ArmoredD.com

Wed Nov 12, 2008 8:57pm IST

KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR, Russia (Reuters India) - Twelve of the Russian men killed in an accident on board a nuclear submarine were buried with military honours on Wednesday near the shipyard where they worked.

Twenty people died on Saturday when the fire extinguishing system went off unexpectedly on board the Nerpa submarine, releasing toxic freon gas into the compartments and asphyxiating the victims.

Many of those aboard were technicians from the ship-building plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, near Russia’s Pacific coast, which built the submarine. They were on board conducting sea trials when the accident happened.

Reuters Television pictures showed several thousand people waiting outside the plant to file past the open coffins.

The coffins were then taken in a procession through the streets to a cemetery. Relatives wept over them before they were lowered into the ground. A military guard of honour fired a salute over the graves.

The funerals of the other victims are expected to take place in the next few days.

“It is a tragedy for the whole town,” said Olga Starodumova, whose husband works at the plant.

“I had to come,” said another mourner, Natalya Viktorova. “My soul aches for all of them.”

The accident on board the Nerpa raised new questions about the capability of the Russian navy, despite a drive by the Kremlin to restore its lost military might.

It was the worst accident to hit the Russian navy since an explosion on the Kursk submarine in 2000 killed all 118 sailors on board.

The chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, Nikolai Makarov, said on Wednesday the navy planned to put the Nerpa into active service by the start of next year, Interfax news agency reported.

“Despite the sad accident in which people perished, during trials this submarine showed reliable functioning of all units, mechanical assemblies and control systems, obviously apart from the fire extinguishing system,” Interfax quoted him as saying.

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article:
Russian Navy: Accident submarine to join navy soon

7 hours ago

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top military officer has been quoted as saying the navy will soon commission the nuclear submarine that suffered a deadly accident during a sea trial.

The Nerpa submarine was undergoing tests Saturday in the Sea of Japan when navy officials say its firefighting system switched on in error. Freon gas asphyxiated 20 people on the sub and hospitalized 21.

Russian and Indian media say Russia was going to lease the sub to India.

But Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the Russian General staff, says the Nerpa submarine will join Russia’s navy soon after an official probe into the accident is over and the submarine’s firefighting flaws are fixed.

Russian news agencies quoted Makarov as saying Wednesday that other systems on the sub worked fine.

Navy to start probe of sub fire

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star Bulletin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 11, 2008

The Navy will begin investigating today a battery fire that damaged the nation’s only special-warfare minisub, a costly and problem-plagued stealth boat that was getting a recharge at Pearl Harbor’s 22-acre SEAL facility on Waipio Peninsula.

The Navy has not yet determined the cause of the fire or the extent of damage.

The black, 65-foot Advanced SEAL Delivery System minisub was undergoing routine maintenance in its shore-based facility at 8:30 p.m. Sunday when Navy personnel monitoring the battery recharging process noticed sparks and flames coming from near some of the battery compartments, officials said.

The building was immediately evacuated, and seven trucks and 25 federal firefighters responded but it took six hours to extinguish the fire and cool any remaining hot spots in the battery compartment, the Navy reported yesterday.

A investigation, led by the Naval Special Warfare Command and supported by experts from Naval Sea Systems Command and the Navy Safety Center, was expected to begin today.

The battery-powered minisub, designed to ride piggyback on an attack sub to within range of a hostile coast or other target, has been part of a troubled program that began in 1992. The vessel was delivered to the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command in 2001 and assigned to Pearl Harbor’s SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 in 2003.

There were initial problems with its propeller system, then problems with the electrical system and batteries.

A 2003 General Accounting Office report said the electrical system repeatedly shorted out and drained its silver-zinc batteries more quickly than the Navy projected. The zinc batteries were replaced with lithium-ion batteries.

The GAO report said the program, which initially called for six vessels, was to cost $527 million but rose to more than $2 billion.

Defense Industry Daily reported in April that “technical, reliability, and 400 percent cost overrun issues proved nearly insuperable.” Plans for six subs were halted in 2006, and the remaining ongoing effort was directed “to boost the performance of the existing sub and complete its operational testing,” the publication said.

