Contents2 A Programme Convenient for Politi­

cal PlannersA ministerielcomment

3 A NewConceptHO'1lJ!lw proqnunme uias couceiied andimpleiuented

5 ContainersTlte concent oJslnndal'diseri conuuners

Duuisl: Miulster q{J)(!{ence, ..Mr. Knud E'ul}!I(Junl

AProgrammeConvenientfor PoliticalPlanners

TheStandard Flex300 learl sliip "Plyvefi.l'ken" confujured 0.1'a suroeillænce unitT

6 A Flexible PlatformTlte basicship and its constructiou

10 The C31 SystemTlte electronic backbone

12 RolesTlte confiquratious enosenby uie RoyalDttnisli Nrwy

14 Operating a F1eet of Standard FlexUnitsCommeni tn] Fiaq Q[{ir;erDenmark

15 VISions and ProspeetsElabonuions au thefuture posslbiliiies

PublishersCANVARCDK-9900 Frederikshavn - DenmarkPhone: +45 98 42 22 99Fax: +45 9843 2fJ 30

Rl NobelTechNobel Industries

NobelTeeh SystemsABS-175 88Jarful lu- SwedenPhone: +468580840 00Fax: +46 8 580 322 44

By Mini.I·lerr!fDefence, Mr. KnutlEn!!!!rwrrl.

In these times of changes in the Euro­pean seeurity situation almost all eoun­tries are seeking to trim tbeir defeneespending. It is important tba t changesaremade in a well-eonsidered waysoasnot to leave tbe armed forces witboutan essential eapability. This puts a lotof pressure on politicians, administra­tions and military staffs to show l1ex­ibility and innovation.

At timesprocurementsehemesrequestedhy theArmed Forceshave tobe modified.Atother times sueh sehemes have to bepostponed Ol'jettisonerl,One projeet,how­ever, whieh inDenmarkhasenjoyedwidepolitioalsupport is theStandardFlex300progrumme. undoubtedlydue tothemanyobvious benefitsof that projeet.

By designing and fitting the StandardFlex 300 ships in sueh a way that rolc­dedicatod equipment ean bo quieklychanged, the Navy ean meet operationalrequirements with a smaller number ofships thanwouldbe needed usingsingle­role (t raditional) ships.

Themodularityoftheeoneeptalso offersa eonven ient f1 exibili ty in the planningand execution of programme financing.Without seriously jeopardising a long­term procurementplaneomprisingacer­tain number of ships and sets of equip­mentandweapnnsystems, thegrudual ful­lilment of thegoal can boadapted to a se;quenee..and a time sealedictatedbywhatiseeonomieal1y feasible under changing eir­eumstanees.

Thefores ight manifestedbythispioncer­ing eoneept has reeentlybeen proven bythe faet that the Standard Flex 300s fitwell into NATO's revised strategy, eallingfor flexible, mobile and powerful unitssuitable forrapid roaction to all conceiv­ablofuturesituationswithin thescopeofthe treaty.

Inastate oftletente,asenjoyedat presentin De nmark's part ol'the world, it is fur­thermore a great adventage that theStandard Flex 300 sbips ean be easilyeonverted toperformalsoa rangeofeivil­ian tasks, The prospeets ol' exploitingthese possihilities are at present beingthoroughlyinvestigated. •

TERMA Elektronik AS ~Hovmarken 4 l:QS!JDK-8520 Lystrup- DenmarkPhone: +4586 22 2000Fax: +45 86 22 27 99

Editorial consultant.Layou t/C(JOrdinatiOll:

Printers:

Puhlishcrl:Clruutnnon:

2

Huns Harboe-HansenL.Stuhdrup/C. LarsenAarhusOffset Trykkeri,DonmarkMuruh InH218,111111

ANew Concept

By RearAdmiralSøren Torp Petersen.

GId",{af Danish Ntuuil ­Materiel Conuuand,

RearAdmiratSøren Torp Petersen

Necessityis the motherofinvention, asthe sayinggoes, and this proverb aptlydescribes howtheconceptofthe Stand­ard Flex 300 was bom.

In theearly 1980s the Royal Danish Navywas facing a major replacement prob­lem. Leng-termplanscalled attention tothe faet that - during the 1990s - 32units, about halfthestrengthofthe Navy,wou ld have to bephasedout due toobso­lescence and age. Ten ol' these unitswere submarines and ships ol' frigatesize, mentioned here only to stress themagnitudeoftheeconomicproblem. Theremairting 22 ships cornprised six fastattack craft,eight patrolcraft, andeightminecountermeasure vessels.

