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FREMM and Horizon Class
France and Italy
are collaborating on two new vessels,
the Multi-mission Frigate (Frègate
Multimission
-- FREMM) and the Horizon Class Anti-Air
Warfare (AAW) destroyer. Both vessels
are being developed by France's Armaris
and Italy's OSN (Orizzonte Sistemi
Navali) with the companies forming
the joint venture Horizon SAS specifically
to develop the Horizon Class. The
UK was originally involved in the
Horizon Class project, but later withdrew
to develop its own AAW destroyer,
the larger and more expensive Type
45 Daring Class.
FREMM will be available
in two different versions, ASW and
land attack (Action Vers la Terre
-- AVT). It will be known as the Aquitaine
Class in French service and will replace
the French Navy's Tourville and Georges
Leygues Class destroyers and D'Estienne
d'Orves Class frigates. In Italian
service, it will be known as the Rinascimento
class and will replace the Maestrale
and Soldati Class frigates currently
operated by the Marina Militare
Italiana. The vessel will have
a displacement of 5,900 tonnes, a
top speed of 27 knots and a range
of about 6,000 nautical miles (11,000
km). FREMM will be powered by a hybrid
propulsion system, known as the Combined
Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG), featuring
two 34 MW LM 2500+ gas turbines built
under licence by Avio.
France and Italy
signed agreements in late 2005 committing
themselves to the production of a
first batch, comprising eight vessels
for the French Navy and two vessels
for the Italian Navy, which will enter
service from 2011. The two countries
together require combined order of
27 FREMMs to be delivered by 2016
at a cost of US$16 billion (€11 billion),
making it Western Europe's largest
naval project to date. France requires
17 vessels, comprising eight ASW and
nine land-attack. Italy requires ten
vessels with eight configured for
ASW/ASuW and two multi-role. Italy
placed an order for a further four
vessels in January 2008. A single
FREMM was ordered by Morocco in October
2007, although there are presently
no details as to when it will be delivered.
Algeria is now reportedly negotiating
the procurement of up to four vessels.
The first French
vessel Aquitaine will be delivered
to the Marine National in 2011,
while the first Italian vessel, to
be called Carlo Bergamini,
will be delivered one year later.
Further deliveries will continue until
2016. The French vessels will be equipped
with a navalised version of the MBDA
SCALP EG
Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM),
to be known as the Missile de Croisière
Naval (MdCN). Developed by MBDA, the
MdCN will be capable of hitting targets
at ranges of up to 1,000km. In January
2007, France's DGA awarded MBDA its
contract for 250 MdCN missiles with
50 destined for the Aquitaine Class
and 200 for the French Navy's Barracuda
Class SSN. The missile will enter
service from 2013.
Both vessels will
be armed with the Principal Anti-Air
Missile System (PAAMS) developed by
the Europaams joint venture owned
by the Aster missile developer Eurosam
(owned by MBDA and Thales) and MBDA's
subsidiary UKAMS. PAAMS is composed
of the Aster 15 short and medium-range
(up to 30 km) and Aster 30 long-range
(up to 120 km) active homing missiles
for fleet air defence or protection
of the vessel itself. The same system
will equip the Horizon Class destroyer
and the UK’s Type 45 Daring Class,
but will operate with different radar
systems. The Franco-Italian version
of the missile system for FREMM, known
as PAAMS(E), will be used in conjunction
with the Thales Herakles 3D S-band
multi-function surveillance and fire
control radar on the French vessels
and the G-band EMPAR (European Multi-function
Phased Array Radar) system developed
by Selex Sistemi Integrati on the
Italian vessels. Up to 48 Aster 15
and 30 missiles can be fired from
FREMM’s Sylver A50 vertical launching
system, developed by DCNS. Other armament
includes two Oto Melara
medium-calibre 76mm 76/62 Super Rapide
naval gun and four 12.7mm machine
guns. The French vessels will additionally
be armed with MM-40 Exocet Block III
anti-shipping missiles, while the
Italian vessels will be armed with
the Teseo MkII anti-shipping missile.
Each FREMM will be able to carry up
to two NH-90 NFH or one AW101 helicopter
for ASW/ASuW duties.
FREMM data
Specifications
Displacement: 5,900 tonnes
Length: 139.5 m
Beam: 19 m
Draught: 5 m
Performance
Main propulsion: 2 x 34 MW
GE/Avio LM2500+ gas turbines and 2
x 2.2 MW MTU 4000 diesel engines (France)
Max speed: 27 knots (50 km/h)
Economical speed: 15 knots
(27 km/h)
Range: 6,000 nautical miles
(11,000 km)
General
data
Crew: 145
Main sensor systems: 1 x Thales
Herakles multi-function 3D surveillance
and fire control radar (France) or
1 x EMPAR multi-function phased array
radar (Italy).