The cigar-shaped minisub, which weighs 60 tons, is big enough to accommodate 16 SEALs, including two operators.

Advanced SEAL Delivery System minisub
» In service: 1 (Pearl Harbor)
» Length: 65 feet
» Weight: 60 tons
» Crew: Pilot, submarine officer; co-pilot, SEAL officer
» Payload: Up to 16 SEALs
» Mission: Clandestine infiltration
» Range: Classified (at least 115 miles on a battery charge; can dive as deep as 200 feet)
» Transported: Piggyback on the deck of a nuclear attack submarine

Source: U.S. Navy

16:25 | 10/ 11/ 2008

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - An accident on the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine claimed 20 lives, the largest number of casualties since the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000. The Russian and international press are highlighting the tragedy because it happened on a nuclear submarine, engendering many rumors.

We will know the details only when a government commission completes its investigation, but we can discuss the essence of the tragedy. First, to be clear, the submarine was not on combat duty but was still undergoing trials.

What happened on the Nerpa was a catastrophe, an accident that claimed human life. Officially, the tragedy was provoked by the unauthorized operation of the fire extinguishing system.

Next, Russian submarines are equipped with two fire extinguishing systems, an air-foam system designed to extinguish local fires, and a smothering line system for extinguishing three-dimensional fires (with the exception of powder and ammunition fires), which releases Freon or its derivatives into the endangered compartment, replacing oxygen to extinguish the fire.

Freon is very effective for extinguishing 3D fires but is highly toxic and is therefore a risk to any people who come in contact with it. This justified risk in a submarine is partly compensated by portable breathing apparatuses for the crew.

Manual initiation is required to activate the Freon system in a third-generation submarine, such as the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine. There is one previous case recording a Freon release into the wrong compartment. It happened on a K-77 submarine in 1976 and was due to an assembly mistake made during repairs. The wrong number was painted on the wrong system at the shipyard.

All Russian submarines use this system, and we must assume that the Nerpa uses it as it has not been reported otherwise.

The crewmembers have access to portable breathing apparatuses, which ensure between 10 and 30 minutes of survival depending on the intensity of breathing. The oxygen is used faster under hard work.

The command post can order a Freon release only if the fire alarm sounds or if they receive the necessary alert verbally via the audio system. It is true that fire alarm systems sometimes malfunction, which puts special emphasis on communication between the command post and the affected compartment. Freon activation is not automatic when the fire alarm goes off. The Nerpa was completed only recently and was undergoing sea trials, which is why it had 81 sailors and over a hundred civilian specialists - workers and engineers from the shipyard, 208 in all. Most civilians lack military survival skills, but they work with sailors during trials to evaluate the systems.

What happened in the submarine’s nose, where torpedoes are stocked?

The authorities say the 21 injured have no burns, which means there was no fire. There could be minor sources of fire and hence smoke in the compartment, which would have activated the fire alarm. As a result, the command post or somebody in the compartment may have decided to release Freon into the first and second compartments.

This made the atmosphere in the first (and possibly second) compartment unbreathable, and therefore lethal. Of the total number of victims (41), 36 were civilian specialists, who were most likely affected because they had not been trained or, less likely, because of a limited number of breathing apparatuses.

Workers and engineers taking part in building and testing submarines should be trained in survival procedures, including fire and the possible release of Freon.

And lastly, why were nearly three times more people on board during the sea trial? Overcrowding can only lead to commotion and disorder.

We can only hope that the proper conclusions will be drawn from the tragedy, and that it will not be repeated on the Nerpa or any other submarine.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

By David Axe
November 09, 2008 | 8:50:44 AM
Wired

Saturday, at a ceremony in Wisconsin, the Navy commissioned USS Freedom, the first of 55 planned Littoral Combat Ships. “An innovative combatant designed to operate quickly in shallow water environments to counter challenging threats in coastal regions, specifically mines, submarines and fast surface craft,” is how the Navy puts it.

“Innovative” is right: The ship can accelerate from zero to 40 knots in just a couple minutes — and navigate waters as shallow as 20 feet. Using manned and unmanned helicopters plus different plug-and-play “mission modules,” LCS can perform anti-submarine, counter-mine or surface-warfare missions.

