Russia Starts Delivery of Ka-28 ASW Helicopters to China
Russia has begun deliveries to China of a new batch of nine Ka-28 ASW helicopters, the export version of the Ka-27 seen here in Russian navy markings
Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, part of the industrial enterprise managed by Russian Helicopters, has produced the first shipment of the anti-submarine Ka-28 for The Republic of China Navy. The helicopters were ordered by Rosoboronexport. The first three of nine helicopters are now completing tests.
“The first shipment of the Ka-28 to China is a small but confident step in the broadening cooperation with our Chinese partners. Today and in the future the Russian helicopter industry is ready to provide any modern rotorcraft for navy and army forces of most countries, including our partners in China,” CEO Russian Helicopters Andrei Shibitov stated.
Sergey Mikrukov, Managing Director, Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, adds: “There is a stable upward trend in global demand for Russian helicopters. We are ready to satisfy the needs of our partners in Asia, the Middle East, South America, and on other markets both in midsize (Ka-28, Ka-32) and light (Ka-226T) helicopters.”
The Ka-28 is the export variant of the Ka-27 ASW helicopter. It is fitted with high-altitude TV3-117VMAR turboshaft engines with increased nominal and cruise performance. In the search role it is equipped with radio sonobuoys, and in the search and attack role – with anti-sub bombs and torpedoes (including the high-speed homing APR-2E Orlan).
The Chinese Navy already acquired eight Ka-28s in 1998 (five ASW and three search & rescue) equipped with the cutting-edge Izumrud search system. The ASW Ka-28s were based on two Sovremenny class destroyers purchased from Russia, and Luhai class destroyers. The helicopters also assisted in targeting the on-board supersonic anti-ship SS-N-22 Sunburn missiles.
By 2000 the Kumertau Enterprise has built 33 Ka-28 helicopters for customers from China, India, Vietnam, Syria, Yugoslavia, and Cuba.
French Marines Open Fire to Protect Trawlers
French soldiers train on the deck of a French warship bound for the Seychelles area
The threat to European fishing fleets in the Indian Ocean took a dramatic turn last weekend when French naval marines opened fire to protect two tuna fishing vessels from Somali pirates.
A spokesman for the French defence department said the operation took place some 200 miles from the Seychelles. It was the first time the French had repelled an attack since a plan was put in place in July for the military to protect boats in the region from Somali pirates.
Last week Spain’s defence department ruled out placing armed soldiers on their Indian Ocean tuna fishing fleet after a Spanish trawler and its crew were seized by pirates. Spain said it was illegal to use the military to protect what in effect was private property.
But it seems France has no such qualms and its soldiers opened fire on two small launches that were trying to approach the vessels bearing the French ensign. No one was injured on the tuna ships, which are based at Concarneau, in southern Brittany.
French defence minister Herve Morin said last Saturday the presence of the marines aboard trawlers ‘is planned to continue throughout the fishing season to ensure as much security as possible to fishermen.’ He added: ‘There were shots and they lasted half an hour.’
Both France and Spain have several trawlers operating in the Indian Ocean. European fleets have said Somali pirates, which have made millions of dollars from ransoms, are threatening a fishing industry worth up to $6 billion annually across the region.
France Orders Three FREMM Multimission Frigates
Last week, Hervé Morin, the French Minister of Defense, carried out the ceremonial cutting of the first steel for Normandy, the French navy’s second FREMM multimission frigate. On this occasion he made public the recent order for three additional FREMM ships. The FREMM program about fifty million man-hours of work to several thousand French workers until 2022.
On September 30, 2009 the French defence procurement agency, DGA, awarded DCNS an order for one FREMM frigate in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) configuration, and two other ships in air-defence configuration (FREDA).
This latest order brings to eleven the number of FREMM frigates ordered for the French navy, the first eight having been ordered in November 2005. All ships of this class will be named after French provinces. The first FREMM, Aquitaine, will be delivered in 2012.
This Franco-Italian program provides for the delivery of 21 frigates for both countries.
