NAVAL FORCES II/2010

Officer training is a long-term and complex task that has to be constantly adjusted to the needs of the Bundeswehr, the German Navy and German society. It also has to take into account the given mental and physical potential of the young men and women who join the Navy as officer candidates – most of them immediately after graduating from high school. The Naval Academy Mürwik (MSM) is where they gain their first maritime experience. On the occasion of its 100th Anniversary the Commandant of the MSM explains the broad disposition of the naval officer training at his academy, which cooperates with many foreign countries and is hosting the European Superintendent Conference in May 2010.

The need for having a force - a Coast Guard - other than a Navy, for protecting the nations sovereignty and interests in the coastal waters and adjacent parts of the high seas, to ensure smooth functioning and safety of the key elements of maritime trade and marine resources in home waters, seems to be evident. Normally, a Navy should be primarily employed for exercising naval influence in peacetime and for combat in case of a hot conflict at sea, not for policing (constabulary) duties. A Coast Guard (CG) should be neither a fully civilian nor purely military organisation. However, it should be so organised, equipped and trained that it can carry out diverse policing duties, and also if needed provide adequate support to ones naval forces in combat. A CG can be established as a separate organisation from the Navy as is the case in the United States (US), or it can be an integral part of ones Navy. Each solution has advantages but also disadvantages. A major advantage of CGs over naval forces is that they can be employed for law enforcement duties against citizens. They are generally much better suited than navies for enforcing the nations claim at sea. They can be employed also in case of conflicting claims accompanied with high tensions. Then, seizing or boarding a foreign ship by a naval vessel may be highly provocative but this is usually not the case if a CGs ships/craft is involved. A CG is also less costly to build and maintain than is a Navy. Not to forget: CGs save lives, daily as the agency tasked with search and rescue (SAR), and during major catastrophes like hurricanes.

In broad strategic issues, the ASEAN navies are discovering the modernising Chinese Navy (PLA Navy) is going to be a rather permanent factor in waters of the South China Sea and in the strategic straits of Southeast Asia, if only because Beijing has undertaken to initiate a rather permanent presence in the Western Indian Ocean – certainly as long as a threat exists of piracy in the region. But, the modernising ASEAN navies are not looking over their shoulder at the PLA Navy as much as they once did and yet, ASEAN efforts to manage South China Sea disputes have been of limited utility thus far. New naval procurements continue, despite economically driven military budget reductions throughout most of the region. A naval market still exists in ASEAN for foreign shipbuilders, but the pace has slowed and may continue in this direction over the coming decade.

Building the AEGIS Global Enterprise

The engagement of allied navies in the AEGIS programme ¡© Japan, Spain, Norway, Australia and Korea ¡© has laid the foundation for an AEGIS global enterprise. The global effort began with an FMS relationship with Japan, moved to a commercial relationship in Spain, then migrated to a blended enterprise between the major Spanish shipyard and Lockheed Martin in Norway and then moved to an expanded relationship in Australia and Korea. The migration of the AEGIS system to an open architecture has accompanied the global migration of engagement in the AEGIS effort. The foundation for a global maritime security architecture has emerged with the construction and operation of allied AEGIS warships. South Korea has announced plans to build six 5,600 tons KDX-IIIA AEGIS-equipped destroyers beginning in 2019, to complement the three ¡°Sejon-Daewan¡± KDX-III destroyers that will be in service by 2012. Other navies have participated directly in the US flight test maritime (FTM) programme. For example, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) JS ¡°Kirishima¡± was the first foreign warship to participate, in FTM-10 (2004). The LCF HrMs ¡°Tromp¡± (F 803) was the first European participant in the test programme, with the ships modified SMART-L systems tracking the ballistic missile target in FTM-11. The Spanish Navys SPS ¡°Mendez Nunez¡± (F 104), outfitted with a BMD software modification, tracked a ballistic missile target in FTM-12.

