Where is Russia's navy

The face of Russia's navy near future - for example, sample 2015, when will the current operating state armaments program - already some clear specialists. Enough to see which vessels are being built for the Navy now, because only they will go to the fleet in the next five years. Day of the Navy "Power" has decided to give readers the opportunity.

Navy did not accidentally considered one of the most conservative and inertial military spheres. Already from the very process of shipbuilding anything else we should not wait: the design, and construction lasts for years and decades. Therefore, it is safe to say that is exactly what is now on the stocks, will be the main component of Russia's Navy combat-ready by 2015. For now, the average age of existing ships is already more than 20 years, ie after 5-10 years, all these veterans will be little in the can.

However, the same facts and figures of modern Russia's shipbuilding reality can be interpreted in exactly the opposite. For example, you could write: "It is similar to the delivery of the submarine fleet headaches of various types. Tangible completion strike capability of the Navy will project 955 submarine missile carrier Yuri Dolgoruky, 885 multipurpose nuclear submarine Severodvinsk with cruise missiles" Onyx "and silent diesel Lada "677-year project.

Or you may like this: "It is similar to the delivery of the submarine fleet headaches of various types. But it is unclear what to do with the replenishment of: Project 955 for the missile is not ready to launch the Bulava, because of underfunding may postpone planned for 2011 commissioning of the project 885 ( and so under construction for 16 years), the Lada is still not working sonar system and the main power plant. "

You can rejoice that the 16 shipyards are building for the entire 38 Navy ships, submarines, boats and vessels of 25 different projects, developed 11 design bureaus. This will provide support at the appropriate level of design and production school and will maintain a balance between different classes of ships within the fleet.

To this we can reply that nowhere in the world is such a "zoo". It is unclear as to ensure the repair and supply spare parts for such a variety of types of craft. Already, for example, the Navy of Russia is just eight patrol - but seven different projects! And soon it should add to the eighth - Frigate project 22350. And this despite the fact that throughout the world are building as small as possible типажом, but most large batches - in order to reduce the cost of construction and operation.

Around this debate are the admirals with independent experts, and it can carry on indefinitely. And both sides are right. But there are things to argue about which is difficult. For example, that the main threat to Russia's Navy is not coming from the Pentagon or the British Admiralty. The main threat lies in the purely plain areas - financial. Even at the peak of oil prices construction and laying ships were financed with tangible disruptions, and with the onset of the crisis further stalled. Now the money is spent not on the tab of new ships, and on the completion of already laid. So admirals, daydreaming about marine aircraft complexes (abbreviated - the MAC, so now are called carriers of the future), yet have to deal with the completion of most other MAC - both in the Soviet period designated small artillery ships. As is known, the rank below the ships do not exist.

"Indian Brahmos Thinks"

The above question will remain but the bitter fact that will remain forever is that Indian Navy's new Scorpene class submarines will NEVER fire Brahmos anti-ship/land attack cruise missiles in its current form

 

  

Will the above reality drop some common sense into the "expert" brains??...well lets wait & watch.

Scorpene tangled in govt web

An air of resignation hangs over the East Yard, a giant workshop shed in Mumbai’s Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL), where six Scorpene submarines are to be fabricated for the Indian Navy. Two years ago, when Business Standard visited this facility, it hummed with activity as welders assembled the hull of the first Scorpene, which was to join the Indian Navy in 2012.

Scorpene cutaway (image : Naval)

 

Scorpene specification (image : The New Strait Times)

Since then, rumours of delay, by as much as two years, have swirled around Project 75, under which the Scorpenes have been acquired. Business Standard has learnt that work on the first Scorpene has ground to a halt, and it is unlikely to be ready before 2015.

Most disquietingly, the delay is due to a contracting blunder, stemming from the Ministry of Defence’s propagation of a myth that significant parts of the submarine were being built with Indian components.

Scorpene on construction (photo : Soerenkern)

This led the defence ministry to create a special category called Mazagaon Procured Materials, or MPM. Of the total project cost of Rs 18,798 crore, Rs 2,700 crore (¤400 million) were set aside for MDL to contract directly for submarine materials. But the impression created, by giving MDL a budget for locally procuring materials and systems from multiple vendors, was false. The bulk of MPM budget, as the defence ministry knew, would go straight to a single vendor — French company Armaris, with whom India signed the Scorpene contract. This would pay for critical submarine systems, including the engine, the generators and special submarine steels.

There was no question of competitive bidding for these items.

Since they affected crucial aspects of Scorpene’s performance, such as noise levels, they had to be bought from the original vendor, Armaris, for performance guarantees to be valid.

