RMN's Scorpene Submarine Can Now Dive

26 Maret 2010

The Royal Malaysian Navy Scorpene-type submarine KD Tunku Abdul Rahman was floated out and made ready to resume its training schedule. (photo : standupper)

SINGAPORE— The spanking new Royal Malaysian Navy Scorpene-type submarine KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, which recently suffered technical setbacks, is now ready for dive trials.

Its designer and builder, DCNS, said today, the submarine had completed its first sea trials off the Malaysian coast, following scheduled maintenance at its home port in Teluk Sepanggar, Sabah.

In a statement here, the company said the trials confirmed the boat’s readiness for underwater service. It said following maintenance, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman was floated out and made ready to resume its training schedule, including dive trials by the Malaysian crew off its home coast.

“These trials demonstrate that the Royal Malaysian Navy has successfully established the country’s first ever submarine force,” said Pierre Quinchon, head of DCNS Submarine division.

The contract between the Malaysian Government and DCNS for two Scorpene submarines and associated logistics and training was signed in June 2002.
The second submarine, KD Tun Abdul Razak, currently in Toulon, is scheduled to sail from France to Malaysia in May.

Apart from Malaysia, two other countries have ordered the Scorpene submarines — Chile (two units) and India (six).

The Scorpene was designed by DCNS and developed jointly by DCNS and Spanish naval shipbuilder Navantia.

(Bernama)

Kockums Receives Overall Design Order for Next-Generation Submarine

26 Februari 2010

Artist’s impression of the Swedish Navy’s next-generation submarine (Kockums photo)

Kockums AB, part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, has signed a contract with FMV (the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration), concerning overall of the design phase of the next-generation submarine.

This confirms the intention to develop Sweden’s submarine capability. Kockums is prime contractor for the order.

The Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces has emphasized the importance of acquiring the next-generation submarine on a number of different occasions.

Kockum's Next generation submarine (photo : Kockum)

The next-generation submarine features several advances in the development of underwater technology and marks the adaptation of submarines to meet current and future threats and to conduct the international mission now required. This refers particularly to the submarine’s role as an information gatherer.

Next-generation also refers to further refinements in terms of stealth technology. The submarine will be able to see and hear everything over a wide area, while itself remaining undetected. It will be designed to be efficient in the Baltic and other littoral waters.

“This is an important first step, not only for Kockums, but for the Swedish Armed Forces as a whole. We shall now be able to maintain our position at the cutting edge of submarine technology, which is vital in the light of current threat scenarios. HMS Gotland demonstrated what she is capable of during two years of joint exercises in the water off the USA. This next-generation submarine marks a further refinement of technology,” states CEO Ola Alfredsson, commenting the news.

(Kockum)

South Korea and China Have Put Forward Offers of Submarines

21 Februari 2010

Korea's Type 209 Changbogo class (photo : bin2k1)

Thai Navy Seeks Second-Hand Submarines

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has submitted a proposal to government to procure two second-hand submarines from 2011, a senior RTN officer has told Jane's.

Securing the budget for such a purchase - which has been earmarked by the RTN at around THB20 billion (USD603 million) - remains the biggest stumbling block, he said, although the RTN is hopeful that the bid will be approved by the government over the next few weeks following a series of strong representations from RTN officials.

The source, who has been involved in composing the proposal, said the RTN was open-minded about the supplier of the submarines, stating that the required capability plan was still being finalised. He indicated, however, that South Korean-made Type 209s were the most likely target.

"We have been talking to South Korea about this purchase for a long time and just two weeks ago the South Korean government offered us two Type 209s," he said on 18 February, "but we are not ready to make a decision because we don't yet have the funds.

"The source also revealed that China's People's Liberation Army Navy in late 2009 repeated an offer to sell to Thailand two Type 039 Song-class submarines. The source said that, unlike the offer from South Korea, the Chinese boats would need extensive modernisation before they were operational.

China's Song class (photo : Sinodefence)

He also said that submarines from France and Russia were also being considered, although he indicated that platforms from South Korea and China were a more probable purchase.

The source also stressed that the RTN's requirements were not just tied to the submarines themselves. As Thailand does not currently operate any such vessels, a budget would also need to be allocated to building a submarine base, which would probably be located at the RTN's main base in Sattahip, around 180 km southeast of Bangkok.

Thailand's last serious bid to procure submarines ended in May 1996 when the government announced that due to financial pressures it would not follow up on a project to acquire two or three Swedish Kockums platforms at an estimated cost of around USD500 million.