But LCS has been a programmatic disaster. Seven of the first 11 ships have been canceled due to cost overruns — and last year the Navy even canned the officer overseeing the the program. Congress has imposed a price cap of $440 million per ship, but costs for those initial vessels “remain uncertain,” the GAO reports. Estimates for the first four LCSs and their mission modules range from $500 to $600 million apiece.

Still, LCS has the potential to revolutionize the Navy’s surface fleet, according to Bob Work, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Work’s analysis has been influential in shaping Navy plans in recent years — his studies helped drive the decision to curtail the DDG-1000 stealth destroyer. If he’s bullish on LCS, you can bet the Navy is, too.

“I firmly believe that if the first two ships, LCS 1 and 2, deliver on the performance that the Navy has asked them to have, the LCS is going to be one of best deals the U.S. Navy has made since World War II,” Work tells Danger Room. He said LCS is “totally congruent with shifting from a force that is based on the number of ships to a force that is a true total-force battle network, where all the things work together to give you something that’s more than sum of its parts.”

“When the Navy decided go to LCS, it said it wanted replace 56 ships on a one-for-one basis,” including frigate and minesweepers. “When you take a look at the replacement cost for those ships, even if LCS comes in at [an average cost of] $550 million, which I don’t believe will happen, you will replace 56 ships on a one-for-one basis for no more than 20 percent more than the replacement costs for those ships.”

That’s a terrific value, and those ships can be used for almost anything. If the submarine threat goes up, can buy more ASW modules… You can make [Special Operations]-support modules, disaster-relief modules. You can put a reinforced company of Marines on these things and speed them to wherever you need to go.

Work said the Navy could even add an Aegis radar and launch cells for anti-air missiles to turn LCS into a mini air-defender. More importantly, LCS can carry a bunch of fast, small boats or robots and, with its size and speed, operate in large, flexible groups of warships.

It’s a small battlefield network combatant, and it’s got lots of payload for its displacement. And it will be a test platform for unmanned systems. … The U.S Navy is way ahead of the curve with LCS.

The only big question in Work’s mind is: will the Navy buy just 55 of the new inshore fighters? “I don’t think so,” he said.

Last update: 12:00 p.m. EST Nov. 8, 2008
Market Watch

MILWAUKEE, Nov 08, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The nation’s first Littoral Combat Ship — USS Freedom (LCS 1) — was commissioned by the U.S. Navy in Milwaukee, WI today, officially placing the Lockheed Martin [LMT:Lockheed Martin Corporation (Holding Company) LMT 78.75, +1.93, +2.5%] designed and constructed vessel into active service.

The agile 378-foot USS Freedom — a survivable, semi-planing steel monohull — will help the Navy defeat growing littoral, or close-to-shore, threats and provide access and dominance in coastal water battlespace. Displacing approximately 3,000 metric tons and reaching speeds well over 40 knots, USS Freedom is a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and the potential for a wide range of additional missions including maritime interdiction and humanitarian/disaster relief.

“We are proud and excited to show the world this amazing ship,” said LCS Commanding Officer Cmdr. Don Gabrielson. “LCS is here and it changes the game. Freedom has more in common with an aviation squadron than a surface ship, and her sailors will blow you away with their ability to innovate.”

“This is truly an exciting time for the U.S. Navy and the entire LCS program team as the nation’s first Littoral Combat Ship is commissioned,” said Dan Schultz, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Integrated Defense Technologies line of business. “I am extremely proud of all the men and women who worked tirelessly to bring USS Freedom to the fleet.”

In 2004, the Navy awarded a contract to the Lockheed Martin team to develop the first LCS. Construction began in February 2005 and USS Freedom was christened and launched in September 2006. The ship successfully completed sea trials in August 2008, achieving results superior to most first-of-class ships, and was delivered to the Navy in September 2008. This represents less than half the time typically required to design, build, launch and deliver a first-in-class combatant. Now formally commissioned, USS Freedom will transit out of the Great Lakes to Norfolk, VA and will eventually be homeported in San Diego, CA.