1 x TMS 4110CL sonar
1 x Thales Artemis Infrared Search
and Track (IRST) system (France) or
1 x Selex Galileo Silent Acquisition
and Surveillance System (SASS) IRST
system (Italy).
Weapon
systems: 3 x Oto Melara 76/62
Super Rapid 76mm naval gun, 4 x Oto
Melara 12.7mm machine guns or 2 x
Oto Melara KBA 25mm/80 naval guns.
DCNS Sylver A50 vertical launch system
for firing up to 48 Europaams Aster
15 or Aster 30 missiles.
DCNS Sylver A70 vertical launcher
(undergoing development) for firing
MBDA MdCN (SCALP Naval) cruise missile
(France).
8 x Exocet MM40 Block 3 (France),
Teseo Mk2 Block IV (Italy) or MBDA
Milas (Italy)
anti-shipping missiles.
1-2 x NH-90 NFH or AW101, UAVs (AVT).
Versions available: ASW, land
attack (AVT or GP)
Status: on order for France
(8 Aquitaine Class - 6 ASW and 2 AVT)
and Italy (6 Rinascimento Class -
4 ASW and 2 land attack), deliveries
2011-2016; Morocco (1), delivery date
unknown.
Horizon Class
To date, France has ordered two
Horizon Class vessels to replace its
Suffren and Duquesne Class frigates,
which will be known as the Forbin
Class. Italy has also ordered two
vessels, which will be known as the
Andrea Doria Class and will replace
the Ardito and Audace Class. The combined
order for four vessels is worth about
US$4.4 billion (EUR3.0 billion) and
each country may order two further
vessels each in the near future. The
French Navy's first vessel, Forbin,
was launched in 2005 and was delivered
in 2006, but will not be commissioned
into French Navy service until mid-2008.
Italy's first vessel, Andrea Doria,
will be delivered in 2008 with commissioning
due to take place a year later. The
remaining vessels (Chevalier Paul
for France and Caio Duilio
for Italy) will be delivered in 2009-2010.
The
Horizon Class is an advanced air defence
frigate also capable of ASW/ASuW duties,
which will have a displacement of
5,600 tonnes, a top speed of 29 knots
and a range of 7,000 nautical miles
(12,964 km) at its cruising speed
of 18 knots. It is powered by two
43 MW Avio LM2500+ gas turbines and
two 8.6 MW SEMT Pielstick diesel engines.
It will have a crew of 190 personnel
and will carry one NH-90 or AW101.
The
vessel’s principal weapons will be
the Aster 15 and 30 as part of the
PAAMS(E) system. Other weapons include
three 76/62 Super Rapid naval guns,
two Oto Melara Mod 503 25/80 guns
and EuroTorp MU90 ALT torpedoes. Unlike
the UK’s Type 45, which is fitted
with the more powerful BAE Insyte
Sampson multi-function radar, the
Horizon Class will be equipped with
a single Empar radar system and a
S1850M 3-D early warning long-range
radar as used in the FREMM, developed
by BAE Systems Insyte and Thales specifically
to support PAAMS.
Horizon
Class data
Specifications
Displacement: 7,050 tonnes
(full load)
Length: 150.6 m
Beam: 20.3 m
Draught: 5.4 m
Performance
Main propulsion: 2 x 43 MW
GE/Avio LM2500+ gas turbines and 2
x 8.6 MW SEMT Pielstick diesel engines
Max speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Economical speed: 18 knots
(33 km/h)
Range: 7,000 nautical miles
(12,964 km)
General
data
Crew: 190
Main sensor systems: 1 x Selex
Sistemi Integrati EMPAR multi-function
phased array radar.
1 x Systems Insyte/Thales S1850M 3-D
early warning long-range radar
1 x RASS surface search radar.
1 x Thales/WASS TMS 4110CL sonar.
Weapon
systems: 3 x Oto Melara 76/62
Super Rapid 76mm naval guns.
2 x Oto Melara KBA 25mm/80 naval guns
(Italy) or 20mm modèle F2 guns (France)
DCNS Sylver A50 vertical launch system
for firing up to 48 Aster 15 or Aster
30
1 x Oto Melara SCLAR-H ammunition
launcher (Italy)
MBDA Teseo Mk3 surface-to-surface
missiles (Italy)
2 x torpedo tubes for firing up to
8 x MU-90 Impact lightweight torpedoes.
1 x NH-90 NFH or AW101. MW Avio LM2500+
gas turbines and two 8.6 MW SEMT Pielstick
diesel engines.
Status:
on order for France (2 Forbin Class)
and Italy (2 Andrea Doria Class);
deliveries
2008-2010.
This
information is reproduced from the
EU Defence Industry market report.
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