While similar economic challenges exist today the RTN believes that the purchase has become necessary because Thailand's neighbours have all made recent submarine acquisitions.

These developments have seen Malaysia purchase two Scorpene submarines, both of which were commissioned in 2009; Singapore relaunch the first of two Västergötland-class (A 17) submarines in June 2009; Vietnam enter a deal with Russia in 2009 to purchase six Project 877EKM ('Kilo'-class) boats; and Indonesia, which already operates two Type 209-class submarines, announce that it will purchase two more platforms over the next two years, possibly from South Korea or Russia.

Possibly in response to this build-up, in September 2009 the RTN secured funds to procure as yet unspecified anti-submarine warfare (ASW) systems for the RTN's six Sikorsky S-70B7 Seahawk helicopters. Jane's understands that additional ASW equipment is also planned in the RTN's spending proposal.

Dr Panitan Wattanayagorn, spokesman for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, told Jane's that the RTN's purchase proposal - along with that of the army and air force - would be evaluated by various budget committees over the next few weeks for consideration in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, which commences in October 2010. Decisions on this budget will be made in May.

He said that to get the submarine purchase proposal through these reviews "it might be necessary for the RTN to re-arrange their priorities and negotiate with the two other services".

(Jane's)

Navy Seeks Funding for Two Subs

19 Februari 2010



Thai navy might buy a second-hand submarine for training purposes (photo : dutchsubmarines)



Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has asked the armed forces to submit their planned arms purchases for consideration in what is seen as a move to keep the military on his side.



A military source said Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara told army, air force and navy leaders yesterday to prepare their arms purchase plans for submission to the prime minister.



Gen Songkitti met with commanders of the three armed forces and senior military officers at the Royal Thai Navy headquarters.



The source said navy commander Khamthorn Pumhiran will seek authorisation to purchase two second-hand submarines at a cost of more than 20 billion baht.

Adm Khamthorn cited strategic needs and the fact that neighbouring countries all had submarines. The navy commander said it was necessary to employ new technologies.



The director of the navy's public relations office, Capt Prachachart Seerisawat, said Adm Khamthorn had assured the other military commanders at the meeting that submarines could operate in the Gulf of Thailand.



"Only the Royal Thai Navy still has none. As such, the navy commander has to submit the request for the submarines for government approval," Capt Prachachart said.



The Supreme Command spokesman, Col Sitthichai Makkunchorn, said 3-month-long joint exercises involving all of the armed forces would begin next month. The drills will take place in the three eastern provinces of Prachin Buri, Sa Kaeo and Rayong.



Col Sitthichai said the drills were intended to prepare for emergencies along the Cambodian border.



He said Gen Songkitti had also asked the prime minister to attend the training of the Thai troops who would be sent to help with UN peace-keeping in Sudan's Darfur region.



The training will be conducted in April by the Royal Thai Marine Corps in Chon Buri's Sattahip district.



About 800 Thai soldiers will travel to Sudan in July.



(Bangkok Post)

Australia Claims USD4.4m Damages from ASC Over Collins-Class Engine Failure

18 Februari 2010

Collins class submarine (photo : Defencetalk)

The Australian government is seeking AUD5 million (USD4.4 million) in damages from state-owned shipbuilder ASC over the engine failure that occurred in one of the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) Collins-class submarines last year, an Australian Senate estimates committee has been told.

The committee, which met on 10 February, heard that the compensation being sought is the maximum available under the terms of a 15-year Collins-class support contract that ASC signed with the government in December 2003.

Responding to questions from opposition defence spokesman David Johnston, Kim Gillis, the programme manager for Collins-class submarines at the Defence Materiel Organisation, said the government is seeking the damages following the receipt of a report that was conducted into the engine failure in first-of-class HMAS Collins in October 2009.

The committee heard that this report "clearly indicated" that the failure was caused by the way in which bearings were removed, inspected and replaced in HMAS Collins.

Gillis said: "We have now received the independent report. I have formed a view on that. I have now put a proposition to ASC as the result of the cause and sought a claim against ASC for approximately AUD5 million to recompense the Commonwealth for that damage."

He said that ASC "is looking at their insurers and also looking at subcontractors that were involved in the [maintenance] activity on HMAS Collins ", and added: "They have not accepted the claim. We are still in negotiations with them."

