Coast Guard Compass is holding their annual video of the year competition for 2014 and all ten videos have now been posted. Go by and take a look and vote for your favorite.
2014 CG Video of the Year
1
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Shouldn’t Airliners Have Hydrostatically Released EPIRBs?
We have had two airlines disappear this year, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March and another this month. Both hit the water and sank. The most recent incident at least left debris on the surface that marked the crash site, but even so it took a substantial search to locate the wreckage. MH370 resulted in a huge search effort that was to my knowledge fruitless.
Our friend, Ken White had a very reasonable question, Why don’t airliners have hydrostatically released EPIRBs? Good question. Having two would not be unreasonable. The devices might also be activated by sudden high g-forces.
CG History from Bill Wells
Friend and frequent contributor, retired Master Chief Bill Wells has a historical piece about living conditions aboard 19th century revenue cutters in “Prologue,” a magazine published quarterly by the National Archives and Records Administration.
It is the cover article of the Fall 2014 issue and is entitled “Wet, Cold, and Thoroughly Miserable.” You can access it as a pdf at the magazine’s web site here.
Marine Inspection Failure in Adriatic Ferry Fire?
You have probably heard about the fire on the Ferry Norman Atlantic in the Adriatic between Greece and Italy, but there were a couple of particularly interesting notes in this CNN report that suggest a failure of marine inspection authorities.
In the first three hours of the fire, around 150 people were able to escape via the vessel’s lifeboats. But when the ferry lost power, the electronic arms were unable to function, leaving the rest of the boats dangling uselessly by its side.
It’s not known how the fire started, but it’s believed to have originated in the parking bay. A truck driver told the Greek news media that trucks filled with oil were “packed like sardines,” their cargo scraping the ceiling, which could have set off sparks in rough seas to start a fire, he surmised.
Poland Builds an OPV
NavyRecognition is reporting that Poland has floated out an OPV. This ship like the Israeli OPVs discussed in my previous post is a MEKO A-100 design. The NavyRecognition post includes a photo of the vessel in its current state and an artist’s concept of the finished product.
This project has had a long gestation period. The ship was laid down in 2001. It began as a project to build seven corvettes referred to as the Gowron class, but funding was not forthcoming, and the project was cancelled, leaving the first ship of the class on the ways, largely complete structurally but without its expensive weapons systems. Ultimately they made a decision to complete the ship as an OPV without the planned anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles and anti-submarine systems.
There is more information and photos here.
“Standard displacement mass of the vessel is to be as much as 1800 tonnes, total length – 95.2 m (312.3 ft), width – 13.5 m (44.3 ft), height to the level of the board – 9.35 m, displacement – 3.6 m. The ship is to be able to operate autonomously for a period of 30 days.
“Mixed propulsion system consists of 2 main engines (power output: 2 x 3240 kW) and a turbine, maximum power of which is to be as much as 25 000 Kw. All that is to allow the ship to reach speeds of up to 30 knots. Range of the vessel – 2000 NM at at 18 knots and 4500 NM at 14 knots. Ship’s power plant is equipped with 4 generators, 600 kW each. Additional equipment includes bow azimuth thruster, which improves manoeuvrability, and active stabilizers, which improve comfort for the crew.”
The ship’s weapons will be:
» 1x Oto Melara 76mm main gun
» 2x Oto Melara Marlin WS 30mm remote weapon stations
» 4x GROM Short range surface to air missile launchers
» 4x 12.7 mm machine guns
This is typical OPV weaponry with the exception of the GROM missile systems which are relatively simple MANPADS (man portable air defense systems).
Christmas Poem, Mark II
I got this from Canadian friend and volunteer life saver Ken White. Apparently he got it from Ryan Erickson, click on it to enlarge.
There is a more serious seafarer’s Christmas poem by Robert Louis Stevenson here.
Happy Holidays
It has been my pleasure to have a long association with people who have chosen a life of service to humanity and their country. This time of year helps to bring it all into focus. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
UAS for the Webber Class?
Coast Guard Compass is reporting that the R&D Center has conducted tests of an unmanned aerial surveillance system from the Webber class WPC Richard Etheridge.
The experiment is being done on the cheap, using surplus Marine Corp WASP III UAS.
This particular aircraft is very small (less than a pound), with a maximum speed of about 40 knots, an endurance of about 45 minutes, and a nominal range of 5 km, so it is not going to get very far from the launch platform. Sensors are limited to color and IR video, so it is still like “looking through a staw” in terms of its ability to search, but it might be useful for taking a closer look at targets, without the necessity of moving the CG vessel to intercept, particularly at night; for documenting a drug bust; or for keeping an eye on the disengaged side of a potentially hostile target during a boarding. The recovery method used was to land in the water, but we could certainly do better.
I can’t say I am particularly impressed with what I have seen of the system so far, since I can pick up something similar at the local hobby shop (google “First Person Video”). I have a friend who flies one, including the ability to use GPS to fly way-points and automatically return to the launch point and land, all for less than $1,000, but it is a start and at least it is a recognition of a need and an opportunity.
Still think we could fly Scan Eagle from the WPCs.
Navy Chooses Existing LCS Designs as Basis for Small Surface Combatant
Photo: A modified Littoral Combat Ship design based on the Lockheed Martin Freedom-class. US Navy Image. Click on the image to enlarge. Note the USNI post also includes an image of a modified Independence class LCS
USNI is reporting that the existing Littoral Combat Ship designs will be modified to become the new Small Surface Combatant. It is not clear if they mean they will continue to build two designs in parallel, or if they mean they will select only one of the two. Perhaps there will be a competitive bid.
In spite of apparently incorporating all the elements of both the anti-submarine and anti-surface modules plus over-the-horizon Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles, it is reported they will have a lighter displacement than the existing LCSs. Surprisingly they apparently will not include VLS, but will include a multi-function towed array sonar, over the horizon ASCMs, upgraded radars, EW, and Cruise Missile decoy systems, torpedo countermeasures, a Mk38 Mod2 25 mm, and additional armor, in addition to the Mk110 57mm, two Mk46 30mm, Hellfire, MQ-8 UAVs and HM-60 helicopters. Both designs will use SeaRAM.
The question for the Coast Guard now is, how much commonality with this new class can be incorporated into the Offshore Patrol Cutter either as equipment actually installed or as equipment fitted for but not with? The more commonality that can be achieved, the more supportable the ships will be over the long haul.
The world seems to be becoming a more dangerous place, where the US may need every warship it can muster. We cannot afford the luxury of building the OPCs without wartime potential.
New Chinese 1130 CIWS
A site in Taiwan reports a Russian report with some details and a Probability of kill (PK) claim for China’s newest Close in Weapon System (CIWS). With eleven 30mm barrels giving a 10,000 round per minute rate of fire and 1280 rounds on the mount, it would also be pretty wicked as an anti-surface weapon at close range.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 