NEW DELHI, 20 août - RIA Novosti

La Marine indienne emploie des ouvriers sous-qualifiés au port militaire de Mumbai (Bombay), où le sous-marin militaire Sindhurakshak a sombré le 14 août faisant 18 morts, a rapporté mardi le journal India Today se référant à une source au sein de l'administration du port.

"Pourquoi tous ces incidents arrivent-ils? Je ne doute pas qu'ils s'expliquent par le fait que des ouvriers mal qualifiés ont accès à des armes sophistiquées, à des systèmes de navigation, etc. Cela présente un danger pour la sécurité de nos navires", a indiqué un ancien responsable des chantiers navals de Mumbai, SK Gorhe, commentant la deuxième grande perte de la Marine indienne en trois ans.

Le sous-marin INS Sindhurakshak a coulé dans le port de Bombay dans la nuit du 13 au 14 août 2013, suite à trois explosions et un incendie à son bord. Dix-huit membres d'équipage se trouvaient à bord du submersible. Les corps de sept sous-mariniers ont été retrouvés. D'après le journal Mumbai Mirror, les explosions à bord du sous-marin seraient dues à un court-circuit provoqué par une erreur humaine lors du chargement de missiles.

Le 30 janvier 2011, la frégate indienne Vindhyagiri a coulé dans le port de Bombay suite à une collision avec le porte-conteneurs chypriote MV Nordlake, qui avait provoqué un incendie. Tous les occupants du Vindhyagiri ont pu être évacués.

05-08-2013 Mer et Marine

En plus des 3 bâtiments multi-missions (B2M), patrouilleurs hauturiers qui seront commandés en fin d’année afin de remplacer à partir de 2015 les bâtiments de transport léger (Batral), la marine française va bien se doter, comme prévu, de 8 bâtiments de soutien et d’assistance hauturiers (BSAH). C’est ce que propose le ministère de la Défense dans le cadre du projet de loi de programmation militaire 2014 – 2019 présenté le 2 août et qui sera examiné par le parlement à l’automne.

Les BSAH vont permettre de remplacer les Remorqueurs de haute mer (RHM) Tenace (1973) et Malabar (1976), le Remorqueur ravitailleur (RR) Revi (1985), les Bâtiments de soutien de région (BSR) Chevreuil (1977), Elan (1978), Gazelle (1978) et Taape (1983), ainsi que les Bâtiments de soutien, d'assistance et de dépollution (BSAD) Alcyon (1981) et Ailette (1982). Il est actuellement prévu un partenariat public-privé (PPP), avec un opérateur civil exploitant une partie de ces navires, comme c'est le cas aujourd’hui de l’Ailette et l’Alcyon, affrétés auprès du groupe Bourbon. A l’image également de ce qui est fait depuis de longues années non seulement avec les BSAD (comptant également l’Argonaute et le Jason), mais aussi que les remorqueurs d’intervention, d’assistance et de sauvetage (RIAS) Abeille Bourbon, Abeille Liberté, Abeille Languedoc et Abeille Flandre. La Marine nationale devrait externaliser des fonctions non militaires nécessitant un savoir-faire spécifique difficile à entretenir par les militaires. Elle devrait néanmoins conserver en propriété et armer par ses soins une partie des BSAH pour les missions les plus sensibles.

Les BSAH serviront au soutien d’une force navale (accompagnement d’un groupe aéronaval ou amphibie, d’un sous-marin), de soutien de région (remorquage d’engins, ancrages, relevages…) et de sauvegarde maritime dans le cadre de l’action de l’État en mer (sauvetage, assistance à la protection des biens, protection de l’environnement, lutte contre les pollutions maritimes…) Les nouvelles unités devraient être inspirées des navires de services aux opérations offshore. Ils mesureraient de 70 à 80 mètres de long pour un déplacement de 2000 à 3000 tonnes, leur motorisation développant entre 8000 et 12.000 cv. Ils doivent disposer d'une grande plateforme de travail, sur l'arrière, capable d'accueillir divers équipements et matériels. Les BSAH avaient fait l’objet, en 2010, d’un appel à projets auprès du secteur privé.