The Lockheed Martin-led LCS industry team includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox, ship builders Marinette Marine Corporation, a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, Inc. (MTW:The Manitowoc Company, Inc MTW 9.03, +0.33, +3.8%) , and Bollinger Shipyards, as well as best-of-industry domestic and international teammates to provide a flexible, low-risk warfighting solution.
Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

For additional information and pictures, visit our website:
http://www.lmlcsteam.com

Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

MOSCOW (AP) — An accident aboard a nuclear-powered Russian navy submarine doing a test run in the Pacific Ocean killed more than 20 people Sunday, the navy said.

The nuclear reactor aboard the submarine was operating normally and radiation levels were normal, navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said.

The accident occurred when a fire-extinguishing system went into operation in error aboard the submarine, Dygalo said. He said the dead included sailors and shipbuilders.

The submarine was heading back to shore on its own power, and 21 people injured in the accident were evacuated to a ship that was escorting the sub.

Russia’s navy has been plagued by deadly accidents, including the explosions that sank the nuclear-powered submarine Kursk in 2000, killing all 118 seamen aboard.

Sunday’s accident came as the Kremlin seeks to restore Russia’s naval reputation. A naval squadron is headed to Venezuela for joint exercises this month in a show of force near U.S. shores.

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article-1:
At least 20 die in accident on Russian nuclear sub

Sat Nov 8, 2008 9:08pm EST

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - More than 20 people were killed and another 21 injured in an accident aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean, the navy said on Sunday, in the worst submarine disaster since the Kursk sank eight years ago.

A Russian naval spokesman said 208 people were aboard the submarine when an accident involving the activation of a fire extinguishing system occurred during sea trials. He said the nuclear reactor was intact and radiation levels were normal.

But the death toll makes it the worst mishap for the accident-prone Russian navy since the Kursk nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea in 2000 with the loss of all 118 sailors.

“More than 20 people were killed on a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean during routine testing as a result of the unsanctioned functioning of the fire extinguishing systems,” the navy spokesman, Igor Dygalo, said by telephone.

“The reactor section (of the submarine) is working properly,” he said. “The radiation levels on the ship are normal.”

Dygalo did not give the name or class of the submarine or specify where it was located. Some of those killed were from a shipbuilding company, he added. He said a Russian destroyer was taking the injured to the Far East coast.

President Dmitry Medvedev has been informed about the accident, the Kremlin press service said.

Former Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who had been president for just a few months at the time of the Kursk disaster, was criticized at home for his slow reaction to that incident.

Russia’s navy has suffered a string of fatal accidents, despite sharp increases in funding and Kremlin attempts to use its largely Soviet-era fleet to project an image of strength abroad and at home.

SUMBARINE TESTING

Russia’s navy said a Russian destroyer, the Admiral Tributs, was providing assistance and taking some of the injured crew from the submarine to port.

Dygalo did not say where the ships were but the Tributs is normally based at Vladivostok, Russia’s main Far Eastern naval port. State-owned RIA news agency said it would take about 10 hours for the destroyer to reach the coast.

The agency quoted a source in the Amur Shipbuilding Enterprise as saying the accident occurred aboard the Nerpa, a Project 971 Shchuka-B attack submarine, known inside NATO as an Akula-class submarine.

The Nerpa — which has been modernized in recent years — embarked on trials on the open seas late last month, according to local media. Construction of the Nerpa was started in 1991 but funding dried up in the chaos of the 1990s.

RIA quoted a highly placed official in the Pacific Fleet as saying the accident happened in the bow of the submarine, which was making its way back to the coast.

In August 2005, seven Russian sailors were freed with help from a British rescue crew after three days trapped inside an AS-28 mini-submarine 600 feet down in the Pacific with dwindling air supplies.

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article-2:
More than 20 killed in Russian nuclear sub accident: spokesman

09/11/2008 06h04

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, (AFP) - More than 20 people were killed and another 20 injured when a fire extinguishing system was inadvertently activated aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean, the Russian navy said Sunday.

“During sea trials of a nuclear-powered submarine of the Pacific Fleet the firefighting system went off unsanctioned, killing over 20 people, including servicemen and workers,” said Captain Igor Dygalo, the navy’s spokesman.

