The Navy Vol_64_Part2 2002 - Navy League of Australia

Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering inSouth Korea, for a partial re-build underthe provision of a warranty contract.Delivered in June 2(M)I (sec THENAVY Vol. 63 No. 4. pi7) to replace theSalisburx-class frigate BNS I'MARFAROOQ (ex-HMS LLANDAFF). theBangladesh Navy found the frigateunsuitable' for operational deploymentfollowing its shakedown cruise. TheBangladesh Navy is said to bedemanding the replacement of the sonarsystem and other unspecified 'combatinadequacies'.Additional weapons systems arereportedly also to be fitted during the'warranty service'. After its refit, thefrigate - now referred to simply as theDW-2000H in Bangladesh - will bere-commissioned into the Navy andreturned to service, assuming no otherproblems. The frigate was SouthKorea's first major warship export andwas equipped mainly with Italiandesignedweapons and a Thalescommand-and-control sensor suite.The ship, ordered in 1997. hasproven politically controversial inBangladesh, where critics have claimedthai its operations and maintenancecosts are prohibitive and that itrepresents too sophisticated a warshipfor the maritime security tasks that arethe focus of the Bangladesh Navy. As aresult, the procurement of the frigateand its problems were the subject of aninvestigation which has indicated graftand corruption in the BangladeshDepartment of Defence decision topurchase the ship.CHARLES-DE-GAULLEupdateA Rolls-Royce subsidiary willdeliver two propellers for the Frenchaircraft carrier CHARLES DEGAULLE by the end of the year to theFrench ship building agency DCN.The aircraft carrier suffered anembarrassing failure of the propellersduring its first shakedown cruise andhad to return to Toulon to have themreplaced by less efficient propellersdesigned for its predecessor (see THENAVY Vol 63. No3. p 17).DCN gave a contract for two newpropellers to Atlantic Industrie deNantes, the French manufacturer thatmade the original propellers for theCHARLES-DE-GAULLE, then put outan international tender for another twopropellers, which Roll's Bird Johnsonsubsidiary in Pascagoula. Mississippi,won. They are in the course ofcompletion and will be delivered toDCN at the end of the year.The French nuclear powered aircraft carrier CHARLES-DE-GAULLE. The carrier is still plagued withpropeller problems which will hopefully be fixed by year's end. (IX'N)In other news, while participating inOperation Enduring Freedom.CHARLES DE GAULLE broke off itsoperations in the Arabian Sea lo travelto Singapore to assess its suitability as aregular supply centre for the Frenchfleet.CHARLES DE GAULLE stopped inSingapore between 3-8 May and thenheaded back to the Arabian Sea for ajoint exercise with the Royal SaudiNavy.The ship was planned to visitAustralia as well but operationaldemands precluded her slop over.However, the reason for the trip toSingapore is widely thought to be asales pitch for the Singaporeanrequirement for 20-24 new generationfighter aircraft, of which CHARLES DEGAULLE has seven new-generationRafale fighters on her flight deck. TheRafale's maker. Dassault Aviation, seesSingapore as a potential customer forthe Rafale.The Rafales aboard CHARLES DEGAULLE are air combat fighters and.as such, did not conduct operations overAfghanistan. However, il is reportedthat they logged a total of400 flying hours in exercises in theArabian Sea. many of them conductedwith US Navy F/A-18 Hornets fromthe aircraft carrier USS JOHN CSTENNIS.Since late December the FrenchNavy's (Marine Nationale's) 16 SuperEtendard fighters deployed onCHARLES DE GAULLE have logged atotal of 669 operational flightsover Afghanistan. These included250 missions. 60^f of which wereground support operations and 40%reconnaissance flights over 437 targets.The CHARLES DE GAULLE's twoE-2C Hawkeye airborne early warningaircraft also flew 482 hours onreconnaissance flights for coalitionforces in Afghanistan.Boeing delivers firstHarpoon Block II kitsto DenmarkFollowing the installation of thenecessary upgrade kits, the DanishNaval Materiel Command has takendelivery of its initial Harpoon Block IImissiles, marking the first internationalsale of the upgraded missile. The kitsare to be installed by the RoyalNetherlands Navy for the Royal DanishNavy at their joint missile maintenancefacility in Den Hclder.The Harpoon Block II kit provides anew Guidance Control Unit flightcomputer, a new guidance section shelland a Global Positioning System (GPS)antenna. When installed, the Harpoonmissile has a more accurate navigationsystem than its predecessors, and can beused for coastal clutter suppression.The Block II missile incorporatesguidance technologies from two otherBoeing weapons programmes - the low -cost, inertial measuring unit from theJoint Direct Attack Munition; and thesoftware, mission computer, integratedGPS/Inertial Navigation System, andGPS antenna and