(Jane's)

U.S. Navy SEALs Receive New Airlock Mini-Sub

16 Februari 2010

S-301 mini submarine (photo : MSubs)

The U.S. Special Operations Command wants to replace the standard "wet" Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) with a new and enlarged pocket submarine; a mini-sub with a proper pressure hull and an airlock would allow attacking frogmen to travel dry to their target.

The U.S. Navy SEALs are to get a new and enlarged pocket submarine which will allow them to travel most of the way to an objective inside in the dry and then exit through an airlock before swimming on for their final approach.

Lewis Page writes that the SEALs and comparable elite forces such as the British SBS have long used “wet” Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) to approach an objective below the waves, allowing them to move faster and further than an unaided frogman can. With a normal SDV, the trooper is not inside a pressure hull — he is immersed in the surrounding water. This can be a problem, as hours spent unmoving in cold water can sap the strength of even the strongest soldier. Hence the desire for a mini-sub with a proper pressure hull and an airlock, allowing attacking frogmen to travel dry.

ASDS-Advanced Swimmer Delivery System (photo : ndia)

For many years, the SEALs were known to be working on this via the so-called

Advanced Swimmer Delivery System (ASDS). Pages notes that the prototype ASDS was dogged by technical snags and never reached an acceptable standard of performance. It was also harshly criticized by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The final blow for the ASDS came when it caught fire while stored ashore and was gutted. This left the SEALs reliant on their trusty 1970s-vintage open-water Mark 8 SDVs. Tthere was also a Mark 9, capable of firing torpedoes, but this was retired in the 1990s. In any event, the Mark 9 seems to have been intended for torpedoing ships at anchor or in harbor).

Page writes that following the ASDS disaster it appeared that the U.S. special-operations community would henceforth content itself with a new replacement open-to-the-sea SDV, somewhat modernized, under the name

Shallow Water Combat Submersible, but this is not the case.

This week the U.S. Special Operations Command announced it intends next month to lease an S301 submersible from Virginia company Submergence Group, which also offers a two-man research sub. The S301 is to be delivered to the SEAL units at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, formerly the home of the ill-fated ASDS, and will “be used by field units for doctrinal, operational, and organizational purposes” — with “operational” being the most interesting word.

Submergence Group themselves are fairly

tight-lipped about their S301’s performance, but they do specify that it can carry two pilots and 6 swimmers — or underwater robots, inflatable boats, etc. The SEALs also state that in their opinion the S301 is a “lock out” boat capable of unloading the six passengers in a single airlock cycle. They also believe that it can cruise at better than 5 knots and travel at least 10 nautical miles on a single li-ion battery charge.

SDV-Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (photo : TheRegister)

Page writes that one of the most critical factors affecting the design of the SDVs and then ASDS was the fact that the short-ranging battery minisubs are carried into range of their objectives aboard full-size U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. With the SDV, a large “Dry Deck Shelter” airlock hangar is fitted to the sub’s hull to hold the minisub and allow its crew of SEALs to board.

The ASDS was too large to fit into a cramped hangar, and was intended to dock with the sub directly: it was this which proved its downfall, as it tended to suffer serious damage if the carrying sub went at all fast.

“Whether the S301 is intended to operate from a mothership is unclear,” Page writes. It seems to be significantly bigger than an SDV, so dry-hangar operations are probably out: on the other hand there is no indication of its being able to mate with a full-size sub’s escape hatch. It seems likely that the S301 will move over long distances by other means, probably using a surface support ship.

The U.S. Navy’s

SSGN underwater special-ops motherships —Ohio class ICBM subs stripped of their nukes following arms-reduction treaties, and refitted with conventional cruise missiles plus accommodation for a force of frogman-commandos - will probably have to rub along with SDVs for a while yet.

(HomelandsecurityNewswire)

Reputation of Collins Class Subs Takes a Further Dive

15 Februari 2010

Collins class (image : Navynews)

TWO of Australia's six trouble-wracked Collins class submarines will not return to sea until they have been of action for a total of at least nine years.

The revelation is another blow to the reputation of Australia's multi-billion dollar submarine fleet, which has been dogged by problems since HMAS Collins was launched in 1996.

It was also revealed yesterday that the federal government is demanding $5 million in compensation from the Australian Submarine Corporation over defects that have kept HMAS Collins incapacitated.

Under the contract with the government, which is worth $170 million a year to the corporation, that is the maximum compensation payable, a senate estimates committee heard.

Questioned by the Coalition defence spokesman, David Johnston, the Chief of Navy, Russ Crane, admitted that HMAS Rankin had been inoperable for two years and would be for another three years. Similarly, the sister ship HMAS Sheean had been laid up for two years and would not put to sea for another two years, Vice-Admiral Crane said.

