HMS Sutherland

HMS Richmond refit; Article closed. (Oct 17/11)

Britain’s Type 23 Duke Class frigates were originally envisioned as pure anti-submarine vessels, to the extent of being planned with no other armament. The 1982 Falklands War quickly put paid to that idea, however, and the Type 23s would end up being commissioned from 1989-2001 and fitted with a main gun, Sea Wolf short range anti-air missiles, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles to accompany her torpedoes, decoys, et. al. These changes turned the frigates from specialized sub-hunters into versatile multi-role combatants that play a key role in the British fleet. The Royal Navy is set to continue shrinking in size (see esp. diagram) due to rising ship costs, and even though key platforms like aircraft carriers and amphibious ships may be more capable, the mid-tier combat role filled by frigates is not slated for new construction any time soon. As such, upgrading the Navy’s 13 remaining Type 23s to keep them in service is vitally important to Britain’s future force.

As part of those operational upgrade efforts, the Type 23 frigates will receive: Sonar 2087 towed sonars, the Royal Navy’s latest and most sophisticated submarine hunting system (Thales UK, GBP 166 million for machines that go ‘ping!’); Upgraded vertical-launch Sea Wolf Block 2 air defense missiles to help counter supersonic anti-ship missiles (BAE Systems Insyte with MBDA, GBP 300 million); an improved 114mm Vickers Mk 8 Mod 1 main gun, capable of firing long-range ammunition; and a reshaped stern to cut fuel use. Upgrades are also being performed during maintenance periods, some of which are significant to the ship’s overall capabilities. This article covers a number of upgrade efforts, from 2005-2011.

Dutch HNLMS Tromp

As missile defense imperatives get stronger, and western defense budgets get weaker, one might expect both competition and cooperation to increase within this sector. That should be especially true around naval platforms, where multinational deployments are the normal operating mode. There are early signs that this is coming true.

In September 2011, Raytheon announced successful testing for a prototype dual-band datalink, allowing ships that use either Lockheed Martin’s SPY-1/ AEGIS system, or Thales Nederland’s SMART-L and/or APAR radars, to employ the full range of long-range Standard Missiles for air defense. That matters, because the SM-* family also includes a number of options with missile defense capabilities…

• Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday to reporters in Ankara that after downgrading diplomatic ties with Israel, he is now suspending defense ties between the two countries. Turkey is also asking most Israeli diplomatic personnel to leave by tomorrow, including the IDF military attaché (or not, as of Wednesday reports were contradictory), after expelling the ambassador last week. Turkey has been seeking an apology from Israel over the death of 9 Turks during an IDF raid against a flotilla bound for Gaza last year. Cooperation on UAVs was already quite strained as of June last year.

• Russia signs a $4+ billion contract with state-controlled Oboronprom for 140 military helicopters by 2020, but there’s no breakdown on types. There is, however, confirmation that the 1st navalized Ka-52K Alligator attack/scout helicopter shipment for use on Russia’s new Mistral LHDs will finish by the end of 2012.

• The chinese Foreign Ministry says it will implement tighter export controls in the wake of the recent revelation that state-owned weapon manufacturers had been in recent talks with the Qaddafi regime. Last decade China started implementing legislation to align itself with MTCR members but so far fell short of the group’s standards.

• Meanwhile US primes are urging the Obama administration to allow large sales to foreign entities such as new F-16s for Taiwan (a decision left up in the air for years), and are seeking revisions to MTCR to ease UAS exports. Reuters via Aviation Week.

• South Korea’s Navy will be equipping its patrol boats with MBDA’s Mistral missiles. This will make them dangerous targets for any North Korean air attack, and the Mistrals can also be used to strike enemy boats. No luck against submarines, though, like the one that sank ROKS Cheonan.

• Britain’s Babcock has designed a decoy launcher that sits inside a submarine’s outer hull, but outside the inner pressure hull. This makes refits much easier for submarines that weren’t designed to carry torpedo countermeasures.

• Colombia’s narco-traffickers are operating submersibles and mini-submarines. Colombia’s Navy operates U209 boats, but can’t pay as well. You can guess what comes next.

• Deputy staff is starting to join the deficit Super Committee with, so far, people experienced in entitlement programs and the tax system. The Business Roundtable organized a forum yesterday to discuss and explain how this committee works (3-hour video).

Upgraded ANZAC concept
(click to enlarge)

New radars declared operational on HMAS Perth. (Sept 3/11)

In August 2005, Australia’s Ministry of Defence reported that Australia and the United States had joined forces by signing a joint agreement to develop active phased array radar technology in Australia. The total development cost was estimated to be approximately A$ 30 million over 3 years. The hope was that it would kick-start a new Australian electronics and systems integration industry, based on S-band active array and X-band phased-array technology, sized for and applied to smaller ships like frigates and corvettes.

Both countries will share the development costs, technical expertise and benefits of the CEAFAR (3D) active phased array radar. This technology is being developed by ACT electronics company CEA Technologies, and has become part of Australia’s ASMD project to make its new Anzac-Class frigates survivable against supersonic cruise missiles. Other military and civil applications on land and sea are also possible, given the radar’s characteristics…

• The CEAFAR/CEAMOUNT Solution
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

AEGIS-BMD: CG-70
launches SM-3

The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense System seamlessly integrates the SPY-1 radar, the MK 41 Vertical Launching System for missiles, the SM-3 Standard missile, and the ship’s command and control system, in order to give ships the ability to defend against enemy ballistic missiles. Like its less-capable AEGIS counterpart, AEGIS BMD can also work with other radars on land and sea via Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), receiving cues from other platforms and providing information to them, in order to create a more detailed battle picture than any one radar could produce alone.