The multimission frigates will eventually constitute the backbone of the surface fleet in the various segments of naval warfare (anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, anti-ship and asymmetrical).
Displacing 6,000 tons and 142 meters long, these ships will be capable of reaching a top speed of 27 knots, and will be crewed by only 108 officers and ratings. They will be heavily armed, with MM-40 Exocet anti-ship missiles, Aster air-defence missiles and MU-90 torpedoes. The French navy’s first nine frigates, configured for ASW operations, will in addition have a deep strike role thanks to the future naval cruise missile due to enter service in 2014.
The two FREDA air-defence variants are designed to protect a carrier battle group or an amphibious task force against aircraft and missiles. All FREMM ships will operate an NH90 helicopter and carry a special forces detachment and its equipment.
Building eleven FREMM ships by 2022 will provide a very significant proportion of the workload of DCNS, mainly at its Lorient shipyard but also at its facilities at Brest and Cherbourg and at numerous sub-contractors, mainly SMEs.
Regarding exports, a frigate sold to Morocco is currently being built in Lorient and other countries have expressed interest in the innovative FREMM concept.
Tropical Regions to be Hardest Hit by Fisheries Shifts Caused by Climate Change
Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect food security in tropical regions most adversely, according to a study led by the Sea Around Us Project at The University of British Columbia.
In the first major study to examine the effects of climate change on ocean fisheries, a team of researchers from UBC and Princeton University finds that climate change will produce major shifts in productivity of the world’s fisheries, affecting ocean food supply throughout the world. The study is published today in the journal Global Change Biology.
‘Our projections show that climate change may lead to a 30 to 70 per cent increase in catch potential in high-latitude regions and a drop of up to 40 per cent in the tropics,’ says lead author William Cheung, a researcher at the University of East Anglia in the UK who conducted the study while at UBC.
‘Many tropical island residents rely heavily on the oceans for their daily meals. These new findings suggest there’s a good chance this important food source will be greatly diminished due to climate change.’
Previous studies have looked at how climate change affects global food supply but were limited to land-based food sources. These studies have also predicted that tropical areas will see a decline in land productivity.
The team, led by UBC Fisheries professor Daniel Pauly, also found that regions with the highest increase in catch potential by 2055 include Norway, Greenland, Alaska and the east coast of Russia. Meanwhile, regions with the biggest loss in catch potential include Indonesia, the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), Chile and China.
While greater catch potential in colder regions might appear beneficial, the authors caution that more research is needed to account for the multitude of dynamic factors that affect every ecosystem.
‘We need to keep the big picture in mind when looking at the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of climate change,’ says Pauly. ‘Major shifts in fish populations will create a host of changes in ocean ecosystems likely resulting in species loss and problems for the people who now catch them.’
‘While warmer waters might attract new species to colder regions, the rise in temperature might make the environment inhospitable to current species in the region that cannot move to even higher latitudes. Often these species are important to the diets and culture of native subsistence fishermen.’
The team’s projections also show that Canada’s overall catch potential will remain approximately the same. The west coast may see a decrease of almost 20 per cent from 2005 to 2055 while the east coast may get a 10 per cent boost.
With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, the overall maximum catch potential in U.S. waters is projected to decrease by around 10 per cent by 2055.
The study analyzed 1,066 species ranging from krill to sharks that constitute roughly 70 per cent of the world’s catch. The authors used models that include a large number of environmental and biological factors that affect fisheries. They ran these models through two climate change scenarios, one more conservative than the other, and measured the impact of the scenarios on fish distribution from the years 2005 to 2055. The authors did not include the highest emission level scenario considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which would have produced even more dramatic results.
This study is a product of the Sea Around Us Project, a scientific collaboration between the Pew Environment Group and The University of British Columbia.
U.S. Navy CNO Urges More International Cooperation
International cooperation is the currency of naval power today, the chief of naval operations said last week. Navy Adm. Gary Roughead cited a need to boost the effectiveness of this cooperation during a speech at the Naval War College’s International Seapower Symposium in Newport, R.I.