The accident did not apparently affect the submarine’s nuclear reactor. “The submarine is not damaged, its reactor works as normal, and background radiation levels are normal,” Dygalo stated.

Twenty-one people with varying degrees of injuries were evacuated from the submarine and taken to Vladivostok on board the destroyer Admiral Tributs, officials said.

“The ship is off the city’s coast and soon the injured will be brought to land, where they will be provided professional aid,” a source in the Pacific Fleet’s hospital told AFP.

A total of 208 people were aboard the submarine when the accident happened, but of those only 81 were servicemen while the others were naval technicians and specialists.

Dygalo told AFP that President Dmitry Medvedev was being kept informed about the situation by Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and had already ordered a “full and meticulous” investigation of the incident.

The incident recalled the 2000 Kursk disaster, when 118 crewmen died when their nuclear submarine sank after an onboard explosion in the Barents Sea.

The Kremlin was harshly criticised at home and abroad for its sluggish and secretive response to the Kursk disaster, but seemed to be moving quickly to avoid a repetition this time.

Dygalo said Medvedev had also ordered the defence ministry to provide “all possible aid and support to the victims’ families.”

The submarine was carrying out sea trials when the accident occurred and the stricken vessel was ordered to put in to a port on Russia’s far east coast temporarily, he added.

The spokesman did not say exactly where the incident occurred or specify which port the submarine would return to.

Fire suppression systems on submarines are relatively sophisticated and may rely on chemical liquids. It was unclear however how the accidental activation of the system on the Russian sub resulted in the deaths and injuries.

According to a military expert quoted by Russian agencies, the malfunction could be due to “technical errors” by the personnel.

The submarine, accompanied by a rescue ship, the Sayani, was steaming towards a Russian Pacific Ocean port for temporary basing, Dygalo said.

“The sub is due to arrive at its destination Sunday at midday Moscow time (0900 GMT), but much will depend on weather conditions,” a high-ranking Pacific Fleet source was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

Military prosecutors in the Pacific Fleet launched an investigation of the incident.

The name and type of the submarine was not released.

However, a source in the Amur shipyard’s administration named the submarine as the K-152 Nerpa, a nuclear-powered sub of the Project 971 Shchuka-B type, or Akula-class by NATO classification, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

In October officials from the Amur shipyard reported the launch of sea trials for the 8,140-tonne Nerpa, which was put into production in 1991.

According to the source quoted by RIA Novosti, the Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Russian part of the Japanese Sea, with senior engineers and the shipyard’s technicians on board as well as the military.

The Nerpa was due to be leased to the Indian navy, with New Delhi reportedly paying two billion dollars for the lease of two Akula-class submarines, with an option of buying them when the lease run out.

Since the Kursk disaster in August 2000, Russia has seen a string of accidents and mishaps with its naval submarines.

Nine sailors died aboard a K-159 submarine when it sank in the Barents Sea in August 2003 while being towed to port for decommissioning. Only one of the seamen on board was rescued alive.

In 2005, a mini-submarine of the Pacific Fleet got snared in a fishing net, leaving the crew trapped underwater with dwindling oxygen supplies.

A British rescue team using a high-tech mini-submarine managed to extract the Russian vessel and there was no loss of life.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

The Stupid Shall Be Punished

Vigilis covered this earlier, but I wanted to jump into the discussion on rumors the Royal Navy is considering designing their replacement for the Vanguard-class SSBNs such that they can accomodate mixed gender crews. From this Daily Mail article:

The next generation of Britain’s nuclear submarines are being designed to carry female sailors as the Ministry of Defence is considering scrapping a long-standing ban on women submariners.

Defence officials confirmed that the current rules barring the Royal Navy’s 3,700 female sailors from serving in the submarine branch are ‘under review’, and said design work on a £20billion new fleet of nuclear-missile submarines was taking into account ‘the possibility of women serving on submarines in the future.’

The Navy is facing a shortage of suitably-qualified engineers willing to serve for months at a time beneath the waves, and officials believe legal challenges based on gender equality laws could eventually make the current policy untenable, forcing them to adopt mixed crews.