It is not clear why the defence ministry left these crucial Scorpene systems unpriced. What is clear is that French company DCNS, which took over Armaris in 2007, is now demanding close to Rs 4,700 crore (¤700 million) for these items, almost twice of what was budgeted.

Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju told Business Standard that DCNS based its higher demand on cost inflation since the contract was signed in October 2005. The MoD asked the French government to intercede with DCNS, but Paris is unwilling to help.

“We expect the French government to play a role to ensure it (the MPM items) is not priced abnormally high.

We understand their need to make profit, but the price should not be abnormally high. We feel the French government is shirking its responsibility,” said Raju.

The MoD pleaded its case with a number of French officials, but in vain. “I visited Paris (in June 09) and I had a meeting with DCNS. They assured us they would hold our hand, but we are not getting that comfort level. I projected [the case] to the French defence minister as well. [In November] We had a senior French MoD bureaucrat… come [to Delhi] and I reflected it to him as well,” said Raju.

The MoD blamed DCNS’ takeover of Armaris for further complicating the negotiations. But that does not answer why a contract that took nine years to finalise failed to fix the price for materials worth Rs 2,700 crore.

Senior naval officers familiar with the negotiations said, “The inclusion of so many crucial systems in the MPM package — systems that everyone knew had to be bought from Armaris/DCNS — was a grave contracting mistake. This was done to give the impression of greater indigenisation… since these would apparently be items that MDL was procuring. But this scheme has backfired badly.”

Naval planners are struggling to deal with a situation where the induction of Scorpene submarines remains a long way off. Only after the MoD and DCNS agree on a price that production would begin in France of the engines, generators and other systems that are included in MPM category. Technicians working on Project 75 estimate that, once a price is fixed and a contract signed, it will be 33-36 months before the items are delivered to MDL and fitted on the first Scorpene. Thereafter, the painstaking process of outfitting the rest of the vessel, fitting weapons and sensors and carrying out lengthy trials would begin before handing over the submarine to the Navy.

But work at East Yard has not entirely stopped. Having completed the first hull, MDL is going ahead with fabricating the second and the third. Officials involved in Project 75 say this will allow submarines to be delivered at nine-month intervals, rather than the planned 12 months.

Until MPM contract is signed, and the systems delivered, MDL’s East Yard will not be producing submarines, but 200-foot metal tubes for a project that began two decades ago, and gradually became a symbol of ineffective defence planning.(Original News)

Russia - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inspects diesel electric submarine construction shops at the Admiralty Shipyards in St Petersburg

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Admiralty Shipyards’ workshop building diesel-and-electric-powered submarines in St. Petersburg on Friday.

Shipyards Director General Vladimir Alexandrov informed Putin about progress in the construction of a submarine of Project 677. “Submarines of the same project have been built, and the first of them is at seas,” he said.

  

 

Diesel-and-electric-powered submarines of the new generation are more maneuverable, Alexandrov said. “Such submarines submerge to the depth of 300 meters,” he said.

 He called for enlarging financing of the submarine project and establishing the precise number of submarines the Russian Black Sea Fleet may need with due account of prospective basing problems. (Original News)

Only Pic "Surcouf Class"

In the 1930's the French built this

 Surcouf in dry dock for repairs, September 1, 1941.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference Link 

What lies beneath: Nazi wreck off Fujairah

Deep-sea mission off Fujairah shores reveals stunning new details behind mystery sinking of World War II Nazi submarine

The two-metre gash near the propellers confirms reports that a British aircraft scored a direct strike on th e submarine

The Gulf of Oman's pithy-black deeps have finally surrendered secrets of the mystery sinking of Nazi submarine U-533 during the Second World War, XPRESS has learnt.

Several years after the discovery of the U-boat on the seabed 108 metres below by Dubai shipwreck hunter and diver William Leeman, a new deep-sea mission in October to the U-boat's final resting place has confirmed a fatal blast hole was ripped into her rear port side, dooming the twin-screwed 76.8-metre-long vessel and 52 crew members to a watery grave.

Clear waters

Capitalising on clear waters and armed with electric underwater scooters and high-powered spotlights, Leeman and his team of recreational divers discovered the two-metre gash near her propellers, confirming reports by RAF (Royal Air Force) Squadron 244 that a British light bomber aircraft had scored a direct strike on the submarine on October 16, 1943.

"This is where she was hit by a depth charge by a British Blenheim that struck from the air," said Leeman, 52, an electrical engineer. "During our last dive, we could see the jagged edges of the hole where she was blown up. That was the moment of truth - the ship then sank to the bottom in a forward motion marking the epic death of 52 German mariners."