Hampton Roads is a well protected large inland waterway which offers ideal conditions for a Naval Base. It was here where in 1862 the famous Civil War battle between the Confederate CSS “Merrimack” and the Union USS “Monitor” took place and from where, in 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered his famous „Great White Fleet. to start its circumnavigation of the globe. This area, sourrounded by cities such as Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, offers direct access through the Chesapeake Bay into the Atlantic Ocean. At the northwestern tip of Norfolk/Va. the largest naval installation in the U.S., Naval Station Norfolk (Naval Bases were re-designated Naval Station in 1953), is located.

Has the aircraft carriers reign as the capital ship of the worlds premier navies come to an end after more than 65 years? According to some defence analysts and critics, it has. But it would be hard to find evidence of that by looking at the makeup of todays major naval forces and their plans for future ships and carrier-capable aircraft.

Canada celebrates 100 years of the current Canadian Forces maritime component and former Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 2010. Celebrations and special events will be held throughout the country but mostly focused on CFB Halifax and Esquimalt. Less noticed, however, is the Canadian Forces continued commitment worldwide to the protection of maritime security, most recently demonstrated by the return of HMCS ¡°Fredericton¡± (FFH 337) to the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman as part of Operation SAIPH, a six-month commitment to patrol the region on counter-piracy and counter-terror operations as part of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150). In the area of long-term planning and budgetary issues, Canadian Forces (CF) have increasingly been unable to timely meet both defence planning objectives and budgetary constraints. Despite these problems, naval forces have much to be proud of with a long history of multi-national defence cooperation and humanitarian aid, recently demonstrated by Operation HESTIA as part of Haitian earthquake relief.

Background for presenting the case study now is that the research looking ahead for 20 years as per Karl-Otto Sadlers Informal Study FDZ 2020 presented to the MOD-Naval Staff in mid-2000 has been realised only nine years later already: The goals to cover weapons and antennae have been realised, on the Royal Swedish Navys stealth corvettes of the ¡°Visby¡± class with the main gun concealed (meanwhile imitated by the LCS and the DDG-1000 of the US Navy), and the Integrated Mast Design by THALES Nederlands i-Mast family combining radars, IFF and communications antennae under one enclosure thus saving space, needing only one electrical and one cooling supply. Given the fact that it needed only nine years to translate his ideas into reality, Mr. Sadler concluded: ¡°2000 until 2009 is yesterday; hence we must start a next evolutionary step in warship design now! For long range missile defence a new missile system and also High Energy Weapons and Sensors have to be integrated onboard ships in the future, which requires a new all-electric warship system design.

The Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) represented an essential Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) asset for many years. The shift of emphasis towards Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), surface surveillance and over-ground missions, together with skyrocketing costs of specialist MPA, is leading to a profound restructuring of existing MPA fleets. New additions include the upgrading and life-extension programmes of current MPA, powerful and highly capable (yet few in number) Multi Mission Aircraft (MMA), and the acquisition of smaller aircraft derived from regional airliner airframes both for shorter-range patrols and for constabulary surface surveillance roles.

It makes sense that a Bulgarian Navy, with increased interoperability with NATO and EU units, should get better funding than the other services of which we have heard fewer achievements in integration and transformation. Such an emphasis of the Bulgarian Navy would also appear to be in accordance with the political guidance issued. When in 2003 Bulgaria signed the NATO protocols of accession and became a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, this required Sofia to formulate new guidelines for the armed forces long-term development. A Strategic Defence Review was unveiled, accompanied by the ¡°Vision for Development of the Armed Forces ¡© 2015¡± (adopted by Governments resolution in May 2004). The latter requires the nation to modernise its military by 2015, while the Navy received order to reduce its organisational structure to two Naval Bases, which has meanwhile been done. The other prerogative was to prioritise those capabilities that enable the Navy to deploy in and outside the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and to participate in the full spectrum of missions in NATOs collective defence system, as well as in multi-national peacekeeping operations and coalitions under the aegis of the UN, the EU and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Modern naval operations depend so utterly on radio communications that it is impossible, as it once was, to imagine imposing radio silence for security purposes. Operations usually extend over broad areas, so there is no other means of coordination. More and more deployed forces rely to some extent on the intelligence or operational picture maintained at a distant centre. The picture is maintained cooperatively, so the deployed units need a way not only of tapping the data at the centre but also of contributing to it. The existence of that centre makes it possible to plan collaboratively. At least for the U.S. Navy, and presumably for all NATO navies, this pattern is absolutely essential to the expeditionary operations which are now common. The question is not whether to risk detection by breaking radio silence (as in the past), but how to preserve communications traffic capacity while minimising risk.