La notification de ce programme devrait intervenir d’ici 2014, le projet de LPM prévoyant que les 8 bâtiments soient tous opérationnels à la fin de la période couverte par la loi, c'est-à-dire en 2019.

Jul 25, 2013 brahmand.com

NEW DELHI (PTI): Deals expected to be worth over Rs 80,000 crore including supply of 126 Rafale combat aircraft are likely to be high on agenda of French Defence Minister Jaen Yves Le Drian during his three-day visit to India from Friday.

India and France have been busy in negotiating the 126 combat aircraft deal for which the French combat aircraft was selected last year defeating its five other European and American rivals and over Rs 30,000 crore Maitri surface-to-air missile projects.

During the visit of the French Minister, the two sides are expected to discuss the two deals in his meetings with Defence Minister A K Antony and other senior military leadership along with ways of strengthening bilateral ties, Ministry officials said here.

The militaries of the two countries have close ties and hold regular exercises with each other. The Indian Army will be visiting a French military base in September for a company-level exercise, they said.

The French Minister will also visit the Gwalior-based Maharajpur airbase, which is home to the French origin Mirage 2000 aircraft.

The Rafale aircraft deal, which is expected to be worth over Rs 50,000 crore, has been moving at its natural pace and had seen hiccups when the French side asked the Defence Ministry to define the role of HAL.

The deal is not expected to be finalised before the end of this year, officials said.

In the recent times, France has been awarded several key tenders by India including the supply of six Scorpene submarines to the Navy and the multi-billion dollar 126 combat aircraft deal.

The contract worth over Rs 11,000 crore for upgrading the fleet of Mirage 2000 aircraft was also awarded to French firm Dassault Aviation.

July 26th, 2013 By DCNS  - defencetalk.com

The French Navy’s Fleet Support Service (SSF) signed off on the completion of the intermediate refit of nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle after six months’ work by DCNS. From hull to combat system, without forgetting compliance tests to the latest environmental standards, communications suite modernization or the refurbishment of the accommodation and recreation areas, the project involved some 950 people and 1 million person-hours’ work.

Maintenance and modernization

In addition to scheduled maintenance, the refit was used to undertake significant modernization. The work was performed in the Vauban drydock at the Toulon naval base. The ship was given a complete facelift that included the repainting of a total area of 26,000 square meters and the complete refurbishment of one of the main galleys. Other modernization work included the replacement of the stabilization computer.

The propulsion system and other shipboard systems and equipment were inspected, overhauled and tested to ensure optimal performance in operation. Some 35 kilometers of cabling was also installed with a view to the later installation of a state-of-the-art IP network.

CVN Charles de Gaulle underwent a thorough overhaul performed by teams assembled by DCNS and its partners, supported day-to-day by the ship’s crew.

Major contracting challenge, noteworthy team success

“Scheduled refits are essential to return a ship to ‘as new’ condition. This six-month period of intense contract maintenance and modernization is over. Other teams will now resume shore-based day-to-day monitoring of the ship’s systems and equipment,” said Franck Bouffety, the Group’s Charles de Gaulle program manager.

With over 1,000 tasks in progress each week, the Vauban drydock was very busy indeed. Despite the huge number of jobs to be performed, everything was completed on time. DCNS completed the 6,000 maintenance and modernisation ‘line tasks’ specified for this scheduled refit. In addition to the ship’s crew, all available staff based at the Toulon naval base were mobilized for the extended pit stop. Virtually every DCNS center contributed in one way or another. In all, the Group assigned almost 500 employees to the project.