Naval cooperation is the cornerstone of America’s maritime strategy detailed in a 2007 document, Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, Roughead said.
“That strategy, with conflict prevention and international partnerships at its core, has served our Navy and our nation exceedingly well and continues to guide our thoughts, our plans and our actions,” he said.
Global maritime partnership is a central aspect of the strategy. “The U.S. services’ interest in global maritime partnership stems from our desire to seek out cooperative approaches to maritime security and promoting the rule of law,” the admiral said.
This fits in with the greater U.S. strategy that one country can’t do it all.
Personal trust is the cornerstone of maritime cooperation, the admiral said. “Trust cannot be surged,” he said. “With that as my guiding principle, I have spent the past two years traveling the globe, meeting with many of you and learning from your experiences so that I can better understand your concerns and proposals to make the maritime domain a safer place.”
Personal military-to-military relationships are the first step in building trust, said Roughead, who has met with many naval leaders in their countries and in the United States. He said he values these relationships and uses them in the everyday missions of the U.S. Navy.
“Indeed, in those moments when disaster or crisis demand the most from us, our relationships may yet pay the highest dividend,” he said. Navies need to know how to work together before a crisis or disaster hits, he added.
A prime example of this is in the Straits of Malacca patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. This has drastically reduced piracy in those waterways, he said.
“Our goal should now be to bridge the regional security awareness initiatives in support of yet broader awareness and partnerships,” Roughead said. “Besides information-sharing, we must also work toward greater interoperability. There are many ways to improve our interoperability and lessons learned of how to work together. Those lessons start again at the personal level.”
“In an age of instant communication and even imperfect translation software, we have unparalleled opportunity to ensure that the naval chiefs a generation from now will have known each other since their earliest days at sea, regardless of distance or language differences,” he said.
Training together and exercising together remain the best ways to facilitate this communication, Roughead said, adding that he wants to expand these opportunities also.
“Ultimately, the time we spend learning and improving interoperability is time well spent when it comes to issues of maritime security,” the admiral said. “There is perhaps no better example today of maritime partnerships than the work so many of us are doing against piracy, the Navy’s oldest foe, in the Gulf of Aden.
“The presence there of navies from all over the world is truly unprecedented, and very much needed for a security challenge that affects such a large ocean area,” he said.
Roughead urged the symposium members to use the time together at Newport as a way to further cooperation among navies.
“Common use of the high seas has been a driver of international cooperation and institution-building for centuries,” he said. “Today, in the early years of the 21st century, I am convinced that our new partnerships – informal as well as formal, local as well as global – are writing a new chapter in the development of international society.”
The symposium, in its 40th year, brings together leaders of the world’s navies. The first symposium in 1969 attracted representatives from 37 nations. The current iteration had representatives from more than 100 countries.
Iran Develops Missile Boat, Looks to Build Blue Water Navy
Iranian media outlets have reported that as part of its plan to enhance its maritime defence, Iran has developed an advanced, indigenously constructed Sina-class missile boat. Iran’s defence minister claims that the ship is equipped with radar, weapons, electronic and telecommunication systems, as well as advanced navigation technology.
Iran purchased 12 Combattante II missile boats from France, delivered between 1974 and 1981. These 275 ton displacement boats, officially named Kaman in Iranian service, have a top speed of 37.5 knots. They represented some of Iran’s most modern vessels of Western origin. Two were lost in combat, one to Iraqi forces in 1980 and another to US forces in 1988.
The main armament of these ships was in the form of a four round missile launcher and a 76mm OTO-Melara automatic cannon. The anti-ship missiles were originally the RGM-84 Harpoon, but have since been replaced by the locally produced Noor, a license produced copy of the Chinese C-802 missile.
These missile boats remained an important part of the Iranian naval forces as of 2008, and had led to earlier developments announced in 2003 to develop a locally produced version. The first of these Sina -class missile boats, are locally produced Iranian versions of the Kaman, entered service in 2006. Iran had two of these boats in service by 2008, with another in production[now launched]. These boats appear identical to the modified Kamans with the exception of the radar radome.
