknowledged certain problems and stated that it was taking action to correct them, disputed other arguments made against the program, and maintained its support for completing the planned program of 52 ships. Reported comments from some Navy officials suggest that the Navy might be open to changing the design of one or both LCS variants after the 24th ship or perhaps down selecting to a single LCS design after the 24th ship.

A September 2, 2013, press report stated, “The office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)
reportedly supports the idea of limiting total purchases of littoral combat ships to only 24.... The Navy, according to sources, is countering with proposals for higher numbers, but strongly advocates going no lower than 32 ships.... The OSD proposal to limit LCS to 24 ships is understood to be part of” an alternative Department of Defense (DOD) budget plan that assumes reduced levels of DOD spending and includes “severe reductions in purchases and programs.”

Issues for Congress concerning the LCS program include the following:
• the impact on the LCS program of the March 1, 2013, sequester on FY2013 funding and unobligated prior-year funding for the program;
• the potential impact on the LCS program of a possible sequester later this year or early next year on FY2014 funding and unobligated prior-year funding for the program;
• whether to truncate the LCS program to 24 ships or some other number well short of 52;
• whether procurement of LCS sea frames and mission modules should be slowed until operational testing of the sea frames and mission modules is more complete and other acquisition-process milestones are met;
• whether to down select to a single LCS design after the 24th ship;
• technical risk in the LCS program; and
• what defense-acquisition policy lessons, if any, the LCS program may offer to policymakers.


Click here for the full report (94 PDF pages) hosted on the Federation of American Scientists website.

9 sept. 2013 belgiandefence

MOSCOU, 7 septembre - RIA Novosti

La Russie a suspendu les tests d'homologation de deux sous-marins nucléaires, Alexandre Nevski et Vladimir Monomakh, suite à l'échec d'un tir d'essai du missile Boulava, a annoncé samedi le ministère russe de la Défense.

"Le sous-marin nucléaire russe Alexandre Nevski, qui passe des tests d'homologation en mer Blanche, a tiré vendredi un missile balistique intercontinental Boulava qui devait détruire une cible sur le polygone de Koura, au Kamtchatka. Le missile a quitté son conteneur sans problème, mais son système de bord est tombé en panne à la 2e minute du vol. Le ministre russe de la Défense Sergueï Choïgou a décidé de suspendre les tests d'homologation des sous-marins Alexandre Nevski et Vladimir Monomakh pour effectuer cinq tirs supplémentaires du missile Boulava et tester les paramètres techniques et tactiques du missile", a indiqué un porte-parole du ministère devant les journalistes.

"Une commission dirigée par le commandant en chef de la Marine Victor Tchirkov a lancé une enquête sur l'échec du tir de Boulava", a-t-il ajouté.

Selon les informations précédentes, Alexandre Nevski devait être livré à l'armée à la mi-novembre et Vladimir Monomakh en décembre 2013, à l'issue de tests d'homologation.

Capables de tirer des missiles balistiques intercontinentaux Boulava, les sous-marins nucléaires lanceurs d'engins (SNLE) Alexandre Nevski et Vladimir Monomakh (projet 955 Boreï) constitueront la base des Forces navales stratégiques russes après la mise au rebut des sous-marins de classes Akoula (Typhoon selon le code de l'OTAN), Kalmar et Mourena (Delta-3 et Delta-4 selon l'OTAN) en 2018. Le premier sous-marin de la série, Iouri Dolgorouki, a été remis à la Marine russe en janvier dernier.

Le missile R30 3M30 Boulava-30 (code OTAN SS-NX-30, dénomination internationale RSM-56) doit devenir l'arme principale des forces stratégiques navales russes. Le Boulava est un missile à trois étages à propergol solide destiné à équiper les sous-marins. D'une portée de 8.000 km, il peut être équipé de dix ogives nucléaires hypersoniques de 100 à 150 kt et à trajectoire indépendante.

CHERBOURG (France), 05 sept 2013 marine-oceans.com  (AFP)

Le Mozambique a passé une commande de 30 bateaux d'une valeur de 200 millions d'euros aux Constructions mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), qui emploie près de 350 personnes à Cherbourg, a annoncé jeudi le propriétaire des chantiers navals, l'homme d'affaires libanais Iskandar Safa.

Il s'agit de 24 chalutiers, trois patrouilleurs de 32 mètres et trois patrouilleurs de 42 m, a-t-il précisé lors d'une conférence de presse à Cherbourg en présence du ministre du Redressement Productif Arnaud Montebourg, du ministre délégué au Budget et ancien député-maire de Cherbourg Bernard Cazeneuve et de la ministre du Commerce extérieur Nicole Bricq.