Technical data for intermediate refit:

    Number of people involved: 950

    DCNS employees: 250

    subcontractor employees: 200

    crew: 500

    number of subcontractors: 60

    person-hours worked: 1 million

    tasks in progress each week: 1,000

    number of line tasks: 6,000

    preparatory work for next refit: 20%

    area painted: 26,000 sq.m

    cabling installed: 35 km

    Engine room tasks:

    pipes cleaned and inspected: 25,000

    new pipes installed: 6,000

CVN Charles de Gaulle at a glance

    Commissioned: 18 May 2001 (12 years’ active service)

    Crew: ≈ 2,000 men & women (women ≈ 15%)

    Displacement, full load: ≈ 42,000 tonnes

    Length overall: 261.50 m

    Beam: 64.36 m

    Height: 75 m (equivalent to a 20-storey building)

    Average daily distance travelled: 1,000 km

    Total distance travelled: 1 million km (≈ 23 circumnavigations)

    Recent operations: Libya (Operation Harmattan), Afghanistan.

July 25, 2013 by Dave Majumdar – FG

Washington DC - The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hoping to develop a new unmanned submersible carrier vehicle called Hydra that would be able to launch small unmanned aircraft from underwater. The design would also be able to act as a carrier vehicle for releasing unmanned surface and underwater vehicles.

"Hydra will integrate existing and emerging technologies in new ways to create an alternate means of delivering a variety of payloads close to the point of use," a DARPA document reads. "Technologies are intended to be adaptable to multiple delivery options, including airborne, surface and subsurface."

DARPA hopes to develop this unmanned underwater carrier vessel in three distinct phases. Initially, it hopes to define concepts, develop component capabilities and reduce subsystem risks by awarding one or possibly more developmental contracts for each of five technology areas. Subsequent phases will involve the completion of development, field testing of various components, and the integration of those components into a full system. Operational demonstrations would then be conducted, the agency says.

The technical areas include developing a modular enclosure to house unmanned vehicles, plus air vehicle and underwater payloads. Other areas include supporting technologies and an overall concept of operations for the entire system.

"DARPA will seek innovative proposals under this area to develop concepts of operation or conduct architecture studies related to the overall Hydra system," the agency says. "Examples include the development of innovative concepts for Hydra deployment and retrieval using subsurface craft and tactical air transport aircraft; identification of preferred command, control and communications architectures which most seamlessly integrate into existing battle management systems," and more.

As part of the project, DARPA will seek concepts for housing an air vehicle component. "The air vehicle payload is envisioned to consist of individually encapsulated air vehicles within a module that fits into the standard Hydra modular enclosure," DARPA says. "The air vehicle payload relies on the Hydra modular enclosure to provide a stable undersea platform, communications while submerged, and buoyancy."

The preliminary concept of operation for the encapsulated unmanned aircraft would see it ejected from the module, then floating to the surface to lift off into the air. The aircraft would have to fly out to a minimum specified range and conduct one or more classified mission types, the agency says. It is unclear exactly how DARPA wants the air vehicle to be recovered, but it says it hopes to "leverage" an existing aircraft for the project.

DARPA is also seeking concepts for an unmanned underwater vehicle as part of the Hydra effort. Some of the technologies for that part of the project would involve novel battery recharging technologies. The agency will hold a Hydra proposer's day on 5 August ahead of a planned broad agency announcement for the project. The registration deadline is 29 July.

SEOUL, July 25 (UPI)

South Korea has launched its second Incheon-class FFX coastal defense vessel, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and senior naval officials attended the launching ceremony for the 2,300-ton frigate Gyeonggi at Hyundai Heavy Industry's shipyard in the southeastern city of Ulsan.

The Incheon, lead vessel in the class, was designed under the government's Future Frigate Experimental program and launched in January.

Yonhap reported naval officials said the Gyeonggi -- named after Gyeonggi province that surrounds Seoul -- will be delivered to the navy next year and deployed for operation in 2015.

The Incheon is expected to be commissioned next year.

About 20 frigates will be built to replace the country's aging Ulsan and Pohang patrol escort ships by 2020. The vessels were built between the early 1980s and the early 1990s.

The Pohang-class vessels were built by Korea Shipbuilding Corp., Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Korea Takoma. Hyundai Heavy Industries also built the Ulsan guided missile ships.