Lone survivor

Only one U-533 survivor somehow scrambled to safety from the submarine. Records show mechanic Gunther Schmidt bobbed in heavy seas for more than a day after the sinking and made it to shore only to be taken prisoner, Leeman said.

"How the survivor got out, we can't say," he added.

Discovery of the fatal laceration across the sub's double-hull is an undeniable last link in a chain of clues that Leeman says can now close the book on the demise of the long-range U-boat off Fujairah shores.

"A lot of people have told me I don't have proof that the ship we found is the U-533. If you look at the British and German military records, they confirm this is the submarine that sank. The British recorded a direct hit on the sub, we have a German survivor, and we have dived it."

After more than 10 dives in recent years with seven recreational members of the Desert Sports Diving Club of Dubai, often in poor conditions, Leeman said October's visit led to unbelievable visibility and afforded virtually unobstructed views of the U-533.

"We could see the outline of the submarine from 50 metres," Leeman said. "It was so clear, we didn't even need torches. I could see the snorkel, the gun, the conning tower. It was breathtaking."

After a sweep of the sub's length and breadth, Leeman confirmed that her "back wasn't broken" from the rapid descent and violent collision with the ocean floor. The intact U-boat, however, did slide nose-first into the sandy bottom, leaving her bow partially submerged and stern and propeller exposed.

Given the limited time available and expertise needed to dive at such depths, Leeman said no attempts had been made to enter the submarine's hold, but said all of the boat's contents are presumed to be intact.

In a strange twist, in 1993 the sub's identical sister-ship, U-534, was pulled out at a cost of Dh17.9 million ($4.8 million) from waters between Denmark and Sweden, partially restored, and is now on permanent exhibition near Liverpool, UK.

Long regarded by historians as the last U-boat to leave Germany, the U-534 was said to have evacuated members of the German elite.

Meanwhile, Leeman hasn't ruled out organising a future memorial service at the U-533 wreck site off Fujairah that will hopefully include relatives of the 52 lost U-boat crew members whose bodies remain on the Gulf of Oman seabed to this day.

Leeman's next hunt - lost Italian sub

 In the new year, William Leeman and team will embark on a new deep-sea expedition in search of the Galvan, a sunken Italian wartime submarine now resting in very deep water on the ocean floor not far from the Straits of Hormuz.

"No one has laid eyes on the Galvan since she went down decades ago and we want to be the first to locate and confirm her resting place on the bottom," Leeman said.

"I've got the actual position where it sank, so we want to go out there and be the first to confirm the site," he said.

Historical wartime records chronicling the patrols of the Italian submarine are difficult to come by, Leeman said, making her physical discovery even more precious to historians.

The year the u-boat was sunk in the gulf of oman
U-533 is hit!

"U-533 was on the surface making eight knots when first seen. The pilot lost height and manoeuvred his aircraft to such a position that he was able to make a head-on attack. The U-boat quickly submerged but 10 feet of the stern was still showing as the Bisley made its approach. Four depth charges were dropped, bow to stern, and two were seen to fall in the swirl. The Bisley circled the area and after five minutes the crew were rewarded by the sight of oil rising to the surface. As the oil patch increased, air bubbles and two or three white objects were seen. The pilot also thought he saw a survivor."

SOURCE: 244 Squadron Newsletter No 33

U-533's mission in Arabia

Launched on September 11, 1942, the U-533 was attacked several times by British and American navy planes during its first two patrols and 42 days of manoeuvres, before it started its third and final patrol to the Middle East where it roamed the Gulf for 104 days.

According to German records, the U-533 was one of five U-boats sent from Europe in mid-1943 to the Arabian Sea region where the submarine group reportedly sank six enemy ships estimated at 33,800 tonnes.

The U-533 was one of 87 IXC/40 type vessels. However, the design was known for its less agile diving controls under emergency conditions, making it more vulnerable to air attack.

 Source

A team of eight divers first discovered u-boat U-533 by using highly sophisticated deepwater diving equipment and mixed breathing apparatus

Vietnam aims to counter China with sub deal: analysts

Vietnam's major arms deal with Russia, reported to involve the purchase of six submarines, aims to bolster claims against China over potentially resource-rich islands in the South China Sea, analysts say.

Chinese People's Liberation Army

While much of Vietnam's military hardware is antiquated, it has decided to devote substantial resources to developing an underwater fleet as concerns mount over tensions with its giant neighbour over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, they say.