receiver from theStandoff Land Attack MissileExpanded-Response. These technologiesare designed to expand Harpoon'scapability to attack coastal, in-harbourand land targets.The US Navy completed flighttestingof the Harpoon Block II inNovember 2001. Denmark was the firstcountry to sign a $10 million contractfor 50 upgrade kits in 1997. Thismodification upgrades about half of theRoyal Danish Navy inventory.South Korean Navygets first InternationalMk-45 Mod 4 GunUnited Defense and WorldIndustries Ace. have delivered the firstinternationally produced Mk-45 Mod 4gun to the Republic of Korea (ROK)Navy. This is the first time a Mk-45Mod 4 gun was sold overseas and is theculmination of teamwork by WIA andUnited Defense over the past 27months.United Defense and WIA jointlyproduced components for the Mod 4guns. United Defense providedtechnical assistance, spare parts, andtraining, while WIA did final assemblyand test in Korea.The Mod 4 variant of the ubiquitousnaval gun has a longer barrel, a stealthyturret shielding and able to fire theERGM (Extended Range GuidedMunition) as well as standard 127mmrounds. The longer barrel increases therange of a standard shell from 24kms tomore than 40kms.United Defense won a competitive$22 million contract in December 99 toco-produce three Mk-45 Mod 4 guns forKorea's KDX II lightweight destroyershipbuilding program. WIA will deliverthe second gun in October 2002 and thethird one in August 2003. Since theoriginal contract. United Defense hasbegun discussions with WIA to coproducethe next purchase of guns forthe Korean Navy.New RN First Sea LordHer Majesty The Queen hasgraciously approved the appointment ofAdmiral Sir Alan West to succeedThe RN's new First Sea Lord. Admiral Sir AlanWest, who commanded the frigate ARDENTduring the Falklands Conflict a little over20 years ago. (RN)Caught in flight. A 127mm shell is caught in flight by the camera after being fired by a Mk-45 Mod 4gun. The Mod 4 version of the Mk-45 is able to take the new ERGM round, its longer barrel alsomeans that a standard projectile can reach over 4()kms compared to 24kms for the Mod 2 v(fitted lo the RAN's An/acs). (Raytheon)Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh as FirstSea Lord in September 2002. and. onpromotion to Admiral. Sir JonathonBand to succeed Admiral West asCommander in Chief Fleet.Admiral West. at presentCommander in Chief Fleet, will takeover the post of First Sea Lord andChief of the Naval Staff on 17September 02 when Admiral Essenhighretires after 37 years service. ViceAdmiral Band, currently serving asDepu:y Commander in Chief Fleet,takes over as Commander in Chief Fleeton 2 August 02.Born in 1948. Admiral Sir Alan Westjoined the Royal Navy in 1965. He hasspent the majority of his career at sea,serving in fourteen different ships, andcommanding three of them. Hequalified as a Principal Warfare Officerin 1975. and Advanced Warfare Officer(Above Water Weapons) in 1978. andalso as a Fighter Controller. He is agraduate of the Royal Naval StaffCourse, the Higher Command & StaffCourse, and the Royal College ofDefence Studies.In 1980. promoted to Commander,he took command of the frigate HMSARDENT, taking the ship south to theFalklands in 1982. where she was sunkduring the successful retaking of theIslands. He was subsequently awardedthe Distinguished Service Cross for hispart in the action and led the VictoryParade through the City of London.He has held several appointments inthe Ministry of Defence and played aprominent role in the reorganisation ofihe MOD. ihe introduction of a newbudgetary system within the Services.and headed the study into women'sintegration and their service at sea.Promoted to Rear Admiral in February1994. he was responsible for navalmanning, numbers and structures,as well as career management anddeployment. He moved the departmentfrom London to Portsmouth, set up anew organisation and prepared it foragency status.In February 1996 he becameCommander UK Task Group, and wasalmost permanently deployed in one ofthe aircraft carriers leading the twolargest and longest UK navaldeployments since the Falklands andGulf conflicts. The only Europeanseaborne principal subordinatecommander in NATO, he was alsoa UK-designated Joint ForceCommander. He was promoted to ViceAdmiral in October 1997 and appointedas Chief of Defence Intelligence.He was knighted in the MillenniumNew Year's Honours List and promotedto Admiral in November 2000, when hetook up his position as Commander-in-Chief Reel. Commander-in-Chief EastAtlantic, and Commander Allied NavalForces North.Canada acquiresPhalanx IBThe massive US defence companyRaytheon is being awarded a US$29.8million contract to produce 21 PhalanxBlock IB upgrade kits for the RoyalCanadian Navy. This represents thesingle-largest contract to date for thesurface mode upgrade for the PhalanxClose-In Weapon System.20 VOL. 64 NO. 3 THE NAVYTHE NAVYvol.. 64 NO. 321