Le ministre de l'Economie de Mozambique Manuel Chang était également présent.

Cela représente plus de deux ans de plan de charge pour les CMN, selon la direction.

"Pour les CMN, il était temps que ce contrat arrive. Les chantiers deviennent ainsi les premiers constructeurs de chalutiers en France", a déclaré Bernard cazeneuve.

"C'est le triomphe du made in Cherbourg et donc du made in France", a ajouté Arnaud Montebourg.

"C'est une partie d'un contrat que le groupe Safa a signé avec le Mozambique", a expliqué M. Safa.

L'ensemble de la commande au groupe Safa inclut une trentaine d'autres bateaux pour les autres chantiers du groupe (situés notamment en Allemagne et à Abou Dabi), a précisé M. Safa.

Les CMN affichent un chiffre d'affaires annuel d'environ 50 à 100 millions d'euros, selon les années, selon la direction.

INS Saryu conducting mission at sea. Photo: courtesy of indiannavy.nic.in

5 September 2013 naval-technology.com

The Indian Navy has received the second Saryu-class naval offshore patrol vessel (NOPV), INS Sunayna (P58) from Goa shipyard during a ceremony held in Goa.

The 105m-long vessel has been designed to support missions including surveillance and surface warfare operations, to prevent infiltration and transgression of maritime sovereignty for the Indian Navy.

The Goa shipyard-manufactured warship is powered by two SEMT Pielstick diesel engines and is armed with a 76mm super rapid Ottomelara gun, two 30mm close-in weapon system guns and six chaff launchers for self protection.

In addition, a remote control system which features the automatic power management system will electronically control the ship's entire propulsion and power management.

Capable of monitoring sea lines of communication, defence of offshore oil installations and other critical offshore national assets, the boat can be used for escorting high value ships and fleet support operations.

In addition to the latest navigational and early warning radars and integrated ESM system, the ship features a helicopter landing deck and hangar to enable the operation of an advanced light helicopter (ALH), as well as two rigid inflatable fast motor boats.

The 2,300t Saryu-class ships can cruise at speeds in excess of 25k, with a range of 6,000nm and can accommodate a crew of eight officers and 105 sailors.

The first Saryu-class NOPV, INS Saryu from Goa shipyard was delivered and commissioned to the Indian Navy in December 2012 and January 2013 respectively.

INS Sumitra and INS Sumedha, the third and fourth ships of the class, are expected to be delivered to the navy over next two years, according to Shipbuilding Tribune.

4 septembre 2013, Portail des Sous-Marins

La frégate légère classe Floréal, de la marine royale, la RMN Hassan II, s’est rendue lundi 2 septembre au chantier naval portugais Alfeite, pour un entretien de routine qui durera 6 semaines.

Référence : Slate Afrique

September 3, 2013: Strategy Page

South Korea recently launched the first of a second batch of six Type 214 submarines. This one was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The first three were built (from German components) by Hyundai Heavy Industries. Much to the chagrin of the South Koreans, who are trying to develop their own submarine building capability, the first three Type 214s had quality problems. Mostly it was defective components and poor construction techniques that left the three boats noisy and easier to detect.

The first three Type 214 subs were out of action for most of 2010 because of these problems. This was very embarrassing, as these subs were built in South Korea and that was a big deal in South Korea. Building submarines is a very specialized and exacting type of manufacturing, and South Korea has only been doing it for less than a decade. The first subs built in South Korea were these three German Type 214s, and the first of those entered service five years ago. The boats were built using licensed technology from the German developer (HDW) and many of the components were manufactured in South Korea as well. But then metal bolts in the Type 214s began coming loose or breaking seven years ago. The problem was traced to the South Korean supplier of the bolts which were not, it turned out, manufactured to the German specification. Eventually, German specialists were called in, and by 2011 the problem had been fixed.

South Korea went ahead with plans to build six additional Type 214 subs over the next 12 years. South Korea already had nine 1,100 ton Type 209 subs, designed and built in Germany. The Type 214 boats use fuel cells, enabling them to stay underwater for up to two weeks. The Type 214 is a 1,700 ton, 65 meter (202 foot) long boat, with a crew of 27. It has four torpedo tubes and a top submerged speed of 35 kilometers an hour. Maximum diving depth is over 400 meters (1,220 feet).

AIP boats go for up to a billion dollars each. The second batch of South Korean 214s will have an improved AIP system, which is apparently more reliable and provides a small increase in time underwater. South Korea will probably become a supplier of AIP systems as well because they now have the industrial expertise for this sort of high tech. The latest Type 214 boat is important because if it proves to be flawless it will make South Korea a contender in the international submarine market.