In operat ional planrung the existingnumber ol' eachabove mentionedvesselswas considered an absolute minimum.Realistic Iong-termbudgetingclearlyin­dicated, however, that an ordinary shipfo r shipreplacement would not be feasi­ble, purticularlyas development and ex­perience dictated updating ol'the char­aeteristicsol' all threecategoriesol' shipsto be replaced.

As it was, the idea ernerged to have astandardhullwithastandardprapulsionsystemdesignedinsuchawaythatitcouldtakeavariety 01' containerised equipmentand weapon loads to suit various rales.Standardised containers and interfacesSIlOUld then allow the outflt for one roleto be interchanged with that ol' anotherwithin a few hours. Sensors common toallroles, ornotsuitedfo rcontainerisationsuch as a hull mounted sonar, should bepermanentlyfitted. In addition, a modu­lar and !lexibIe Command, Control, Com­municationsandInformationSystem(C31 _system), based on a data bus and stand­ardised consoles and processors, wouldbe essential for control and operation ol'weaponsandsystems carried.Anopencon­figurationshouldallow the Ca l-system it­self to have hardware and software mod­ulesadded(or removed) tomeet thechang­ing requirementsor new technology. _

71w Dtmlsli MGM-nnils 'i{tueSUND-class, tuesuroelllance units Cif tlteDAPHNE-elaRS, inu!thefas! petrol beats of LIw SØLØVEN-class - alltogether 22 snips- are replaced b,l/ theStandardFie.': 300units, '110111 nitmed LIw FLJ'lIEFISKEN-claRs q[terLlw letuislup~

3

-- ... ~.. ' .

..Weapon and equipment containers can be clumqed easily aaui I}uiekly. All containers haveerane hookIi?: points. Lijting in mul out,securinq tlu: containersin tlteir positions and connectinq Utesuuuiardised. interftices areperformed in less tlum an ltour. The aiiqnmentprocedure neededin tlæ CG1ie olqtm syslenis may require afetu more hours

It was evident that the operational re­quirements dictating a minimum of 22vessels of the three specialised typescou ld bo met by a smaller number ofships built to the new concept. A pre­feas ibilitystudyindicated that about 16units would suffice, and the number 16was later fixedasagoal.As a result initialexpenditure as well as operating costswould be reduced correspondingly. Fur­thermore, the benefits of the achievedstandardisation meant more savings.

Again, in various ways the modularity ofthe concept also contributes favo urablytowards minimising the life cycle cost.Modules not embarked ean be storedashoreunder ideal conditionssomainte­nance is reduced to a minimum. Over­haul scheduled fo r each type of systemand fortheshipsare not interdependent,

4

and updating Ol' complete changeofsys­tems are greatlyfacilitated.

From the pre-feasibilitystudythe Stand­ard Flex300 project rapidlyproceeded tofeasibiJitystudyand by mid-1983 the ba­sic lay-out of a 300 tons ship had beenestablished.TheprojectphasethenJasteduntil the autumn af 1984 and by mid­1985, when final governmental approvalhadboen granted,a buiklingcontract fo ra first batch of sevenwas signed. In 1990that contract was followed by anethereomprising six units, and according toplans a third batch af three should boordered in 1993.

The lead ship "Flyvefisken", Danish fo rThe FlyingFish, was delivored bytheendof 1987 and in 1988 series produetionstarted.The buildingschedule has since

been layingdowntwoayearats ixmonthsintervals, followed by a building time afabout a year per ship and the Navy's ad­ditional litting-out periodof six months.By theendof 1991 fiveStandard Flex300vesselshadbeencommissioned, andcom­missioningof' thefo lIowing unitswill con­tinueat arateofoneshipevery six months.

The administration af the programmehas been facilitated bythe financial Ilex­ibiJitywhich the concept alsooffers. Forbudgetaryand other reasons it has beenfo und expedient to plan acquisition afsomeweapons andsystems insucha waythat theirdeliveryschedulewilllagsome­what behind the buildingschedule. •

Containers

A basic idca of the Standard Flex 300concept is to mountweapons and non­permanent equipment in standardisedcontainers to make possibIe a rapidexehange of weapons and equipmcntrequired in one specific role to thatcalled for by another.