"I think their primary rationale is to counteract the military build-up that the Chinese have had in the South China Sea," said Richard Bitzinger, a regional defence analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Vietnam and Russia signed the long-planned deal on Tuesday during a visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Moscow.

Details were not released but Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Vietnam had agreed to buy six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines for about two billion dollars.

A Russian Navy officer stands on duty in a Kilo-class submarine

Vietnam's move is not surprising "given the concerns they have about the maritime environment, particularly in the South China Sea," said Peter Abigail, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

In the latest incident, Vietnam on Tuesday delivered a diplomatic note to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi demanding China return two fishing boats and equipment seized from Vietnamese fishermen in waters around the Paracels.

Vietnam has previously reported similar cases, and fishermen earlier this year said they were seeing an increasing number of armed Chinese patrol ships in disputed waters.

Taiwan also claims the Paracels -- which China occupies -- while the Spratlys are claimed in full or part by China and Vietnam as well as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Graphic on the disputed Spratly islands

The sovereignty row has gone on for years. In 1988 Vietnam and China fought a brief naval battle near one of the Spratly reefs. More than 50 Vietnamese sailors died.

Two years ago a Chinese naval vessel fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Spratlys, killing one sailor, reports said.

The archipelagos are considered strategic outposts with potentially vast oil and gas reserves, and rich fishing grounds.

Last week, Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnam's deputy minister of defence, called the maritime tensions "a matter of concern".

That was the most forthright assessment yet by a Vietnamese defence official on the issue, said Carl Thayer, a Vietnam specialist with the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Vinh said the issue would not lead to conflict because international law provides a basis for a resolution, and Vietnam's policy is to ensure a peaceful outcome.

But Vietnam, with a long coastline and offshore oil potential, has faced a "strategic vulnerability" which it is now trying to address, Thayer said.

In Moscow, Dung confirmed only that the arms deal included submarines along with aircraft and "military equipment".

The aircraft order involved 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 warplanes worth more than 500 million dollars, Russia's Vedomosti newspaper reported earlier this year.

The fighters are among the world's most advanced and could provide air cover for the surface fleet, which Vietnam is seeking to enhance with new patrol craft, analysts say.

"What they're mostly trying to do is beef up their presence," Bitzinger said.

Vietnam's submarines will help to at least give it a capability of defending its maritime interests, Thayer said.

China's modernising military has prompted concern in the United States. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said US military power in the Pacific could be undermined, and a Pentagon report said China's weaponry and aircraft could enable it to carry out extended operations into the South China Sea.

While Vietnam's prime minister was signing the deal with Russia on Tuesday, his defence minister was on a rare visit to Washington where he held talks with Gates.

A Chinese embassy official in Hanoi, when asked to comment on the submarine deal, said Vietnam, Russia, and other countries in the area "must think about peace, and peace in the South China Sea." (@AFP)

Michigan completes first SSGN deployment

USS Michigan

 

The guided-missile submarine Michigan returned Saturday to Bangor, Wash., having completed its maiden deployment as an SSGN.

The sub deployed Nov. 10, 2008. During the 13-month deployment, the blue and gold crews conducted numerous missions with Naval Special Warfare, experimented with unmanned aerial vehicles and completed several theater security cooperation engagements with Pacific Rim nations.

The crew will off-load the 100-plus cruise missiles and 40 tons of weapons and explosives Michigan carried on deployment, then go into a four-month major maintenance period and dry-docking at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Wash.

Michigan, which completed 67 strategic deterrent patrols as an SSBN, began conversion to SSGN in February 2004, and returned to service June 12, 2007. (Original News)

Russia Navy to continue work with Bulava missile - commander

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky believes it is impossible to refuse from the submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile Bulava, despite its recent unsuccessful tests, and impossible to replace it with another missile.

“We shall continue (to work with Bulava). Just think, how can it be replaced with any other,” the commander told Itar-Tass.

Answering a question if it is real to develop another missile instead of Bulava or to use instead of it the recently adopted for service in the RF Navy Sineva (RSM-54) strategic missile installed on the 667BDRM project nuclear-powered submarines of the Dolphin class (Delta 5 by NATO classification), Admiral Vysotsky said: “It’s impossible.”

The Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology is chiefly responsible for the Bulava missile’s design. Bulava carries the NATO reporting name SS-NX-30 and has been assigned the GRAU index 3M30. In international treaties, the common designation RSM-56 is used.

