Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Profile - Konstantinos Katseas
Join managing editor Mark Smith in a one-on-one conversation with ship modeler/MSW member, Konstantinos (Kostas) Katseas, in this installment of our "Artist Profile" series.
Profile
Navy Word of the Day
Continuing on with your Naval education we bring you another installment of MSW’s Navy Word of the Day.
Navy Word of the Day
Procurement Programmes of New Vessels by Navies Drive the European Naval Sensors Market
Source: Source: Frost & Sullivan
LONDON --- In response to standing NATO directives, several member states have actively implemented new vessel procurement programs. CEE countries like Poland, Bulgaria and Romania are modernising their largely Soviet-era fleets while countries with advanced navies, like Italy, push for high technology solutions.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, European Naval Sensors (EO/IR) Market Assessment, finds that the market earned revenues of over $28 million in 2008 and estimates this to reach $91 million in 2017. The market will likely grow by a further 35 per cent due to the rising importance for advanced technology and upgrades across European navies.
"Entry into the CEE markets requires a solid understanding of local regulations and requirements, though this alone does not automatically ensure success," states Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Harish Balasubramanian. "The sensor market is experiencing a degree of consolidation; with larger companies increasingly dominating the market, while smaller local manufacturers focus primarily on domestic sales." However, technological advancement will shift this balance, by making it easier for smaller companies to bid on specific solutions.
To demonstrate their ability to fulfil common missions within NATO, CEE countries like Poland, Bulgaria and Romania face massive fleet upgrades of their mostly Soviet-era equipment. Poland faces the daunting task of modernising one of the largest fleets among the new NATO member states on a tight budget that is not expected to change over the forecast period. Price, therefore, will be the determining factor in this market.
Because developed navies tend to value technology over life-cycle service they should establish partnerships with other suppliers. "For countries like Italy with technologically advanced navies and a strong industrial base they are keen to retain, partial solution partnerships would facilitate entry into these markets," concludes Balasubramanian. Advanced technology and good life cycle support will be the major success factors in the Italian market.
The major challenge for the sensor industry in Europe is the fact that "the current perception of the navy's role remains inconsistent," notes Balasubramanian. "Existing threats as well as the role of naval forces are perceived differently across Europe, causing uncertainty regarding customer expectations. Stronger cooperation between market participants and end users could be a potential solution to this challenge."
Atlas Elektronik Awarded Contract for Equipment of German F125 Frigate
Source: Atlas Elektronik
BREMEN, Germany --- Another triumph for Atlas Elektronik: Bremen’s specialist for maritime high technology has signed a contract to equip the new F125 frigates of the German Navy with command and tactical systems. The customer is the ARGE F125 consortium, consisting of the shipyards ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Fr. Lürssen Werft.
By taking on a wide-ranging and substantial work share in the F125 project, coupled with great responsibility towards the final customer, Atlas Elektronik is once again demonstrating its leading position as an independent systems supplier for naval electronics. ATLAS will equip the German F125 frigate with the combat management system (ANCS) and the tactical data link system (ADLiS). In addition, Atlas Elektronik will direct the modelling of the combat system and will be responsible for the integration of all its sensors and effectors.
The Managing Directors of Atlas Elektronik, Dieter Rottsieper and Kai Horten, said: “This is a major success for ATLAS. Atlas Elektronik will play a key role in making the F125 one of the most powerful ships of its kind worldwide. The expanded share in the project is a sign of the continuing trust placed in ATLAS by the customer, and underlines our position as a leading systems supplier for naval electronics.”
Technical background:
The ATLAS Naval Combat System (ANCS) is a combat management system of the latest generation. Its modular architecture and open interfaces permit customerspecific solutions for a wide variety of naval vessels. On board the F125 frigate, ANCS also provides innovative functionalities for the detection and engagement of terrorist threats.
Moreover, it integrates an onshore tactical picture and artillery weapons control system to a degree that has been usual only for army forces until now. In this way, the F125 frigate will not only have the “classic” maritime capabilities of comparable ships but also be able to engage land-based targets in coordination with army units.
The high degree of automation and the user-centred operating concept of ANCS make it possible to fulfil complex tasks with a low personnel requirement. Its distributed architecture is the primary basis for the necessary redundancies and degradation capabilities, in order to achieve the high level of combat survivability requested for the F125 frigate. In conjunction with the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies that are used, ANCS is the combat system of choice for naval vessels intended for intensive action in long-endurance missions.
Participation of the F125 frigate in network centric warfare is ensured by the ATLAS Tactical Data Link System (ADLiS). ADLiS supports the transmission, reception and forwarding of tactical information over diverse data links (11/16/22), making it a decisive element of the command and control capability and enabling effective teamwork with other forces.
Rational to Rationalize? Australia's Future Naval Combat Helicopters Revisited
Source: Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Australia’s 2009 Defence White Paper announced that new combat helicopters for the Navy would be acquired “as a matter of urgency.” ASPI has long argued that naval aviation is a capability shortfall and welcomes the recognition of the importance of embarked helicopters.
However, decisions made earlier in the development of the ADF’s helicopter fleet and the national support capability impact on the cost-effectiveness of competing aircraft. To get the best solution in the longer term, it may be best to “hasten slowly.”
The surface ships and submarines announced in the recent Defence White Paper captured much attention in the press. That is not surprising given that those initiatives are likely to cost somewhere in excess of $50 billion. But the projects that will deliver the new ships and submarines will not require significant expenditure for almost a decade.
Two of them are not even in the new four-year Defence Capability Plan 2009 (DCP 09). In fact, the biggest naval project in dollar terms in the next few years will be a new fleet of at least 24 naval combat helicopters.
HMS Belfast
Today’s website is the HMS Belfast. HMS Belfast is a unique and powerful reminder of Britain's naval heritage: a cruiser launched in 1938 to serve with distinction in both the Second World War and the Korean War now moored permanently as a museum on the River Thames in the Pool of London. Enjoy.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1825 - USS Brandywine sails for France to carry the Marquis de Lafayette home after his yearlong visit to America.
1841 - First iron ship authorized by Congress.
1940 - Navy awards contracts for 210 ships, including 12 carriers and seven battleships.
1943 - Operation Avalanche, Western Naval Task Force, under Vice Adm. Henry Hewitt, lands Allied forces at Salerno, Italy.
1944 - Fifth Fleet carrier aircraft begin air strikes on Japanese shipping and facilities at Mindanao, Philippines.
1945 - A "computer bug" is first identified and named by Lt. Grace Murray Hopper while she was on active duty. It was found in the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University. The operators affixed the moth to the computer log, where it still resides, with the entry: "First actual case of bug being found." They "debugged" the computer, first introducing the term.
Photo of the Day
Family and guests of Sailors stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) observe an air power demonstration from the ship's flight deck.
Gator