The containers are adapted for the vari­ous types af weapons ar equipment theyhold and/ar carrv an top. The standardi­sation applies to the outer dimensions,the deck litting. and the interfaces.

The outerdimensions are3.0 minlength,3.5 m in width, and 2.5 m in height. Theinterfaces comprise power supply, databus connections, communications, ven­tilation, and water supply.

..Thestandard centahiers aremadeafslainlesssteeland luuie aprecision nuichinedflanqeto ensureaccuracu totten bolted to tliecorrespondinq deckjlange. Each container hils 11I!(Jcouuector-areos, oneanetuier side, for connectionslo the dual bus-suste/n, power supplyetc.

Depending upon purpose, the varionscontainers are configured either as aclosed box with a watertight door andhatches providing access to the interiar,such as a storagecontainer, Ol' theyhaveopen sides and onlythe corner construc­tions to connect top and bottom. Theweapon ar equipment itself is mountedan the container top and all dedicatedelectranicsar machinery- includinganylocal controls - belonging to the systemare installed inside the containers andconnectedtothe standard interfacepan­els.

LAN VIDEO DEGAUSS. lNTERCOM FIRE~~

POWER WATER

The container carrying the multi-pur­pose gun an top and its loading systemand localcontrols inside is anexampleaf Gun containeran open container which has only the ~

carner construetions to connect the topand bottom. The open gun container al-1011'S the crewaccess from the outside tothe revolving magazine.

lfone Ol'morecontainerpositionsare leftunoccupied,purpose-made hatchcoversare fitted to seal the wells. •

Storage container~

5

AFlexible PlatformPrincipal Partlenlars

Lengthoverall 54.0m

Lenghwalerline D.W.L.__50.0m

The lIull

The Standard Flex 300 (SF 300) - theresult af the fund amental concept thatlogistic standardisation and operatinnulllexihi litycan be achieved by use af rap­idly exchangeable, rncdular systemsmalching a variety of roles - incorpo­rates four wells dimensioned and Ilttedwith all interfaces foranyoft heweapon/cquipmentcontainersofthe programme.

Theships, built by Dunyard.Aalborg, areof GRP sandwich construction, a mate­rial selected to save weight and mainte­nance and because it is non-magnetic. Italso offers a high standard of fire resist­ancc due to its low heat transmission fac­tor and due to use of fire resistant intu­tuescentcoatings.lncorporation ofKevlarpanels intocertam areas of the hull andthe superstruerure provides proteetionagainst splinters and smalt arms fire.

ElectromagnetlcCompatibility(EMC) inthe non-metallic ship has been achievedby sprayed layers ofzinc and shielding ofcable glands and penetrating, non-me­tallic pipes and duets.

Propulsion audAuxiliary Installations

ACODAGpropulsionplanthasbeenohosento meet requirernents fo r speed andeconomy. A General Electric LM500 gasturbinedrives afixed-pitchcentre-line pro­peller, and two MTU IGV39GTB94 dieselseach drives a contrnllable-pitch wing pro­peller.

An auxiliary hydraulic propulsion sys­tem is installed for silent minehuntingand economic loitering. The system in­eludes a bow thruster.

RolI stabilisation is obtained by a systemaetingenthewingruddersandbyacomple­mentarv tank system. Trim flaps are alsoIl tted.

Ship Contr ol and Supervisory System

All propulsion units, auxiliary machin­ery, pumps, valves, ventilation etc. arecontrolled and supervised byafullyelec­tronicsystemoperated froma console atthe bridge. Handling of the ship is per­formed from a panel positioned at thefron t of the bridge Ol' from wing ~

Breadth 9.0m

Druught

at fullload displacement__2.5 m

Light displacement 320 l

Full loaddispincement 450 t

Max. continuous speed,CODAG +30 knots

Speed,ondiesels only approx. 20 knots

Speed,on hy-draulic drive approx. 6 knots

Enrlurance atcruisespeed18 knots approx. 2400 nm

Complcment 19-29

171isdenmustralioII seclioII displaysthe GRP­suntln.ich ianers ioitl! tlte cellular coreIieltoeen the Ollleraud inIl erGRPlamillalesy

6

Standard Flex 300 mul SurfaceAII.' ,il iary Vessel (formin e countenneasures) at thefi nalslage afcompletionin Ilte GRP eanslructianfacilily priorIo transfer Io ilteou/fil/ing plan!y

•Thebritlgeconsolecf llu: ship'scontrolandsllperl'isorususlem andthe ship lutudlins] panello I/Ie righl

panels at either side.The bridgeconsoleis duplicated by an identical consoleplacedinanequipment roombelowdeck,primarily used for servici ng. Under nor­mal conditions ofoperation equipmentand engine rooms are unmanned.