Naval fleets are faced with completely new forms of airborne and surface threats which will influence naval doctrine in the upcoming years or even decades. Therefore, surface assets will have to be shaped-up to better defend against any of these threats. Close-in Weapon Systems, with the acronym CIWS being pronounced „sea whiz., will continue to form an integral part of modern ship self defence architectures which are becoming smarter in nature. A key factor of the presence of maritime fleets in blue and brown waters is that modern threats will not only include Cold War-style threats like manned aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles or even anti-ship cruise missiles, but most notably unmanned aircraft and surface threats as represented by fast inshore attack craft (FIAC) to include powerboats, interceptors, rigid inflatables, and jet ski-type vehicles. This is why modern shipboard CIWS are so inherently important – as last ditch defences – to improve their survivability.

Last November, Becker Marine Systems published the first results of their launched Mewis Duct®. The proud and engaged way this revolutionary nozzle was presented by the forward looking Becker staff encouraged the Editor-in-Chief to look deeper into this company and its innovative range of products.

On the occasion of a visit to the RESON A/S Headquarters in Sklangerup nr. Copenhagen, NAVAL FORCES Publisher Jan Wiedemann talked to Mr. Kim Lehman, CEO RESON A/S about the widespread portfolio of this underwater specialist company.

The sixth international exhibition on Land and Naval Defence systems was held in New Delhi from 15 to 18 February 2010. Over 126,000 visitors including 85,000 business visitors came to the exhibition. Over 650 companies from about 35 countries displayed their products. Major participants were from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, Ukraine and USA. Israel was the biggest participant country in terms of space occupied (about 1,250 square meters) while the United States was represented by the largest number of companies (25) from overseas. The four-day event was the largest ever defence exposition in Asia and showcased Indias emergence as an attractive destination for investment in the defence sector and provided a platform for alliances and joint ventures in the Indian defence industry.

Participating in Operation GOOD HOPE South Africa

Under command of Commander s.g. Marco von Kolln the German Navys Einsatz Ausbildungs Verband der Flotte 2010 (EAV 2010), made up of the Type F123 frigate FGS ¡°Brandenburg¡± (F 215) and Type F122 frigate FGS ¡°Niedersachsen¡± (F 208) , the ¡°Berlin¡± class combat support ship FGS ¡°Frankfurt am Main¡±(A 1412), and the ammunition ship FGS ¡°Westerwald¡± (A 1435), sailed Wilhelmshaven on January 10th, 2010 for a 5-months deployment to South Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. On the task groups busy agenda are several exercises like Exercise GOOD HOPE IV, and participation in the NATO Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR (OAE). The deployment also gives 240 midshipmen from the Naval Academy in Murwick the opportunity to gain first-hand experience onboard warships.

Rectifying Recruiting and Retention Challenges

In today's fast-paced international climate, the measure of success for a deployed submarine may well be how quickly the crew can respond effectively to any situation. In turn, that adaptability will depend critically on the depth and flexibility of crew training. Preparation for the submarine force, like life on a submarine, is rigorous. A submariner must deal with a variety of situations calmly and quickly, and must be able to be in control at all times.

Book Review: “Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat” by Martin Robson

Rather than providing an alphabetic reference list or exhaustive dictionary of all slang terms, Robson concentrates on terms that have passed from „Jack Tar. to the „landlubbers. ashore. And he used a clever way of cautioning his readers: “Some terms and words used by sailors fall under that category we might call swearing – i.e. rude, offensive or sexist. In order to provide some examples of the way sailors often thought of the world around them I have collected a sample of these towards the end of Chapter 9, Poking Charlie. If you think they might shock or offend you, then you don.t have to look.” It worked on me – I am sure I was not the only one who started reading the book at Chapter 9.