The Bulava design is based on the Topol M, but is both lighter and more sophisticated. The two missiles are expected to have comparable ranges, and similar CEP and warhead configurations. The Russian military developed Bulava to possess advanced defence capabilities making it resistant to missile-defence systems. Among its claimed abilities are evasive manoeuvring, mid-course countermeasures and decoys and a warhead fully shielded against both physical and Electromagnetic pulse damage. The Bulava is designed to be capable of surviving a nuclear blast at a minimum distance of 500 metres. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has claimed that Bulava could penetrate any potential anti-missile defence system.

The Bulava is planned to carry up to 6 MIRV warheads with a yield of 150 kT each. A full-capacity payload requires the forfeiture of all final stage countermeasures and of some shielding.

The decision on developing the Bulava missile was adopted in 1998 after three unsuccessful tests of the Bark missile of the Miass Construction Bureau named after Makeyev. The missile completed the first stage launch-tests at the end of 2004. It was originally scheduled for completion in late 2006, but is now not expected to enter service until 2009. The first boats to carry the Bulava will be the forthcoming Borei class submarines, which will be outfitted with sixteen missiles each. The first three boats of this class will be deployed in 2010 (a total of 5 were planned for 2015.) A land-based variant is also expected.

On 19 September 2008, a senior Navy official announced that Russia will adopt the new Bulava-M submarine-based ballistic missile for service with the Navy in 2009. However, as of July 2009 about half of the tests of the submarine-based Bulava-M have been failures.

The first test launches conducted on 27 September 2005, and 21 December 2005, from the Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine, were successful. The next three flight tests, on 7 September 2006, 25 October 2006, and 24 December 2006, ended in failures of the missile, the causes of which have not yet been revealed.

One successful test launch was conducted on 28 June 2007, although some reports claim problems with the missile’s warheads. On August 5, 2007 Russia made a decision to start serial production of the Bulava sea-launched ballistic missile. However, this did not happen, and after a longer period of reviewing the programme the decision was made to continue the flight testing.

On 25 July 2008, the Dmitry Donskoi went to sea to conduct tests of the new launching system.

Three more tests were conducted during 2008. The first was conducted on 18 September 2008 at 18:45 Moscow time. Some reports did however say that the test was not quite successful and that the bus failed to separate the warheads, or that the missile carried no warheads at all. The second was conducted on 28 November 2008 from a submerged Typhoon class submarine in the White Sea. First reports suggested that is was a successful test. The third and last test of 2008 was conducted at 03:00 GMT on 23 December 2008, but failed after the missile went off-course and self-destructed. On December 23, 2008 a senior Russian Navy official said that at least five more Bulava tests will be conducted during 2009.

In February 2009 it was announced that the flight tests would be resumed in March 2009. This was later delayed to June 2009. On July 15 a new test was conducted, ending in another failure when the missile’s first stage malfunctioned shortly after launch.

In the last days of October 2009 another launch reportedly failed when the missile did not leave the launch tube, according to an anonymous source. However, according to other sources, “the launch was tentatively scheduled for November 24 but has been postponed to the end of 2009.”

There was another test on December 9, 2009, which failed. The failure caused the 2009 Norwegian spiral anomaly, causing puzzlement and excitement there before the source was later identified. The Russian Defence Ministry reported that the first two stages of the rocket worked properly, but a technical failure in the third stage resulted in the launch failure.(@Itar-Tass)

USS New Mexico SSN 779

The USS NEW MEXICO has been christened and is now waterborne. The next construction event will be her commissioning as a United States Navy submarine. It is anticipated that NEW MEXICO commissioning will be held in March 2010 at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia.

As the host state, New Mexico has many responsibilities in making sure the commissioning is a world-class event. While the Navy supplies the submarine, crew, and pier, the rest is up to the state’s Commissioning Committee. The USS New Mexico Commissioning Committee is part of the Navy League’s New Mexico Council. It is this committee that led the five year statewide grassroots initiative to have the sixth Virginia-class submarine named NEW MEXICO. It has been involved in construction milestone ceremonies and crew support activities for the past four years.

The events that the Commissioning Committee is responsible for include a crew party, a luncheon for the Ship’s Sponsor, the CO’s Reception & Dinner, a breakfast for the platform briefing, and a post-commissioning reception. The expense for these events must be borne by the Commissioning Committee. In order to raise funds for these events the committee is seeking contributions. Contributions over a wide range are being sought. Go to Commissioning Contributions for more information.

Kapal Selam TNI-AL Diperbaiki di Korea Selatan

Sebuah kapal selam dari jajaran Komando Armada RI Kawasan Timur (Koarmatim) TNI Angkatan Laut (AL) diboyong ke Korea Selatan untuk diperbaiki.