Vital controls of the system have hard­wi re back-ups.

Accommodation

The advanced systems selected fo r theSF 300 have lowmanning roquirementsso the total complement numbers only19 to 29, dopend ing upon the role fol'which theship is artned.Therefore, andbecause tho SF 300 is extrernelyroomy,allranksenjoy a high standardofaccom­modation. Further tothocuptain'scabinthere are five double cabins for officersand senior ratings and nine double cab­ins for junior ratings, all with privateshower and toilet facilities.

Stealth Features

Both hull and superstructure have beendesigned to offer the smallest possibieaverageradar crosssection, and inaddi­tion the properties of theGRPsandwichmaterialgreatlycontribute toa low levelof radar retleetion.

Furtherrnore, the non-magnetic naturoof the building material used reducesthe dogaussing problem considerably,and the insulating qua li ties ofthe mate­rial assist in reducing both acousticand

heat emissions. Besides, specific meas­ures have been taken tominimisothe IRsignature of the oxhaust.

A Design of Great Promise

Although dosigned fol' the Royal DanishNavy the SF300 wouldserve well in anywater all over the world. Its seaworthi­ness hasbeenwellprovenand meets therequirement fol' full operabilityin windforce 6 in open waters.

It isnoteworthythat theSF 300 isconsid­erably lurger than its displacernem fig­ures suggest. Ships constructed by theGRP sandwich method offer a more fa­vonrable ratio botween the inboard vol­urne, which can be turned to practicaIaccount,andthodisplacoment thancon­ventionally constructedships, Infaet, asfol' size the SF300 has a lurger displuce­ment than contemporary coastal cor­vettes ol' traditional steel designs.

In this the Iifth centenarv ofColumbus'epoeh-making vovage across the Atlan­tic to theNewWorld it isworth recallingthat the Admiral's Ilagship, the "SantaMaria" measured only half the length ofthe above vessels and displaced a mere120 tons. •

A

A llielO of I/Ie ioardroom

Olle q[ thejunior ml/ligs'Cl/blus..

7

l Forward container position 10 Antennas 19 Accommodation

2 Combined bridge/ops-room 11 Torpedo tube deek-rigs 20 Ammo magazine

3 Search light 12 Mine rail deek-rigs 21 Hull-mounted sonar

4 Fire control radar & EO truekors 13 3 Rudders, outboardwith roll damp- 22 Bow thrustering

5 HF, VHF, UHF communieations14 3 Propellers re6 Navigation radar15-17 3 Aft container positions

7 Surveillance X-band radar mountedback-to-back with Surveillance C- 18 Main machinery:band radar 2 diesels

1 turbine8 ESM system

9 Decoy launchers , ,0 ,,e -"j

I

The Command, Control, Communications andInformation System

..Th estandardconsolecf theSunuiurdFle.1;300eJ/-system. Va rying with l/w roleoftheshipa minimum oj three ond a ma.17mU1II aj sir sucli consoles are moumed in the combinedbridqe/ops-room

ThemoduIarandflexible Command,Con­trol, Commnnieations and InformationSystem (CaI-system) oftlteStandardFlex300(SF300) isasvitalto tlte implemen­tation of tlte programme's concept as istlteshipitselfwitltitssystemofexchange­able weapons and otlter types of outfit

Irrespeclive of lhe role fo r which the SF300 is fitted, the Cal-system is the elec­tronicback-bone which connects the em­barked,role-dedicatedequipmentwith thestandardisedoperatorconsolesand all per­manentlyinstalledsensors, includingtrack­ers belonging to the fire control system,communications, navigational aids etc.

Thesystemis basedon anEthernet (IEEE802.3) data bus, duplicated as a redun­dancy measure, and a seriesof intelligentnodes which form the gate-way for sub­systems to access the data bus.