HMAS Farncomb was recalled to port last week after a generator failure, while HMAS Collins is on restricted operations because of problems with its diesel engine.

Of the remaining two submarines, HMAS Dechaineux is undergoing maintenance and is supposed to be operational next month, while HMAS Waller is the only operational submarine, and will set sail tomorrow from the HMAS Sterling naval base in Western Australia.

Vice-Admiral Crane said the navy hoped to have three operational submarines in the water by mid-year, with HMAS Collins slated to set sail with HMAS Farncomb's crew in May.

(Sidney Morning Herald)

Further Delay in RMN Submarine Tropical Trials

12 Februari 2010

KD Tunku Abdul Rahman (photo : Militaryphotos)

Negotiations Over Cost Between Government and Boustead DCNS Continues

KUALA LUMPUR: KD Tunku Abdul Rahman tropical water trials has been delayed again until next week after another defect was discovered on Jan 17.

Royal Malaysian Navy chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar when confirming this afternoon told reporters that the engineeers from Bousted DCNS Naval Corp Sdn Bhd had traced the defect to the high pressure air blowing system inside the submarine's ballast tank. The ballast tanks which can be filled with water or air are used to control when a submarine surface or submerge.

He said the defect was found during routine checks and the defective part had been replaced and work was underway to certify that every thing was working well.

"We will conduct the tropical water trials on Feb 18 where the submarine will be diving. Our submariners are also anxious to go back underwater," he told reporters after attending a ceremony to present the credentials for the National Service Training Council at the Defence Ministry yesterday.

Abdul Aziz said although the problem was not common it was not a major fault.
“It’s a teething problem, not major but we still needed to be careful.” he added.
He said the first defect was detected in the submarine’s Forward Sea Water Cooling System, on Dec 17.

Meanwhile, as KD Tunku Abdul Rahman prepared to conduct its delayed Tropical Water Trials, another "battle" is going on shore.

The "battle" is the extended negotiations with Bouestead DCNS Naval Corp Sdn Bhd for the multi-year integrated service and support for the Perdana-Menteri-class submarines. And the negotiations carried on as DCNS scrambled to fix the tehnical defect on KD Tunku Abdul Rahman which prevented it to dive.

The RMN procured two submarines, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak, for some RM3.4 billion in 2002 from a partnership of French and Spanish shipbuilders, DCNS and Navantia.

On Oct 22 last year, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad had told Parliament that the maintenance cost for the two submarines, including spare parts, would be about RM270 million a year.

The negotiations on the service agreement, The Malay Mail was informed, had reached an impasse. Boustead DCNS is a joint-venture between BHIC Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of public-listed Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd, and France-based DCNS S.A.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, last June, Boustead Heavy Industries had said the government had expressed intent to award a contract worth RM600 million to its joint-venture unit for in-service support for the RMN's Scorpene submarines.

It told Bursa Malaysia that the the government, in its letter of intent (LOI) dated June 3, stated its intention to have a contract with Boustead DCNS.

However, The Malay Mail was informed that despite the LOI, the government was unhappy with the sum Boustead DCNS wanted and asked for the contract price to be lowered.

It was hoped the negotiations would have been finalised for a contract to be signed at Lima 2009 in Langkawi last December. However it has dragged on, a local defence industry source said. There was also talk the contract could be signed during the Defence Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in April, but nothing has been confirmed.

"As the warranty for the KD Tunku Abdul Rahman ends in May, our hope is that the negotiations will be finalised soon so that there will no be problem in supporting the submarine and the KD Tun Abdul Razak when it arrives in the middle of the year," the source said.

The Malay Mail reported yesterday that the country's sole submarine, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, suffered a technical defect that prevented it from diving for three months.

The problem was fixed last week. The defect forced the RM1 billion plus French-built Scorpene submarine to delay tropical water trials that were scheduled to be completed by the end of January.

As a result, builder DCNS SA extended the warranty for the submarine, which was supposed to expire on Jan 25, until May so the KD Tunku Abdul Rahman could complete its trials — the first step to obtaining its Initial Operational Capability (IOC).

RMN chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar had said the trials started this week. The submarine was commissioned early last year after undergoing two years of trials in France.

It is expected to complete all trials by May and be cleared for operations in the same month. It is also expected to conduct the live firing of its SM39 Exocet anti-ship missile in May.

(MalayMail)