The Incheon and Gyeonggi vessels are South Korea's first coastal patrol vessels built after the sinking of the patrol ship Cheonan -- a Pohang-class ship -- allegedly by North Korea in March 2010. The incident raised many questions by South Korean politicians and defense analysts about the condition of the navy's equipment.

The 1,200-ton naval corvette Cheonan sank rapidly after an explosion from a suspected torpedo ripped the vessel in half. It sank just more than 1 mile southwest of Baeknyeong Island near the de facto sea border with North Korea.

North Korea consistently denies it had anything to do with the sinking.

The South Korean government also became concerned the country's maritime protection was left wanting in the face of increasing intrusions by foreign fishing ships, especially Chinese and North Korean, into its economic zones.

In December 2011, then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called for "strong" measures to protect the country's coast guard sailors during an increasing crackdown on illegal fishing by Chinese boats. Lee said he wanted no repeat of the attack earlier that month on two coast guard sailors during a raid on a Chinese boat suspected of fishing illegally in South Korean waters earlier.

A coast guard officer allegedly was stabbed by the captain of the Chinese fishing boat and died shortly after in hospital. Another coast guard member was stabbed but lived, Yonhap reported.

The confrontation between the coast guard and Chinese fishing vessel was one of the most difficult in years, said the team that boarded the ship, a report in Joongang Daily said at the time.

24/07/2013 Michel Cabirol – LaTribune.fr

Au premier semestre 2013, DCNS a vu chuter ses prises de commandes. Mais la possible signature avant la fin de l'année du contrat de rénovation des frégates saoudiennes Sawari 1 (LEX) devrait regonfler les voiles du groupe naval.

20.07.2013 par P. CHAPLEAU Lignes de Défense

Selon mes camarades du Marin, le BPC russe Vladivostok en cours de construction, pour sa partie avant, au chantier naval nazairien STX, est dans l’attente de la partie arrière. Partie voici quelques semaines d’un chantier russe, elle doit arriver à Saint-Nazaire, mardi 23 ou mercredi 24 juillet. Vendredi 19 juillet, dans l’après-midi, la partie avant du BPC russe est sortie dans la Loire, escortée par quatre remorqueurs, pour effectuer une manœuvre de retournement. Désormais, la proue du BPC pointe vers l’intérieur des terres, ce qui va permettre à l’autre partie de se positionner juste derrière afin de faciliter la jonction des deux. Le navire doit être livré au dernier trimestre 2014.

Grâce au programme Fremm, le plan de charge du constructeur est assuré jusqu’en 2022

18 juillet 2013 Stanislas du Guerny - L'Usine Nouvelle n°3340

Premier employeur industriel du département, le constructeur naval bénéficie d’un plan de charge qui fait les beaux jours de la sous-traitance locale.

Lorient vit au rythme de DCNS. Il suffit de se poster à la principale porte d’entrée du chantier pour comprendre que tout va bien. Le ballet des véhicules est incessant. Premier employeur industriel du Morbihan, DCNS occupe une emprise de 46 hectares proche du centre-ville. Le constructeur naval doit y construire, dans le cadre du programme Fremm, 12 frégates multifonction pour le ministère de la Défense. Une commande complétée par celle du Maroc, qui a décidé de se doter de l’un de ces bâtiments. Le plan de charge est assuré jusqu’en… 2022 ! « Nous livrons une frégate tous les dix mois. Cela représente 3 millions d’heures de travail pour le chantier. Cinq navires sont en cours de réalisation », précise Jérôme Hémonet, le directeur de la communication du chantier. À Lorient, DCNS emploie 2 000 salariés : 200 postes supplémentaires ont été créés au cours des deux années écoulées, principalement en production. Ce contrat Fremm fait les beaux jours de la sous-traitance locale. Quelque 800 salariés, répartis entre les entreprises lorientaises de peinture et les ateliers de chaudronnerie et de tôlerie, interviennent tous les jours sur le site.