Other nations have already accepted women into submarining, and at least for the Aussies, it looks like this hasn’t fixed their “manning” shortages. Although a civilian advisory panel at the end of the Clinton Administration recommended women be allowed on U.S. submarines, the idea really hasn’t gotten anywhere in the last 8 years; it’s still enough of an outrageous idea to be a source of the New York Times April Fool’s joke this year. (OK, so it was really the guys from SubSim who came up with that, but it’s still not a mainstream idea.) The Brits are at least smart enough to recognize that a submarine would have to be designed from the ground up to accommodate women. I wrote earlier about the problems you’d have if you attempt to put women on a submarine that’s not designed for them:

The biggest problem I see is that either you’d have men and women in much closer quarters that you do on surface ships, or you’d end up with empty racks in the “female only” berthing areas when people stay behind… not very good for morale when most of the crew is hot-racking. Plus, which head becomes the female head? And do you need to install an extra head in the goat locker and wardroom areas? Or just have a sign you put up depending on the gender of the occupant? (That’s what we did when we had female riders — except for middie ops, when boats will turn one head over to them for the night.)
Plus, we all know what “feminine products” would do to the san pump…

We all know that sometime this century the U.S. will put women on submarines; hopefully, though, it’ll be done the right way, and not rushed into half-assed. The question of the day is: Do you think the new Administration will try to rush half-assed into putting women on submarines?

posted by Bubblehead at 10:24 PM

DATE:03/11/08
SOURCE: Flight International

By Luca Peruzzi
Flight Global

To cope with new challenges from conventional and asymmetrical threats and provide a more flexible and capable organic capability, the Italian fleet air arm is involved in a recapitalisation programme that will see legacy rotary- and fixed-wing assets replaced with new-generation platforms including Agusta­Westland AW101 and NH Industries NH90 helicopters, and in the mid-term, Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning IIs.

Meanwhile, navy fleet power projection capabilities are being significantly enhanced with the delivery in 2008 and entry into service next year of the Cavour aircraft carrier.

Although there was a 20% reduction in flying hours from 2004 to 2007, shrewd employment of available resources and accurate risk management has allowed the fleet air arm to continue to satisfy operational tasks, including advance training, in addition to international, NATO and European Union operational missions such as its deployment of helicopters in Afghanistan or on board vessels in the waters around the Horn of Africa.

Featuring one of the lowest ratios of personnel to aircraft (7:1) in the NATO naval aviation community, Italy’s fleet air arm has an inventory of around 90 rotary- and fixed-wing assets, with 200 pilots distributed between three air stations and six flying squadrons, including one with STOVL fighters. Introduced progressively into service since 2001, the AW101 fleet stands at 20 helicopters, with eight in anti-submarine/anti-surface (ASW/ASuW) configuration, four in helicopter early warning (HEW) configuration and eight configured asamphibious support helicopters (ASH).

Two additional AW101 ASW/ASuWs are to be received in 2009, with a requirement for two more. These will replace the Sikorsky SH-3D, which will be retired by next year, with the AW101 ASW/ASuW helicopters to be relocated from Luni in northern Italy to Catania in Sicily. The type will also later replace six combat search and rescue-configured SH-3Ds, equipped with machine guns and ballistic protection for amphibious operations.

“The entry into service of the AW101, equipped with HELRAS low-frequency active dipping sonar, has revolutionised ASW tactics and procedures, allowing one helicopter to cover maritime areas of dimensions inconceivable until a few years ago,” says Rear Adm Paolo Treu, head of the Italian fleet air arm.The navy is investing heavily in the development of tactics and procedures for bi-static and multi-static use of the HELRAS sonar.

In adverse sea conditions, the HELRAS-equipped AW101s achieved interesting results in an ASW-oriented Spontex exercise, which is held biannually in the Biscaglia Gulf, successfully challenging other Thales Underwater Systems Flash-mounted ASW helicopters. Integration activities with the MBDA Marte Mk2/S anti-ship missile system were conducted in 2008, and the entire fleet retrofit will be completed by September 2009.