Eachnode containsoneOl' more processorcards on an industry-standard VME bus.Thisarchitectureallows functionalsystemintelligence tobe distributed to the nodesand provides an easyway of adding extraboardsandsoftwaretothenodes.The openconfiguration of the architecture ensuresgrowthpotentialbyal lewing newfunctions

Unm annedstandardconsoleojtheStandardFle.r 300eJ/-system•

10

(newweapon systems etc.) tobe addedbyhooking new nodestothedatabus,and anyobsolescent fu nction can be updated orextracted. Adata base provides long termdatastorageand,like thedatabus, thisbaseis duplicatedfor reasons ofredundancy.

AdaSoftware

Asignificantbenefit oftheselectedsystemarchitecture with its large number ofdis­tributed processors is that it lends ilselfeasily to inelusion of spare capacity, intermsof processor loadaswellas memorysize. Such spare capacity wili allow theapplicationsoftwaretoreconfigure ilselfincase one Ol' more nodes ofthe network islost.Thebasisfor thisreconfiguration isthehighly modular and distributed architec­ture of theAda code employed,which im­plies that theapplications arewrittenwithno assumptions as regards processor Ol'

node allocation.

...... ~ .....~. - ....

The software iswri tten inAda,and it oper­ates in the system known as Base System2000, developedbyNobelTech.

When the systemfor the Ilrst SF300shipwas rielivered in 1989 it contained about400,000 lines ofAda code in order tofuUi!therequirementsrelatedtothebasicpatrolboatrole.To meet therequirementsassoci­atedwiththe other, more dernandingrolesthe software ofthe systemhas sincebeengradually expanded and now it ineludesabout 1.5millionsource lines ofcodes.

Standard Consoles

The operutor's standard consoles pro­vide the Man-Maclune Interface (MM!).Aminimumofthree consolesure mount­ed in the ops-room, suffic ient fo r thepatrol boat role. For more dernandingrol es the numberofconsolesisincreasedup to six, •

SA\'MCA!SAMstosesGUSSSM

1I11,\ I.'------F- IlWFND,u.,1'

[lATAnus

lllIU'1':UOS\115

..\UJU\lATEIJCOlolllUSlCATIOS

slSn:\1

'--'<:»

Schenuuic oietoof the StandardFlex300(}11- sI/stem. Eaelt ship has4container toells, and thebollom arttu; afcontainersshows theRoyalDanisn Novy 'spresent inoenton) plan

TheMMIforeverysub-system isembeddedin anystandard console. In this way, withthe possibility ofcarrying out all functionsfrom anyselectedconsole, extreme llexibil­ity is allowed in the organisation af ops­roomactivities and,besides redundancyisensured.

Furthermore, the employmentafonlyanetype afconsolebringsaboutarivantages inconnection with operator training as wellas inthe field oflogistic rationalisation.

ReadilyAdaptable Ml\D

usedinavarietyofways and sotheoperator,at any time,canselect the mode bestsult­ingthedemandsofthesituation. 1\votouchsensible,programmablekeyboardsprovidethe hierarchyofmenusassociatedwiththesystems under control, rollerba lls providecursor operations, and a standard qwerty­keyboard allows text entries.

Functionsonly to becarried outby specifi­cally authorised persons, and restrictedinformation,aresafeguardedbyapasswordprocedure. For training purposes simula­tion functionsareIntegratedinthesystem.

ofthecombatsystem.TheFlexfireineludestwo separatecharmelsaffi re,onebasedana fully coherent Ku-band TWT radar andoneonoptronicsensors.Bothtrackersmaybe fitted with laser, TV and/or IR sensors.Among the features can be mentionedex­tremely 101V side lobes, (multiple target)off-boresight tracking,extremelyhigh rangeresolution, lock/track-on-jam and 1st/2ndorder prediction. •

TheMMIiscreatedanthebasisofaconceptof "MMI-Objects" - an advanced mecha­nismwhichallows specificationandimple­mentation of applications without irnpos­ing any restrietions on how the MM! isconfigured. The tools used for producingMMIfeaturesallow changes withoutalter­ing the basic Ada code. The result is astandard console which is readily adapt­able to aireadyexisting practices and pro­cedures and can easily be amended if, forinstance arteraperiod ofexperiencewithanew procedure, that should be consideredexpedient.