The Iranian navy is transforming from a littoral force into a blue water force, according to Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.
New Littoral Ship Prices To Be Revealed
Contract prices for the U.S. Navy’s two most recent Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will be made public soon – perhaps before the end of October. “That’s my goal,” a key admiral told reporters Oct. 6.
Rear Adm. Bill Landay, the Navy’s Program Executive Officer for Ships, said figuring the prices for the ships is a “convoluted process” because some of the materials used for the ships were purchased under earlier ship contracts that were then cancelled.
The Freedom (LCS 1), bottom, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy in Nov. 2008, while the Independence (LCS 2), top, is aiming to be delivered to the Navy by the end of this year. (U.S. Navy)
Price has become a major factor in the LCS program, which aims to buy a total of 55 small, fast and modular warships. Two companies, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, are offering competing designs, and in 2010 the Navy plans to choose one of the designs as the basis for the class.
Each company has produced one ship so far. The first Lockheed ship, the Freedom (LCS 1), was commissioned in November 2008. Landay said he hopes GD’s first ship, the Independence (LCS 2), is delivered before the end of this year.
Last spring, each company received an order to build a second ship – the Fort Worth (LCS 3) from Lockheed, and the Coronado (LCS 4) from GD. But the prices for those ships were kept secret – a restriction, Navy officials said, laid on by Pentagon rules governing the acquisition of ships from competing sources.
But on Sept. 17 the Navy dropped its plan to put both designs into production and announced it would choose only one design. That, Landay acknowledged, means the prices for ships 3 and 4 no longer need be kept secret.
A cheap price was one of the major attributes of the LCS program when the first construction contracts were awarded in 2004. Then, each ship was to cost $220 million, a relatively low cost for a U.S. Navy surface warship. But each of the first two ships suffered severe cost growth due to a variety of factors. Documents submitted with the 2010 Navy budget request put the current price tag for the Freedom at $637 million, while the still-incomplete Independence is listed at $704 million.
The Navy has repeatedly stressed to its shipbuilders the need to keep a lid on costs. In 2007, after the service admitted costs had jumped on LCS 1, the Navy cancelled the first LCS 3 and LCS 4 from each shipbuilder due to excessive cost growth. Congress imposed a cost cap of $460 million per ship beginning in 2010, and the Navy, while not divulging quotes received this summer from each shipbuilder for further ships, indicated neither company could meet that goal.
Landay, meeting with reporters at Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) headquarters in the Washington Navy Yard, stressed the Navy’s continuing efforts to keep the lid on cost growth in its ship construction programs. Nearly all the ships now under contract, he said, are being built under fixed-price contracts rather than cost-plus arrangements.
Soon, Landay said, the high-tech DDG 1000 destroyers will be the only new ships under cost-plus contracts. If a ship design is considered high risk, contains more technical challenges, or is the first of a new class, cost-plus agreements will continue to be used, but fixed-price, he said, will be the preferred scheme.
“It’s not nirvana,” Landay said, “but it shows we are making good progress.”
Landay also noted that over the past year, NAVSEA has added 67 new employees to the PEO Ships staff, “making sure the offices are adequately manned.” Improvements in “waterfront presence” have been made to on-site supervision in the shipyards, carried out by Supervisor of Shipbuilding.
3D Visualization Can Save Your Life
The U.S. Department of Defense wants to provide their troops with a 3D view of the battlefield. A decade ago, this seemed to be a science fiction fantasy. But since then, there are enough electronic eyes on the battlefield to make this happen.
Developments in graphics software, and more powerful, and cheaper, computers has made 3D representations of the real world easier to obtain. For the military, a 3D view of the battlefield is a life saver, and a big combat advantage. Visualization software would enable a user to quickly move around this 3D view, checking for how things look from different vantage points (especially those of the enemy).
There’s one big drawback to all this. There isn’t enough bandwidth currently available on the battlefield, to move around the data needed to keep the 3D view updated. However, once this problem is resolved, the troops will get their 3D battlefield maps in real-time.