The air arm has completed the final evaluation phase of Selex Galileo HEW-784 radar mounted on the AW101 HEW. Integration of inverse synthetic aperture radar with the HEW-784 is to start shortlyfor completion in 2012.

FLYING HOURS

The eight AW101 ASH variants have already logged around 1,800 flying hours (including 1,000 during NATO and national exercises) supporting both conventional and special forces. Each capable of carrying up to 25 soldiers, 11 litters or a light vehicle, the four aircraft in the second batch will be equipped with a more sophisticated mission suite, including digital maps, Selex new-generation identification friend-or-foe satellite communications radios, FLIR Systems Star Safire II electro-optical/infrared, a pilot-downed positioning system, and a defensive aid subsystem with Elettronica radar warning receivers, an EADS/Selex missile warning system, a Selex laser warning system, and a chaffs/flares intelligent dispenser suite. An ASH gunship configuration is being finalised.

The 30 or so ASW/ASuW and six heli-assault dedicated Agusta/Bell AB212s, will progressively be replaced by the NH90, to be acquired in 46 platforms for ASW/AsuW missions and 10 in a TTH navalised version for amphibious and special forces support duties. “We expect to receive the first ASW/ASuW fully equipped helicopter, including final operational mission suite, by 2011. To compensate for programme delivery delays, a number of AB212s will undergo a life-extension programme that will keep them in service until 2016, when the NH90 phase-in and operational certification will be completed,” Treu says.

The new NH90 in the ASW/ASuW and ASH versions will represent a major technological leap forward from the legacy AB212s, employing a fly-by-wire flight control system and an integrated mission system including a surface search radar, electronic support measures and an AW101 HELRAS dipping sonar equipped with a Selex Galileo-provided common acoustics processor used also for embarked acoustic buoys.

In addition to the three Piaggio P180 Maritime aircraft for surveillance and transport duties, the fixed-wing fleet is composed of 15 Boeing/Alenia Aeronautica AV-8B Harrier II Plus and two TAV-8B operational conversion aircraft. Based at Grottaglie air station near Taranto, the aircraft have air-to-air AMRAAM and Sidewinder missiles and can carry a range of air-to-ground armaments, including non-guided or guided laser munitions, thanks to a Rafael/Northrop Grumman Litening II targeting pod. The fleet air arm will also receive 227kg (500lb) JDAM munitions.

“These aircraft will be progressively replaced by 22 Joint Strike Fighters in the STOVL version,” says Treu.”The delivery schedule will begin in 2014 and will see two to three aircraft a year until 2020. One of the programme objectives is interoperability with other partners, maintaining the well-structured connection with the US Marine Corps.”

The F-35Bs will be carried on the new 27,500t Cavour aircraft carrier built by Fincantieri and fitted out with a combat system mostly provided by Finmeccanica companies. The carrier is equipped with a 6,800m2 (73,200ft2) flight deck, two 30t aircraft elevators anda 12° ski-jump ramp to port for STOVL aircraft operations.

It has landing slots for six AW101-type helicopters, plus eight parking slots (four on each side of the island structure). The Cavour’s hangar, meanwhile, has room for 12 AW101-type helicopters or eight AV-8B Harrier II Plus or F-35B Lightning IIs.

The Italian navy’s future flagship will be able to carry a combined air group of 20 current and future fleet air arm aircraft and helicopters and accommodate 1,205 personnel.

In addition to an extensive command and control suite, the ship’s combat management system also includes a comprehensive sensors, electronics and weapon system package, including RF and IR surveillance sensors, electronic support measures and a multifunction Selex Sistemi Integrati Empar radar for 3D detection, multiple target tracking and missile guidance for 48 vertically launched Eurosam SAAM-IT surface-to-air missile system, plus Oto Melara self-defence guns.

The Canadian Press
1 day ago

OTTAWA — Three large pieces of Canadian military history are bound for the scrapyard after Public Works Canada called Friday for companies to haul away and break up the navy’s three remaining Oberon-class submarines.

The boats, constructed in the 1960s, were decommissioned in the late 1990s as newer Victoria-class submarines were introduced.

The former head of the Canadian navy, retired vice-admiral Bruce McLean, said it’s a nostalgic time for the thousands of sailors who crewed the cramped, damp quarters of the boats over 30 years.