Thestandardconsole isdevelopedand man­ufacturedbyTerma.ltfeaturesadoublesetofscreens for presentation of radar video,synthetic colourgraphics, text-totes, RGB­sonar pictures, and lR!fV video from thecamerasofthetrackers.Thescreenscanbe

Communications Sub-bus

lnterfacedwith the mainC' I-busis a com­munications sub-bus encompassingall in­ternal and external communications, in­cludingdatalink.To alargeextentthispartofthe C' I-system is based on tibre-optics,and like the main system its software iswritten inAda.

The interface allows communication di­rectly toand from the standard consoles.Therefore thescreensofthe consoles canbeusedforwriting,receivingandretrievingmessages, and paper circulation can thusbegreatlyreduced.

Integrated Fire Control System

The Flexfire weaponcontrol systemfor thef'LYVEf' ISKEN-classformsanintegralpart

Tlte radar trucker af tne Fiesfire weaponcontroi system which is integrated ioiu: theO'l-system. The Flexfire may conirol avariely afquns and missile syslems~

11

Roles

ThesignificanceoftheSF300concept isthe ability to change the role conflgura­tion rapidly to adapt to new sitnations.Keeping in mind that the C3I-systemandthe sensor andcommunications systems(save thetowed sonars) arepermanentlyinstalied,thefiguresonthesepagesillus­trate the eqnipment inventorywhich willbe on board inthe variousroles.

The SurveillaneeUnit's onlyweapon sys­temis the multi-purposegun.The remain­ing container positions are used for storesandahydrauliccrane, used forrapid launch­ing ofthelargedinghyinsearehand reseueaswell as boardlug operations.

..SF300 equipped toitt:SSM and torpedoes

Surveillance Unit

..... and loaded toith. mines

"I.1

The Combat Unit isfitted forAnti SurfaeeAction, carrying gun, surfaee-to-surfaeemissiles (SSM), surfaee-to-air missiles(SAM), and wire-guiden, homing torpe­does fittedon thequarter deck.

The Minelaying Unitcarries gunand SAMsystems for self-protcetion and has railsfi ttcdtothedeck toallowforacargoofmorethan 60 mines.

Siarage Crane Slomgl'Di/ lllhU

GIIII

TheåntfSubmarineWarfare Unit (ASW)earries weapcnsforself-proteetion andhas- as a complernent to the hull-mountedsonar - a variable depthsonar (VDS) sys­tem in the aftcontainer. The type ofASWweapon has not beendecided,

The Anti Pollution Unit mayhe stripperlcompletelyofweaponrytoallowforembar­kation of containers with equipment forfightingpollutionat sea,suehasoilbooms,oil skimmers, tanks for storing pollutedwater,chemieals,etc.

CombatUnit

er? ~ o- ~

il g:: [2' - > :-<J/

EJ B:J 1rJ B"'"SAM Torpedo SSM GUll

TheMine CountermeasuresUnit(MCM).Aspecific MCM eoneept has been devel­oped within the SF 300 programme. Thisconceptemploysa minehuntingsystern rep­resentinga furtherdevelopmentoftheroutesurveyconeept, basedonthegeneralprin­ciples detection, classification, identifica­tion and neutralisation, However, the SF300MCM conceptis unique inanumber ofways, and it offers tbe SF300s an unprec­edenteddegreeofsafetyduringthecritical

12

Mine1ayer Unit

SAM Grane StorageDi llghlJ

90000800 60 mines 0/1 deck

Gun

Container Wells

..1'l1C SAle-18.2 111 0.11., beam wi dlh q{4.75 m,tlnuiah! q{ 1.2 m, dispiacement oj32 10lls

detection phase by making use ofsurfaeedrones towing sidescansonars.

IVincl; CmIle

Anti Pollution Unit

Storaqe Sim-ageDillghy

Astandard container houses the on boardMCM outfit, and eachSF 300 \\; 11 normaflyeontrol two of the above surface drones.also designuted Surface Auxiliary Vessols(SAVs) .The container holds two cleotron­ics cabinets for the side scan sonars pluscommunication links, and at thedeckarecarriedoneortworemotelycontrolled mineidentilicationanddisposalunderwaterve­hicles,

The SAVs are used in the delection andclassification phases. LiketheSF 300s theyure of GRPsandwich construction. Theirmaximumspeedof12 knots is provirled bya pumpjet system which is inslalled in awell aftsothat it flushes with the bottom.Thesonar fish is loweredand hoisted froma stem mountedAerane. In the MCMrolethe SF 300 will initially take up sunablepositions in clean areas and from theremunoeuvre theunmannedSAVs and oper­atetheirsonarssothattheroutesuspectedof having been rnined issearched system­atically.Alterwards, during the identlflea­tion and-whennecessary- neutralisation,theSAl'sarewithdrawnand anunderwaterdroneisputtoworkand manoeuvredonthebasis ofposition information from the hullmounledsonar.