Suite de l’article

11 July 2013 by defenceWeb

Russian state arms export company Rosoboronexport will offer its Amur 1650 submarine to Morocco if the North African country announces a tender, the company has announced. Morocco is reportedly shopping for new submarines.

Rosoboronexport Vice-President Viktor Komardin at the International Maritime Defence Show on July 4 said that the company was “actively promoting” the Amur 1650 on the world market. He said Rosoboronexport "plans to offer it to Morocco should the kingdom announce a tender".

ITAR-TASS quoted Komardin as saying that "if Morocco announces a tender for a submarine, we will take part and offer the Amur-1650.” He added that Rosoboronexport aims to improve military cooperation with Morocco, developing on an economic cooperation agreement. In terms of military cooperation, he noted that Russia has recently delivered Msta-S self-propelled howitzers to the North African country. “Morocco is showing an active interest in weapons for air defence and ground troops. The choice is now theirs to make,” said Komardin.

The Amur 1650, designed by the Rubin Naval Design Bureau in St Petersburg, can carry 18 missiles, torpedoes or mines (including anti-ship and cruise missiles) and can dive to 300 metres. It is an export model of the Lada class diesel-electric submarine, a modernised version of the Kilo class, featuring better acoustic stealth and new combat systems.

Provision has been made for the submarine to be fitted with an air-independent propulsion system, which would allow it to remain submerged for more than 25 days.

The Amur 1650 has been offered to meet the Indian Navy’s requirements for six submarines and is competing against France’s Scorpene, Germany’s Type 214 and Spain’s S-80, amongst others.

Morocco is enlarging its navy, having recently received three new Sigma class frigates from Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding. It will soon take delivery of a FREMM frigate from DCNS. The current Moroccan fleet includes two Floréal-class frigates and a Descubierta-class corvette in addition to some 21 patrol craft and a number of other ships and vessels.

July 11, 2013 Source: US Navy

Littoral combat ships remain one of the top priorities for Navy leadership. The program has had stable requirements since the capabilities definition document was first approved by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council in 2004.

There is and continues to be discussion on changes to the ships and mission packages. This is by design; the program is fundamentally about the ability to deliver changes and improvements to fielded capability. However, the key performance parameters and the requirements have been fundamentally unchanged and stable for a decade.

LCS fills current capability gaps for the Joint Force in the littorals and is a balanced force, structured to defeat adversaries in times of war and maintain a sizeable, continuous naval presence across the globe. Upon reaching full operational capability, LCS will deliver more mission capability in mine countermeasures, surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare than our current mine countermeasure, coast patrol and frigates ships with the added advantage of being rapidly reconfigurable across the three mission areas at a reduced cost.

Procurement

The Navy plans to buy 52 LCS in accordance with our long-range shipbuilding plan – continuing the remainder of the block buy ships through FY 2015 (up to hull number 24) and then starting the next procurement contract in FY 2016. To date, the Navy has taken delivery of USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Independence (LCS 2) and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3).

Both LCS shipyards have invested considerable resources into facility improvement and have rapidly incorporated lessons learned from construction of Freedom, Independence and Fort Worth. LCS 4 (Coronado) is scheduled to be delivered in September 2013. LCS 5 through 8 — Milwaukee, Jackson, Detroit, and Montgomery — will be delivered by the end of FY15.

Operations

Freedom continues to perform well on her deployment to Southeast Asia. Instead of working out the kinks near her homeport of San Diego, this first-of-class ship has been conducting purposeful, forward presence while her crew of 91 captures valuable lessons learned for incorporation in future LCS construction and deployments.

Despite initial maintenance issues, Freedom has met every deployment milestone including departing San Diego and arriving in Singapore on time, debuting at the International Maritime Defence and Exhibition conference, hosting visitors during the Shangri-La dialogues, and participating in the Malaysia phase of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise series.

During CARAT Malaysia, Freedom accomplished many firsts for the ship and the LCS program:

-- During the underway phase, Freedom operated alongside USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) to complete a series of maneuvers and exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy’s guided missile frigate KD Jebat, as well as the offshore patrol vessel KD Kelantan.