“There’s a certain bond between a ship and an individual, particularly in a submarine when you’re at five or 600 feet underneath the water,” said McLean, who spent 11 years serving in and commanding submarines.

“There’s quite a significant attachment and for those of us that served in submarines, you’re always a submariner; no matter what else you do.”

There is a definite misty-eyed wistfulness among the old salts for the diesel-electric boats that prowled the icy waters of the North Atlantic and the Pacific at the height of the Cold War.

Unlike today’s automated, computer screen-driven submarines, the Oberon-class - based on the Germans’ Second World War U-boat design - was powered by hydraulics and human sweat.

“Everything was turned by hand, opened by hand, shut by hand whereas, in modern submarines, there’s basically a flick of the switch and something happens,” said McLean, who quickly added that he doesn’t bemoan progress.

“You really had to know your boat. It was different, sort of like getting right under the hood and knowing your car.”

The Defence Department announced a few years ago that it intended to sell the boats for scrap and hoped to get about $50,000 apiece for them.

Maritime engineers said at the time that the submarines, which have been tied up at a jetty in Halifax, have deteriorated too much even to be used as museum pieces.

Despite that a Quebec naval museum, the Musee de la Mer de Pointe-au-Pere in Rimouski, Que., bought the former HMCS Onondaga from the federal government for $4, plus tax.

But there have been no takers for Okanagan and Ojibwa, as well as Olympus, a former training ship.

McLean, who served as commanding officer of Okanagan, said the British-built Oberon-class not only created a bond for the sailors that served aboard them, but among Commonwealth countries.

The Royal Navy and the Royal Austrailan Navy sailed the same class of submarines.

Brazil and Chile also purchased Oberons, but McLean said the exchanges that happened between Commonwealth navies created a strong sense of camaradarie.

“We not only had individual exchanges, but we had boat exchanges where Royal Navy submarines used to come to Canada and work for the 1st Canadian Submarine Squadron,” said McLean, who at one point commanded an Austrailan boat.

“Those exchanges continue today, but not with that perfect one-to-one relationship.”

The British replaced their Oberons years ago with four Upholder-class boats, which were eventually sold to Canada and renamed the Victoria class.

A series of glitches and a fatal fire aboard one of the used boats drastically delayed their introduction to the Canadian navy.

The Australians have also moved on with a different type of boat.

The Public Works tender call stipulated the submarines were to be “removed intact” and disposed of at a Canadian facility.

There is no indication how much it will cost, but the chosen contractor will have eight weeks to complete the removal once the deal is signed.

Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved

Sandeep Unnithan
New Delhi, November 1, 2008
India Today

Batches of Indian naval personnel are to shortly leave for the Russia’s far eastern port of Vladivostok to train on board the Chakra, (formerly the Nerpa) a Russian Akula-2 nuclear powered attack submarine which is to be transferred to India on a 10-year lease next year.

The Nerpa was launched at the Komsomolsk on-Amur shipyard in June this year after which she began harbour trials. Earlier this week, the shipyard announced that the submarine had been shifted out of the shipyard to a maintenance facility in the Primorye territory near Vladivostok for trials in the Sea of Japan.

The 12,000 tonne submarine, said to be the quietest and deadliest of Russia’s attack submarines, has a crew of 100 personnel is currently being operated by the Russian Navy.

The Indian crew, which has already been trained at a facility in Sosnovy Bor and later at the School of Advanced Undersea Warfare in Visakhapatnam, is to board the submarine in small batches based on their specializations.

The final acceptance team is slated to leave for Russia in March next year and the submarine is to be handed over to the Indian Navy in July for a likely commissioning date of August 15, 2009.

Both India and Russia have publicly denied plans to lease the submarine. Under the secret lease signed in January 2004, India agreed to pay $ 650 million which would go into completing the unfinished hull of the submarine laid down by the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Nerpa is being leased for 10 years to rapidly train personnel to man the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) a series of three indigenously built nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).

The first ATV has been completed and assigned a yet undisclosed name. The submarine is to be launched at the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC) in Visakhapatnam on January 26 next year to begin harbour trials.