Thecontrolsystems ofthesidescansonarsand theunderwutervehlclesareinterfacedwiththeC31-systemoflheSF300,andsoarethecommunicationlinksand thedatafromthesonarsensors. Inthiswayall operationscan be conducted from the standard con­solesofthe systeminthe ops-room.

MCM Unit

MCM Gun

SurfaceAn:l"il iary ~ ~-=C:::':=71Vessel -- -

Anti Submarine Warfare Unit

rq- ;;nææa

~ -. EJ 0-,',

SOllor Crtine Slorage GIIII

control Dillglty

~i1M Crnu«

Mille ~destruetionnehicle -

13

Flag OjJicer Denmark. •RearAdmiral

Knud Borek

Operating aFleet ofStandardFlex Units

Tids tabteindleolesthesituationsinpeace-tinte, intimesoftension,alldin timesoftour. lVi/ha tmditional ntun) oue nntst make do wi/h the inoentoru al luuul . TIlO Flexflee! pravidespotentialfor afled ble response lo a varielg ojcontinqeucies and chunqitu) requirements

"

Bg Rear Admiral Knud Borek.

As Flag Officer Denmark, Rear Admi­ral Knud Borckisresponsiblefor navaloperationsandfor theoperational edu­cation of personneI. In this article,Admiral Borck gives his evaluation ofthe new flex-fleet as seen from theOperational Command.

The basic peacetime tasks of any navyare to upholdcontrol of nationalwaters,tosafeguard nationalmaritime interestsand to prepare for wartime tasks. In theBaltie Approaehes and adjaeent watersSF 300 units are now performing theround-the-clock surveillance necessarytocontrol these waters and tosalegnardDanish and NATO interests in the area.

In a period of tension Ol' in case of war,the SF300son surveillance dutymaybeupgraded wi th added equipment. How­ever, as Danish waters are Ideallysuitedfor rninewarfare, initiallyweight is likelytobe attaehed tocapacityfor mi nelayingand MGMoperations. Depending on thesituationsubsequentoperationsmaycall

Traditional \l\\)'

Four types of ships

for an increased eapacityin other roles,while the proportions ofMGM andmine­laying capability will be adjusted to cir­cumstances.

Naval warfare is characterised bysitua­tions that may enango frequently andquickly, and the demand for various •

Standard FI!'x ;l00 \n\}

One multi-role type ofship

-,In accordance with theSF300 concept ­that the outfitofexchangeableweaponsand other systems at any time shall beadapted to the requirements of the cur­rent type oftask- theSF300s,while oper­ating in the surveillance role, are fittedwith only their multi-purpose gun, a hy­draulic crane and a dinghy. In the ops­roomonlythree ofthe possibie sixstand­ard consoles are mounted, and in thiswaya erewofnomore than19suffi cesforpatrols lasting up to sixOl' seven days.

SUf ­vetltance

Time uf Tl'llsiull

Combut

-,Mine­hunter

Mlne­luyer

Elsewhere in this magazine is deseribedhow the SF 300s, in a matter of houl'S,

alternatively can be fitted out as FAGs,minelayers, MCMvessels Ol' ASW units,and howthese outfi ts meet the perform­ancerequirementsofeachrole.Thispor­tionoftheprogramme is intheprocessofbeing effected and, when gradually im­piernented, the operational concept forthe employment ofthis part of the RDNcan be outlined as follows.

In peace, parallel with the SF 300s onsurveillance duty, the other commis­sioned SF300s will be fi tted out for theother roles inorder totrainforthem.Thenumber of units outfitted for each rolewilldependontrainingrequirementsandthe exercise schedules.

