EagleSpeak reports the US DOD has funded a $57M “Integrated Maritime Surveillance System” for Indonesia.
“The IMSS is manned and operated by the Indonesian Navy, and consists of 18 Coastal Surveillance Stations (CSS), 11 Ship-based Radars, two Regional Command Centers, and two Fleet Command Centers (Jakarta and Surabaya)”
The Acquisition Directorate has issued its Fall 2011 Newsletter, “Delivering the Goods.” It is available as a pdf here.
The news letter includes:
Somalia/Gulf of Aden/Indian Ocean:
NATO Reports show at least three attacks and at least three incidents of vessels being approached in a suspicious manner by skiffs that appeared to be pirates, but there were no successful attacks reported.
INS Suvarna, sister ship of INS Sukanya. Photo: INS SuvarnaM. Mazumdar/ Bharat-Rakshak. Original uploader was Mittal.fdk at en.wikipedia. Permission: CC-BY-SA-3.0.
India continues to deal aggressively with pirates. “The Hindu” reports the actions of the INS Sukanya (1,890 tons full load, 331′ loa) when five skiffs approached vessels in the five ship convoy she was escorting,
“While two of them managed to escape, INS Sukanya successfully intercepted the remaining three boats and…nabbed 26 Somali pirates with six AK 47 rifles, 12 magazines and about 300 rounds of ammunition.
“This is the fifth successful anti-piracy operation conducted by INS Sukanya in the course of her ongoing patrol mission in the Gulf of Aden that commenced in September, the Navy said.”
The uncertainty introduced by the Kenyan invasion of Southern Somalia is having an effect on the ransom pirates are demanding for the ships and crews they currently hold. Ransom demands have been cut as the pirates hope to “close the deal.”
There are reports that Ethiopia has also moved troops into Somalia to support the Kenyan invasion.
While Kenya and Ethiopia move against Al Shabaab rebels in the South, there is a report the locals in Puntland are moving against pirates enclaves in the Northeast.
Nigeria/Gulf of Guinea
gCaptain reports three people were kidnapped after eight armed men boarded an offshore supply vessel, the MV C-Endeavour, belonging to Edison Chouest Offshore, off the coast of Nigeria. The report came by email from Kurt Glaubitz, a spokesman for Chevron.
Mekong River:
The attack that left 13 Chinese dead, reported in the last update, has resulted in China dispatching up to 1,000 armed police to work in the territory of Burma, Thailand, and Laos, to protect its trade on the Mekong.
Armed Security Guards:
The Marine Log reports H.R. 2838, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011, that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives, “…strengthens existing authorities against piracy, as well as improves an existing training program to instruct mariners on acceptable use of force against pirates. It authorizes armed security on vessels carrying government impelled cargo through high risk waters, and includes a report on ways to improve U.S. efforts to track ransom payments and the movement of money through Somali piracy networks.
“‘Somali pirates have vastly expanded the range of their attacks on merchant vessels. But even more alarming, the pirates have dramatically increased the number and viciousness of their attacks in recent months,’ said LoBiondo (Coast Guard Subcommittee Chairman Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ). ‘To protect American seafarers, this legislation will strengthen an existing training program on use of force against pirates. Additionally, it will provide authority for government agencies to reimburse shippers for armed security aboard vessels carrying U.S. aid to the region.‘”
The Maritime Executive reports there is a growing consensus in the US, that failure to provide armed security may open up ship owners to legal liability for failure to provide seaman with a safe working environment and a seaworthy vessel.
Elsewhere authorities remain unconvinced. The Netherlands is telling its ship owners that, if they use private armed security guards, they could be subject to criminal prosecution.
“Jumbo Shipping from Rotterdam and Vroon Shipping based in Breskens have both said they will carry armed guards while sailing under the Dutch flag.
“The ministry of defence has set up special teams to help combat the threat of piracy but the shipping firms say this is not a solution. ‘You have to order them six weeks in advance and we cannot work like that,’ the Jumbo spokesman said.