Kepala Dinas Penerangan Koarmatim Letkol Laut (Kh) Toni Saiful di Surabaya, Selasa mengatakan Kapal Perang Republik Indonesia (KRI) Nanggala-402 itu diangkut ke Korea Selatan dengan menggunakan kapal Combi Dock III.

COMBI DOCK III

"Kapal itu berangkat ke Korea Selatan pekan lalu untuk perbaikan lengkap (`overhaul`)," katanya.

Menurut dia, KRI Nanggala-402 adalah kapal selam kedua dalam jenis kelas cakra setelah kapal selam generasi sebelumnya, KRI Cakra-401. KRI Nanggala termasuk dalam jajaran armada pemukul milik TNI-AL.

Sistem penggerak kapal itu adalah motor listrik Siemens jenis "low-speed" yang disalurkan langsung melalui sebuah "shaft" ke baling-baling kapal.

Total daya yang dikirim adalah 5.000 shp (shaft horse power), tenaga motor listrik dihasilkan oleh baterai-baterai besar yang beratnya sekitar 25 persen dari berat kapal.

Tenaga baterai diisi oleh generator yang dijalankan empat unit mesin diesel MTU jenis "supercharged".

Kapal selam KRI Nanggala-402 itu memiliki 14 buah senjata torpedo buatan AEG dan dapat diincar melalui periskop buatan Zeiss yang diletakan disamping "snorkel" buatan Maschinenbau Gabler.

KRI Nanggala memiliki berat selam 1,395 ton dengan dimensi 59,5 m x 6,3 m x 5,5 m yang digerakkan oleh mesin diesel elektrik, dan empat unit diesel satu shaft yang mampu menghasilkan 4,600 shp. Kapal tersebut diawaki 34 pelaut itu sanggup mendorong kapal hingga kecepatan 21,5 knot.

Sebagai bagian dari armada pemukul, KRI Nanggala merupakan kapal selam tipe 209/1300 yang banyak digunakan Angkatan Laut di dunia.

Sebelumnya, Koarmatim juga telah mengirimkan KRI Cakra-401 ke Korea Selatan untuk diperbaiki. Perangkat teknologinya yang sebelumnya buatan 1970-an kini telah diganti dengan perangkatan teknologi buatan 1990-an.

KRI Nanggala buatan Howaldtswerke, Kiel, Jerman Barat 1981 itu pernah terlibat dalam latihan gabungan TNI AL-US Navy (CARAT-8/02) yang diadakan pada 27 Mei-3 Juni 2002.

Selain itu kapal selam tersebut juga pernah terlibat dalam Latihan Operasi Laut Gabungan (Latopslagab) XV/04 di Samudera Hindia, tanggal 8 April hingga 2 Mei 2004. KRI Nanggala juga berhasil menenggelamkan eks-KRI Rakata, sebuah kapal tunda samudra buatan 1942 dengan torpedo SUT.(*) (Original News)

Vietnam says to buy Russian submarines, warplanes

Vietnam will buy submarines and warplanes from its former communist ally Russia, PM Tan Dung told a news conference in Moscow

Vietnam will buy submarines and warplanes from its former communist ally Russia, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday.

"Vietnam signed contracts for the purchases of submarines and planes from the Russian side," he said without elaborating after Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport signed an agreement to supply "special material" to the Vietnamese navy.

Interfax news agency quoted unnamed sources as saying Russia will sell Vietnam six diesel-electric submarines of "Project 636" type, more widely known under its NATO codename "Kilo", for a total of around $2 billion.

It said the submarines, known for their low noise and easy maintenance, would be built at a shipyard in St Petersburg which has undertaken to supply one submarine to Vietnam each year. A Russian government spokesman declined to comment.

Interfax quoted another unnamed Russian official as saying the two sides in Moscow had also discussed a deal for delivery of eight Sukhoi Su-30MK2 jet fighters to Vietnam.

The official told Interfax that Vietnam could buy a further 12 warplanes of this type, worth a total of some $600 million.

Vietnam is buying the weaponry at a time when disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea are increasing. Vietnam said it views the disputes with concern.

Vietnam, China and other countries have longstanding competing claims of sovereignty over parts of the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, including the potentially oil and gas-rich Spratly and Paracel island chains. (@Reuters)

 

Russia delays construction of 4th Borey-class nuclear sub

The start of construction of Russia's fourth Borey-class nuclear-powered submarine has been postponed from December to the first quarter of next year, a Defense Ministry official said on Tuesday.