-- A Malaysian navy helicopter became the first foreign aircraft to land on Freedom during deck qualifications.

-- The ship’s embarked visit, board, search and seizure team – part of the maritime security module – boarded KD Jebat during maritime security drills.

-- Freedom and her embarked MH-60R helicopter participated in a combined anti-submarine warfare exercise.

CARAT Malaysia marked Freedom’s first-ever operational experience with partner nations and the vessel’s performance at-sea drew praise from both participating navies. Capt. Abdul Halim Bin Hj Shaari, KD Jebat’s commanding officer, said, “The ship itself is fantastic. My boarding team went aboard and they learned a lot. The opportunity to command that type of ship would be great.”

LCS 2 and 3 Fleet Testing and Evaluation

LCS 2 conducted two iterations of calm water trials, which are high-speed maneuvers to test the ship’s stability. The crew also supported a human systems integration study, conducted to determine the ease of shipboard equipment and how Sailors respond in a combat environment to include crew rest/sleep time. They exercised detect-to-engage scenarios, and were certified in their proficiency to land helicopters and conduct crash and salvage operations. In May, the ship underwent a week-long planned maintenance availability. The ship also is preparing for INSURV special trials and had the ship’s engineering systems verified for proper alignment/operation and technical documentation.

Fort Worth is the next LCS slated to deploy, planned for mid-to-late 2014. After almost two months in drydock undergoing a planned shakedown availability, LCS 3 returned pierside July 2 and will complete the planned shakedown availability by the end of the month. Following sea trials, she will enter a regimen of underway periods for testing and proficiency. Prior to the planned shakedown availability, LCS 3 embarked Freedom’s Blue Crew for deployment training in preparation for this summer’s crew swap in Singapore with LCS 1 Gold Crew.

Mission Packages

Production of LCS mission packages continues to pace LCS ship construction and meet needs associated with mission package testing, crew training and operational deployments of LCS ships. Developmental testing is underway for the mine countermeasures and surface warfare mission packages. Testing performed to date on individual mission systems and the mission package has shown that the Increment I Surface Warfare – which will reach Initial Operating Capability aboard Forth Worth in spring 2014 – and the mine countermeasures mission package will meet their requirements. The Mine Countermeasures Mission Package Increment I already provides approximately twice the coverage rate of legacy systems.

12 July 2013 naval-technology.com

The Royal Moroccan Navy's DCNS-built frégate Européen multi-mission (FREMM) vessel, to be named Mohammed VI, has successfully completed the third series of sea trials off the Brittany coast, France.

During testing, the ship demonstrated its combat system's main sensors performance capabilities by maintaining consistency of the data analysed and displayed, with the results obtained during shore-based simulations.

Scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2013, the ship has validated its target engagement sequences using Aster anti-air and MM40 anti-ship missiles, as well as undergoing fire-control tests for the 76mm main gun and exhaustive testing of the multifunction radar.

Additional capability trials for the vessel involved helicopter approach control and the various towed devices deployment.

DCNS Morocco FREMM programme manager Gilles Raybaud said the recent sea trials have marked a major milestone for the overall FREMM programme, particularly for the vessel's combat system.

"Our crews thoroughly tested the full suite of combat system hardware and software that makes FREMM frigates among the most versatile and advanced on the world market," Raybaud said.

DCNS is currently under contract to build 11 FREMM ships for the French Navy and one for the Moroccan Navy.

The French Navy received the first FREMM vessel, Aquitaine, in November 2012, while the third ship of the class, named Normandie, is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2014.

FREMM vessel Provence, the fourth ship of the class, is due to be rolled out of building dock later this year for the French Navy, while the fifth and sixth of type are undergoing construction.

The 142m-long FREMM ships have a displacement capacity of 6,000t, a range of 15k, can cruise at a speed of 27k and are each capable of accommodating a crew of 145.