Global Net Tightens Around Illegal Fishing
The international net is starting to tighten around countries and organisations that continue with illegal fishing activities.
Illegal fishing is the general term that refers to Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing covers a complex range of unlawful actions and entities that include the illegal harvesting, shipment, processing, landing, sale and distribution of fish and fishery products. Whether illegal, unregulated or unreported the end result is the same: depleted fish stocks and a significant reduction in revenue for some of the world’s poorest countries where dependency on fisheries for food, livelihoods and revenues is high.
Such wasteful fishing practices have imperilled one the planet’s most essential food sources, especially for billions of people in the Third World. Economic gain is the main force behind illegal fishing and this fact may hold the key to part of the solution. The demand for fish is growing globally at the same time as the constraints on legal fishing are increasing – together these form a strong motivation for illegal fishing with many opportunities for individual gains. IUU fishing and associated operations are by nature covert and difficult to track and monitor. Recent global analysis has estimated that the value of illegal fishery catches worldwide is over US$9 billion a year.
This past September, 91 countries agreed on a treaty that will refuse to accept ships involved in illegal fishing from entering signatory ports and thus help prevent the fish going to market. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) hailed the agreement to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as the first ever global treaty focused specifically on the problem.
The “Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing” commits countries to a number of measures to harden their ports against illegitimate fishers. The first ever global pact, which intends to block illicit fish catches from entering international markets, focuses on ending such violations as fishing without a licence, using illegal gear, disregarding fishing seasons, catching prohibited or undersized species, and fishing in closed areas.
The problem, thanks in part to support from seafood companies who have refused to buy IUU fish, has been greatly reduced in northern European waters, particularly in the Baltic and Barents Sea region where it was a problem. But it still goes on in other parts of the world.
The FAO assistant-director general for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ichiro Nomura said: “By frustrating responsible management, IUU fishing damages the productivity of fisheries, or leads to their collapse. That’s a serious problem for the people who depend on them for food and income.” Mr. Nomura noted that this “treaty represents a real, palpable advance in the ongoing effort to stamp it out”.
Foreign fishing boats will be required to request permission to dock from specially designated ports ahead of time, transmitting information on their activities and the fish they have on board. The treaty also mandates regular inspections and outlines a set of standards that will be used during inspections, including reviews of ship papers. The treaty calls for information-sharing networks to allow communications to all national authorities about vessels that have been denied access to ports, and it contains provisions intended to assist resource-strapped developing countries meet their treaty obligations.
Marport C-Tech Sponsored “Quilt of Belonging” Heads to Olympic Games
Marport C-Tech is a major corporate sponsor of The Quilt of Belonging; a textile mosaic measuring 120 feet long by 10.5 feet tall. It embraces 263 beautifully crafted blocks each portraying the cultural legacies of all the First Peoples in Canada and of every nation in the world. The Quilt of Belonging was started in 1998 and is currently on a five-year Canadian tour that will see it on display at the Surrey Art Gallery, January 23 – April 4 as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The Company first became involved in 2005 when we worked with the Quilt of Belonging staff to design and build 5 large traveling cases, as well as, sponsorship of the “Labrador Inuit” block (see below)
The central figure of the Labrador block is a "tea doll," created by artisan and craftsperson, Emily Flowers. The figure is flanked by two Inukshuks sewn in white tanned caribou skin. These stone figures are used as guideposts and food caches in the region. Directly below the doll sits a replicated ulu-- exclusively a woman’s tool--that honours their work. The interlocked, raised beadwork surrounding the doll represents the spectacular Northern Lights and the ever-precious sun.
Marport C-Tech continues to be a major corporate sponsor by providing storage and a facility for the maintenance of various sections of the Quilt as a result of the wear and tear from visiting various exposition sites.
This Canadian treasure is unique in the world and Marport is honoured to be associated with it. The quilt may also be viewed online at http://www.quiltofbelonging.ca/home.htm