Construction of the Project 955 Svyatitel Nikolai (St. Nicholas) ballistic-missile submarine was to begin on December 22 at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk.

The keel-laying ceremony was timed to coincide with the shipyard's 70th anniversary.

The official, who requested anonymity, stressed that the project was not being "frozen" but simply delayed for "organizational and technical reasons."

He did not specify the reasons.

Russia's newest Borey-class strategic nuclear submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky, which is expected to be armed with the new Bulava sea-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), is currently undergoing sea trials.

The vessel is 170 meters (580 feet) long, has a hull diameter of 13 meters (42 feet), a crew of 107, including 55 officers, a maximum depth of 450 meters (about 1,500 feet) and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles and torpedoes.
Construction costs totaled some $713 mln, including $280 mln for research and development.

Two other Borey-class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are in different stages of completion. Russia is planning to build eight of these subs by 2015.

Fourth-generation Borey-class nuclear-powered submarines are expected to constitute the core of Russia's modern strategic submarine fleet.

However, the submarine's putting into service could be delayed by a series of setbacks in the development of the troubled Bulava missile, which has officially suffered seven failures in 12 tests.

However, some analysts suggest that in reality the number of failures was considerably larger. For example, according to Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer, of the Bulava's 12 test launches, only one was quite successful.

The future development of the Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry officials, who have suggested that all efforts should be focused on the existing Sineva SLBM.

But the Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava and pledged to continue testing the missile until it is ready to be put in service with the Navy.

Borey-class submarines have been exclusively designed for the Bulava, and redesigning them for the Sineva would be a major setback for the Navy's plans. (Original News)

Brazilian president committed to refurbishment of Armed Forces

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reiterated his administration's commitment to the refurbishment of the country's Armed Forces on Monday.

In a ceremony presenting the country's new generals in Brasilia, the president said the army received a shipment of 34 combat vehicles last week, the first of many of this kind.

"Until 2030, there will be 3,000 combat vehicles," he said.

President Lula also commented on the purchase of 36 fighter jets, which have been under negotiation. According to Lula, the government's final decision on the jet procurement would be announced in early January next year. The jets involved in the negotiation are France's Rafale, the United States' F-18 and Sweden's Gripen NG.

Additionally, President Lula stressed the importance of the nuclear submarine to the country. The submarine will be built in Brazil under an agreement signed with France, which was announced earlier this year.
    
The president also said that Brazil's Armed Forces need to be recognized for their roles in programs such as the Minustah, the UN's mission in Haiti, in the fight against dengue fever in the northeastern state of Bahia, and in the support they provide to airmail services and hospitals in the Amazon rainforest region. (Original News)

Trident Program Intent On Avoiding Past Shipbuilding Pitfalls

As the Navy begins to design its next ballistic-missile submarine, officials caution that the service must avoid shipbuilding practices of the past that have led to cost overruns and delays.

 Although the first of the Navy’s fleet of ballistic missile submarines won’t retire for another 17 years, the time to start the design work is now, said Vice Adm. Jay Donnelly. “This is the right time for the Navy to commence efforts to replace the Ohio-class SSBN. It’s not too early,” said Donnelly, who is the commander of the Navy’s submarine force.

The oldest of the nuclear-powered submarines have reached the mid-point of their service lives and are expected to remain in service for at least another 20 years. Although the Defense Department already has approved funding for the new submarine, Navy officials are under pressure to get the program on the right track in order to ensure long-term support for the program.

“We must start this work in earnest now in order to avoid a gap” and to sustain the industrial base, said Rear Adm. Cecil Haney, director of the submarine warfare division in the office of the chief of naval operations.

It takes an average of 20 years to design and build a new-generation submarine. “Anything as complex as a submarine takes time to get it right, and then to allow us to utilize it for 42 years,” he said at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium in McLean, Va.
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RAF's Nimrod plane fleet withdrawn in defence cuts

A Nimrod MR2 surveillance plane

The RAF’s fleet of 11 Nimrod surveillance aircraft, one of which catastrophically burst into flames killing 14 servicemen in Afghanistan in 2006, is to be withdrawn from service by March next year as part of a range of defence cuts announced today.

Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, denied that the decision to axe the Nimrod Mark 2s 12 months earlier than planned had anything to do with the crash of Nimrod XV230, which was caused by leaking fuel, and he insisted it was still safe to fly. He told the Commons the decision was purely for financial reasons.

He said the decision was unconnected to the devastatingly critical official report published in October by Charles Haddon-Cave QC, who accused the Ministry of Defence of sacrificing safety to save money on maintenance of the Nimrod fleet. Several senior military officers were criticised in his report.

