divendres, 31 de juliol del 2015

LCS Anti-Sub Warfare Package Too Heavy; 3 Contracts Issued For Weight Reduction Study*

The Littoral Combat Ship’s anti-submarine warfare mission package needs to shed some weight before it can deploy on a ship, and the Navy awarded three contracts to help find weight-reduction ideas.

The mission package includes two mature and fielded sonar systems, plus the hardware needed to integrate the systems with the ship. LCS Mission Module Program Manager Capt. Casey Moton said Thursday at a Mine Warfare Association lunch that each of his three mission modules is given 105 metric tons of weight on the LCS, but the ASW as it stands today surpasses that limit.

The mission package includes a Variable-Depth Sonar – the Navy chose the Thales UK Sonar 2087, the same VDS used on the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate – as well as the Multi-Function Towed Array used on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG-51) and eventually the Zumwalt-class destroyers (DDG-1000). The Navy cannot overhaul either mature system, so it has hired Advanced Acoustic Concepts, L-3 Communications and Raytheon to find more creative ways to reduce weight.

In the early stages of the weight-reduction effort, “we got proposals that ranged from modifying the sensors to reduce weight to things as simple as using composites in the handling system,” Moton said.
“So our initial contract is to three companies, and they will do a transition study for us over the next couple months that will give us a lot more insight.”

Each team will submit a package that brings the mission module to under 105 metric tons, and the Navy will then pick and choose which ideas it likes and use them to build engineering development models. Moton said his office had not decided how many EDMs to build but would make that decision over the next few months.

He said he could not recall how many tons over weight the current ASW package is, but “all three companies proposed schemes that would get us to the weight” and he was confident he could meet the requirement to get onboard a ship.

Also during his speech, Moton said his office was making some minor adjustments to the Lockheed Martin AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire radar-guided missile, which the Navy is adapting for use on the ship. The missile currently launches horizontally from a helicopter, and the Navy is making modifications so it can launch vertically and lock on its target after tipping into a horizontal position post-launch. The new version of the missile will be called the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module and should be fully integrated and ready for deployment by late 2017, according to a Navy statement.

The program office began tests on a research vessel at the end of February against “high-speed maneuvering targets out off the Virginia Capes.” That testing wrapped up in June, and based on the results, the office has to do “some tweaking – it’s really that level, tweaking – to the missile seeker and such.”

Another round of testing on the research vessel will take place in Fiscal Year 2016.

Moton also said his office is currently conducting a technical evaluation of the surface warfare mission package on USS Coronado (LCS-4). The package has already deployed twice, but both times on Freedom-variant LCSs. Coronado is an Independence-variant ship, with the same interfaces for the mission package but a different physical layout. Moton said the evaluation is “going very well.”

* Notícia publicada al US Naval Institute. Sembla que el "think big" continua passant factura a les capacitats de combat de la US Navy. Segurament amb el sistemes modulars que tant bé han funcionat a la Reial Marina Danesa es podria millorar, però prèviament requeriria liquidar la plaga de buròcrates del Pentàgon i els comissionistes que el dessagnen.


dijous, 9 de juliol del 2015

Kongsberg Maritime sonar chosen for Swedish Navy fast patrol boats*

Swede Ship Marine will install new Kongsberg Maritime sonar systems as part of a major rebuild and lifetime extension of five patrol boats for the Swedish Navy. The new sonars will replace the previous model SIMRAD SS576 sonars first installed in 1996 on board the Tapper-class (or Bevakningsbåt 80), with the purpose to protect and patrol Swedish coastal waters.


With 22 meters in length and a displacement of 62 tons, the Tapper-class Fast Patrol Boats operate in extremely shallow water, and require sonars capable of high performance in such environments. The Kongsberg Maritime sonar selected for this upgrade will be used for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Mine and Obstacle detection and Navigation, and is designed for use in shallow water.

"The Swedish Navy is one of the most experienced Navies with regards to operation of sonars in shallow and challenging waters so we are proud to have the preferred sonar solution for protection of the Swedish coastline," said Thomas Hostvedt Dahle, Naval Sonar Product Sales Manager, Kongsberg Maritime.

"Our sonars have acoustic properties specially developed for shallow water and our design is compact in order to enable installation also on very small ships. This supports the ASW tactics of fighting submarines in shallow water with the use of several smaller ships that are equipped with sonars. We look forward to the ship being delivered with upgraded sonars to the Swedish Navy, in less than a year."

The rebuild and lifetime extension project has already started, with the first vessel being prepared for the work in the shipyard.


* Notícia publicada al web de Kongsberg. Un altre exemple de la cooperació nòrdica, en aquest cas, en el camp dels sònars per entorns litorals.


dissabte, 4 de juliol del 2015

INS Viraat to turn into a museum*

Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, July 3

INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier in the world, will soon be converted into a museum.


The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) authorities have received an in-principle approval from the Ministry of Defence to convert the Centaur-class aircraft carrier into a museum.

“The Centre has agreed to hand over INS Viraat to the state on the request of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu,” the APTDC executive director Amarendar said.

The warship will be docked at the shores of Kakinada port in coastal Andhra to serve as a tourist attraction. It is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2016.

The state government is planning to invest over Rs 20 crore to convert it into a museum without tinkering with is main structure. The museum will be entirely developed and maintained by the government without involving any private player.

Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes and was transferred to India in 1987. In April 1986, India had signed an agreement with Britain to acquired HMS Hermes. It was part of the action during the Falklands war in 1982. After refits and new equipment being fitted on Hermes, it was commissioned as INS Viraat on May 12, 1987.


Originally, the aircraft carrier was scheduled to be decommissioned in 2009, but with the INS Vikramaditya’s induction being delayed, Viraat underwent a series of refits and continued its service.

* Notícia publicada a The Tribune. Celebrem que l'INS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes), un vell guerrer, es pugui preservar com a patrimoni de la Història naval. No és el primer cas però, també es feu amb el primer portaavions indi, l'INS Vikrant (R11).