14

Combnl Sur-veltlanee

r

Mine­layer

Mine­hunler

Sur- Comhalvemunce

Mine­hunter

Mine­la}"Cf

Sponsors

il n artist» impressknt Q{the nttoalbasecontainerdepot. RolecOJ{jZglU'a.lion Illa/J, IW10ClIeJ\

take place at (lUY por! bJj meaus of (J crane~

Brown Brothers & CO LId .Supplier rifsleerilllfand nulder roll stabil­isatton SIJstCIll

.=8 11ARAACUn<~ TU h o l o , '"

Supptier of DIJfINYCEU core nuuerial forthe GRP stuultoicl:

GECHSu.pplierchuodel Cn'-36Iighl ludttno unt edOMNI SmIlLI'

fiSl LOHMANN +8 STOLTERFOHTSlIjJplierqfsingle rednetion itearsNA VILUSGCf( 470Pfor propel/er drioe

~ L:yngsø-VALMETMarineSupplier of the ship conlrol aud suroeii­lauce slJstem

... •F r"'Il"" r"'IlM..................Supplier of messaqe tuuullinq and CO/1/­

nnmicolions system

quirements. Ineonsequeneesueh a f1 eetis believed to represent an operationalpotentialwhich is far groater than a tra­ditional fl eet ofsimi lar sizecornprisingavarietyaf speeialised ships. •

kinds af combat capability will changeaccordingly. In alleireumstaneesthe ea­pabilities af a fleet eansisting af multi­purpose vessels like the SF 300s ean beoptimised to match the operational re-

Visions and ProspectsMO NBERG ~ THORSEN A/ S

ST E E L D IVIS ION

TIte Standard Flex 300 (SF 300) pro­gramme heraIds a new era in construc­tion,operationandmanagementofnavalforces. The fundamental concept 01' theprogrammeexpandsonexistingconceptsforcontainerisationand standardisationof naval systems.

The urlvantages af a programme af multi­roleSF300 units areobviousandrecogniz­able, be it in the ability to reduee a totalnumber ol'units whilst maintaininga spe­cific operational output - as in the RDNcase - Ol' bl' il. the ability to inerease theoperational output whilst maintaining aspecific numberofuni ts.HavingintroducedtheSF300 fleet, theconceptean readilybl'utilized in design ol' ether, lurger ships,whichwouldlendthemselves toincorpora­tion oCa larger numbor af containers and,perhaps. a compIementary, lurger type ofcontainer. Elaborations over the possibili­ties of introducing the SF 300 containerwith its interface standards as a NATOstandard are ongoing, but the potentialadvantagos toany navy derivedfro mawideinternational acceptance ol' theso stand­anisare obvious.

The SF 300 is here today - and in opera­tional use, AIready within the existingproject there are investigations into thepossibilities of using the vessels for quitoother purposes than originally plannedbusedon the ability oftheSF300toacceptIour standard containers with a widevari­ety af "curgoes". ldoas are being investi­gated thoroughly in order that perhapsether,specialpurpose navy or governmentmaritime aetivitins may beeome encom­passed by the concept and lurther ratio­nalisations spring from such ideas. II; isreally only lefl. uptoone's imaginationwhatcouldbe thefuture tasks o1'anSF300 Ileet.Anyone mayelaborate further on the Dan­ish list of possibilities beingconsiderod.

• Anli pollution cenuthters willi booms,oi!skinnners, tanks, etc.

• Acconimodauou conuthters for a suJ'­plus cre/ll of trainees

• Hyrirographic laboralorlf containers

• Disaster relie] containers willi emer­{feJ/cy eq1lipmeJlI

• Hospital conuiiners••

i~.Supplier q(slainless steel contaiuer sJjsfem

+ ==-----nrtu _'. DeutscneAerespare

Siqiplier ofmoh: dieseleiujines

mJ OTO MELARA EiiM':-,,=",Supplier ql761111n Super Rapid Guu Moun!

ffE."JEØ SA8REESMSYSTEMRacal RsdarOøføm:ø Systems

Supplier of ESMs!islelll

I ROBLONSupplierofnon-meutllic ballisticpro leetionequipment

SlEMENSSupplier qf ASW6 nudti-role surrcittanceradar

~ Stone VickersSupplier ofcont rolied oud fixed pitcl! pro­petlers

+' T ELEFUMKEN S YSTEM T ECHNIK

" Dcursche ,\ l!ro Sjlilll!

Supplier rif3D multituode ship radar foracqulsition and battle control

~ THOM_SON SINTRAACTIVITES SOUS-MARINES

Supplier aj IBIS 43 mine suroeillance.sus­lems, deguusshl{j systems, and f/w so/monASWsonar s.lJstem

15