AEGIS has become a widely-deployed top-tier air defense system, with customers in the USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Norway, and Spain. In a dawning age of rogue states and the spread of mass-destruction weapons, the US Navy is being pushed toward a “shield of the nation” role as the USA’s most flexible and and most numerous option for missile defense. AEGIS BMD modifications are the keystone of that effort – in the USA, and beyond:

• What Is AEGIS?
• AEGIS Missile Defense Capabilities
• AEGIS BMDS: The Program, 1995 – Present
• Contracts & Updates, FY 2007 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

“Slick 32”

Block 1 support contract. (July 18/11)

The US Navy’s AN/SLQ-32 ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) system uses radar warning receivers, and in some cases active jamming, as the part of ships’ self-defense system. The “Slick 32s” provides warning of incoming attacks, and is integrated with the ships’ defenses to trigger Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff (RBOC) and other decoys, which can fire either semi-automatically or on manual direction from a ship’s ECM operators.

The “Slick 32” variants are based on modular building blocks, and each variant is suited to a different type of ship. Most of these systems were designed in the 1970s, however, and are based on 1960s-era technology. Unfortunately, the SLQ-32 was notable for its failure when the USS Stark was hit by Iraqi Exocet missiles in 1987. The systems have been modernized somewhat, but in an era that features more and more supersonic ship-killing missiles, with better radars and advanced electronics, SLQ-32’s fundamental electronic hardware architecture just won’t do. Hence the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP)...

• SEWIP Blocks [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
  Continue Reading… »

• As a British Government Minister declares that offensive cyber warfare is an integral part of the UK’s armory, the Ministry of Defence outline their new Materiel Strategy.

• Cassidian win contract to provide the Canadian Navy new technologies to detect and counter laser-based threats against its vessels.

• The US Navy announces that CVN 79, the 2nd Ford Class aircraft carrier, will be named the USS John F. Kennedy. It will continue the namesake legacy of the non-nuclear powered CV 67, retired in 2007.

• The U.S. Navy successfully tested the DDG 1000’s Integrated Power System (IPS) at full power at the Land Based Test Site located in Philadelphia, May 11.

• The U.S. Navy also approves ATK’s Hostile Fire Indication (HFI) capability upgrade for the AAR-47 Missile Warning System.

• Singapore’s ST Engineering announce the formation of a joint venture (JV) company with Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories. The JV will design, develop and produce advanced earth observation satellites.

• India’s Mahindra and Mahindra report a 6.4% year-on-year rise in fourth quarter net profit.

Valour Class frigates

In mid-April, South Africa’s DefenceWeb reported an R 49.2 million ($7.3 million) in contracts to begin resupplying its MEKO-derived Valour Class frigates with Umkhonto Mk.2 short range air defense missiles, perform Umkhonto Mk.2 testing, and support existing South African missile stocks.

Umkhonto Mk.1 missiles are currently in service on South Africa’s new frigates, and the South African Army’s Project Protector uses Umkhonto as a land-based SAM system. They are not its only customers…

HMCS Montreal & sub:
HMCS Windsor

Launched between 1988-1995, and commissioned between 1992-1996, Canada’s 12 City Class (now Halifax Class) frigates currently form the high end of its naval capabilities. The Canadian Navy has declined drastically from its post-WWII status as the world’s 4th largest navy, and the Halifax Class itself is finding that its open-ocean design is not suited to cope with modern littoral threats and improving anti-ship missiles. Replacement vessels are still many years away, which means that the 4,750t frigates will need to be modernized within the limits of their design if they are to remain effective.

Canada’s government has decided to fund that modernization, much as Australia and New Zealand are modernizing the Halifax Class’ ANZAC Frigate contemporaries. Refits are scheduled to begin with HMCS Halifax in 2010, and that ship is scheduled to re-enter service about 18 months later in 2012. By 2017, all 12 frigates are scheduled to be upgraded as part of a C$ 3.1 billion (about $2.9 billion) program. This DII Spotlight article explains the scope of the upgrades, notes the current systems, and covers the contracts and developments involved:

• Upgrading The Halifax Class
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• WIRED’s Danger Room offers a look at the key defense controversies and issues likely to land in the next Congress, after America’s November 2010 elections. Part 1: Missile Fights! Shipyard Showdown! | Part 2: Stealth Jet Faceoff! Wars Over War!

• Cash and Carry: Veritas Capital to pay $815 million in cash for Lockheed Martin’s Enterprise Integration Group, a supplier of engineering and management services to US DoD and other US federal agencies.

• Catching a Wavestream: Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks agrees to pay $130 million for Wavestream, a San Dimas, CA-based maker of high-power solid state amplifiers for the defense and broadcast satellite markets.

• Up to $300 million to BAE Systems for virtualization upgrades to the US Defense Intelligence Agency’s computer workstations.

• Drug Deal: CSC wins contract worth up to $95 million to operate DoD’s Pharmacy Data Transaction Service.

• Cambridge International Systems to provide $6 million maritime surveillance system for the Iraqi Navy under a US Navy SPAWAR contract.