“Denmark, Spain, Norway and Britain do allow shipping firms to use private security guards while travelling close to the Somali coast.”
Armed Forces Journal brings us this bit of new speak from the program for the Coast Guard’s October 2011 Innovation Expo:
“Strategic Innovation is value creation hard wired to organizational strategic direction,” reads the introduction to one of the keynote speeches. “Strategic Innovation is achieved by looking to the horizon[,] seeing the shifts, and bringing diversity of though [sic] and objective non-traditional perspective to traditional service delivery as the organization examines the effectiveness of its culture, processes and structures.”
Or as we used to say, “If you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance, baffle with bull s**t.”
NavSea has issued an RFI for something that looks a lot like an Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), to be procured under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
“This Request for Information (RFI) N00024-11-R-2217 is being issued in anticipation of a potential future procurement program for the Republic of the Philippines. The Naval Sea Systems Command is conducting market research to determine the existence of a general purpose Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) …”
This is a bit old, having been issued on May 6, 2011 (only four days after the issuance of the draft OPC specifications) with a June 3, 1011 response deadline, but I only just stumbled across it here. The Philippines would like to have the ship assembled in country, but that is a question to be addressed by the contractors. If the program follows the pattern I have seen in other countries, the lead ship would be built here and the follow-ons in the Philippines. A multi-ship buy is expected, but the number is not specified and subject to change.
Considering that there is the possibility of extensive similarities to the Offshore Patrol Cutter program, you might assume this was discussed with the Coast Guard, but I have my doubts. After all, the Philippines might want to participate in the OPC program since a large order quantity is likely to drive down cost.
The specifications require “The vessel must be new construction, but derived from a proven hull design previously built by the contractor.” (That sounds like the ship yard would not be allowed to use a design previously built by a different contractor.) (revision: this was changed to: “The vessel must be new construction, but derived from a proven hull design.”)
The specifications are also remarkably specific, not only in performance, but also in dimensions.
If, as I suspect, the “(NTE 10%)” means “Not To Exceed” then it is also setting maximums, so:
I have done an extensive literature search, and I cannot find an OPV 80 meters or longer, with a full load displacement <= 1,100 tons. The closest I got in terms of tonnage was the Israeli SA’AR 5 corvettes, not really an OPV, but the hull might be used:
By way of comparison the dimensions for the 270 and 210 are:
and
Specifications include:
The Combat Systems requirement are quite extensive for an OPV of this size including:
The list of “Interested Vendors” includes:
Sure looks like they have something very specific in mind, particularly since they gave less than a month to make a response.
There is an interesting power point presentation, “The Changing Face of OPV Design and Cost Drivers,” available here (pdf). Apparently it was presented at the OPV Asia Conference in Singapore, April 5-7, 2011, by the President of STX Canada Marine Inc./STX US Marine Inc. These are divisions of STX Offshore and Shipbuilding headquartered in South Korea with 18 shipyards in eight different countries.
There is a series of charts discussing the effects of increased size, increased speed, and increasing levels of combat and surveillance capabilities have on cost.
STX is the maker of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s ice strengthened OPVs “Otago“ and “Wellington.”
Interesting little bit on the Marine Log about a Norwegian developed Davit system, intended for operations in the Arctic.
The Mexican Navy has taken delivery of the first of four Airbus Military CN235 aircraft equipped as Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) paralleling the Coast Guard’s own planned procurement of 36 CN235s as HC-144A.
The delivery was made through EADS North America under the Mérida Initiative, a joint program between the US Government and the Government of Mexico.
You may have heard that the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), has been in the news because of its toilets. Informationdissemination has more information, including the Captain’s side of the story, and an interesting discussion.
Great object lesson on the importance of the mundane, and how being too upfront with you mom can cause a lot of trouble.
The Defense Industry Daily has published a couple of reviews that some may find interesting, on the Response Boat Small (RB-S) replacement program and on the continued development and utility of the now more than 90 year old M2 .50 cal. machine gun.
Metal Shark, manufacturer of the RB-S has a web page here, and a facebook page here.
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