However, Mr Ainsworth also announced that the programme to introduce a replacement, the Nimrod MRA4, was going to be delayed. With the Mark 2s scrapped by the end of March, this will leave a capability gap, defence sources confirmed.

The first MRA4 - one of nine ordered - will be delivered to RAF Kinloss in Morayshire - home of the Nimrods - in February but it will not be operational for a long time because the crews will have to carry out lengthy flight training. “It’s a brand new aircraft, so it will take time,” a defence official said.

One of the principal roles of the Nimrod anti-submarine-warfare and surveillance aircraft is to protect Britain’s nuclear ballistic-missile submarine deterrent as it leaves Faslane on the Clyde for patrols in the North Atlantic and Antarctic.

The defence sources said that the protection of the deterrent would have to be left in the hands of the Royal Navy, using hunter-killer nuclear-powered submarines.

The decision on the Nimrod Mark 2s and its replacement will have a considerable impact on the personnel at RAF Kinloss. There are currently 1,600 RAF staff based there, and a proportion of them, especially the engineers, will be displaced to other bases to work on different aircraft.

RAF sources said there were no plans to make any of the Kinloss staff redundant.

Although Mr Ainsworth emphasised that the thrust of the “savings” would be to provide more funds - £900 million - for Afghanistan, the switching of resources will mean that the defence support services will suffer.

The RAF will lose one Harrier squadron and probably a Tornado GR4 squadron although the latter's axeing will be delayed until next year’s strategic defence review. Four of the five Harrier squadrons are based at RAF Cottesmore in Leicestershire, a legendary wartime airfield, and this location is now earmarked for closure. The remaining Harriers will be based at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire.

The MoD has not ruled out RAF redundancies, although initially cutbacks will be achieved through natural wastage and a slowing of recruiting. Future redundancies are likely to fall on the staff based at Cottesmore. The base opened in 1938 and early bombing raids were carried out against German troops advancing through Belgium and France.

Andrew Brookes, director of the Air League, warned today that the MoD was once again engaged in trying to save money in the short-term but could expect greater costs in the long term. He said axeing Harriers and Tornados would not save money because they were worth nothing, and delaying the Nimrod MRA4 would add to the spiralling costs of the programme.

This week, the National Audit Office took the MoD to task for making a short-term saving of £450 million on the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier project by delaying the building programme - only to find that in the long term the cost would rise by £674 million.

The extra money for the frontline will come out of the MoD’s budget instead of Treasury reserves which normally finance operations in Afghanistan, because the new orders for - among other things - more Reaper unmanned spy planes, better body armour and more night-vision goggles and improved communications for special forces are intended to be long-term capability improvements.

Mr Ainsworth also confirmed the planned purchase of 22 more Chinook helicopters and another C17 Globemaster transport aircraft for the RAF. However, the first ten Chinooks will not be ready for operational service for another three or four years, by which time the British combat mission in Afghanistan could be winding down.

Liam Fox, Shadow Defence Secretary, said: “Our defences are being cut, not as a response to a diminished threat – if anything the threat is increasing. The Government that’s had four defence secretaries in four years, one of them part-time, is now cutting capability as a result of catastrophic economic mismanagement. Our brave Armed Forces are paying for Labour’s incompetence.”

“The new Chinook helicopters are of course welcome, but this decision would not have been necessary if the Prime Minister had not, against all advice, cut £1.4 billion from the helicopter programme in 2004,” Dr Fox said.

“But for his failure to understand the Armed Forces, those Chinooks could have been on the frontline today, saving the lives of our brave soldiers. Instead, they will not be available until at least 2013 by which time, according to the Prime Minister, we should have substantially transferred security responsibility to Afghan national forces.” (@timesonline)

GLINT in the eye: NURC explores novel autonomous concepts for future ASW

The La Spezia-based NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC) has completed a major trial, known as GLINT09 (Generic Littoral Interoperable Network Technology), to investigate the exploitation of autonomous unmanned vehicles (AUVs) as part of a future anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operational construct.

NURC's Ocean Explorer, used as the primary data collecting platform and behaviour demonstrator for the GLINT09 experiment, was configured with a multiple octave BENS towed array and the TOSSA onboard source. (NURC)

The experiment, conducted in mid-2009, is judged to have been an important step towards the long-term goal of a fully functioning collaborative ASW system. NURC is planning to conduct a networked wide-area system demonstration in the 2011-12 timeframe, with the expectation that a deployable capability could be operational in the period 2020-25.
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