Halifax class

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Halifax class
Frigate HMCS Regina (FFH 334)
Frigate HMCS Regina (FFH 334)
Overview
units 12
Shipyard

Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd., Saint John
MIL Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon

Keel laying March 1987 - September 1996
period of service

June 29, 1992 - Present

Technical specifications
displacement

4770 tons

length

134.1 meters (over all)

width

16.4 meters

Draft

4.9 meters

crew

225

drive

2 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines with 47'500 WPS
1 × SEMT Pielstick diesel engine with 8'800 WPS
1 × Royal Schelde gearbox
2 Escher-Wyss variable-pitch propellers
4 × 850 kW AEG generators

speed

29 kn

Range

9500 nm

Armament
Multipurpose radar

Sea giraffe 3D radar

Aerial search radar

Raytheon AN / SPS-49 2D radar

Fire control radar

Signal SPG-503 STIR 1.8

Active sonar

Hull Mounted AN / SQS-510 (V)

Passive sonar

Towing sonar AN / SQR-501 CANTASS

The Halifax class , sometimes incorrectly referred to as the City class due to its naming after Canadian cities , is a class of twelve frigates in the Royal Canadian Navy . They form the backbone of the same and are designed as multi-purpose ships, the focus is on submarine hunting . This is due to the planning period in the 1980s and the associated focus on the requirements of the Cold War . The downfall of the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union in particular led to the fact that the frigates - contrary to their original purpose - are increasingly used in international combat groups operating around the world. The frigates are stationed at the two larger Navy bases CFB Halifax and CFB Esquimalt . Since the Halifax class, which went into service in 1992, is to form the backbone well into the 21st century, a modernization program called F rigat E L ife EX tension (FELEX) is being worked on.

history

development

In the mid-1970s, the Canadian Navy began to think about replacing its 20 escort destroyers in the St. Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie and Annapolis classes. This eventually culminated in the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project . This was introduced into the NATO Frigate Replacement for 90s (NFR-90) project of NATO . However, when its failure became apparent because the interests of eight navies were too different, a national solution was chosen, which led to the Halifax class.

In accordance with the NATO doctrine in the Cold War, the design placed a strong focus on submarine hunting, since in the case of an alliance, the main task for the Canadian Navy was to combat the strong Soviet submarine weapons in the Pacific and Atlantic. In particular, it should be possible to protect convoys with troops for the continental European land front from the Soviet submarines. Secondly, the ships should be capable of fighting surface units and protecting themselves from enemy air attacks.

Ship list

Surname Named after Keel laying Launch put into service Shipyard
FFH 330 HMCS Halifax Halifax March 19, 1987 April 30, 1988 June 29, 1992 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 331 HMCS Vancouver Vancouver May 19, 1988 July 8, 1989 23rd August 1993 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 332 HMCS Ville de Québec Ville de Quebec December 16, 1988 May 16, 1991 July 14, 1994 MIL Davie Shipbuilding
FFH 333 HMCS Toronto Toronto April 22, 1989 18th December 1990 July 29, 1993 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 334 HMCS Regina Regina October 6, 1989 January 25, 1992 December 29, 1993 MIL Davie Shipbuilding
FFH 335 HMCS Calgary Calgary June 15, 1991 August 28, 1992 May 12, 1995 MIL Davie Shipbuilding
FFH 336 HMCS Montréal Montréal February 8, 1991 February 28, 1992 July 21, 1994 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 337 HMCS Fredericton Fredericton April 25, 1992 June 26, 1993 September 10, 1994 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 338 HMCS Winnipeg Winnipeg March 20, 1993 June 25, 1994 June 23, 1996 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 339 HMCS Charlottetown Charlottetown 18th December 1993 October 1, 1994 September 9, 1995 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 340 HMCS St. John's St. John's August 24, 1994 August 24, 1994 June 26, 1996 Saint John Shipbuilding
FFH 341 HMCS Ottawa Ottawa April 29, 1995 May 31, 1996 September 28, 1996 Saint John Shipbuilding

description

General

The ships are 134.1 m long, 16.4 m wide and with a draft of 4.9 m have a water displacement of 4770 t. The drive is provided by a CODOG system, which means that a combined drive of diesel engines for slow travel and gas turbines for maximum speeds is installed, whereby it is not possible to use both components at the same time. A SEMT Pielstick 20PA6 V280 diesel engine of 8800 WPS and two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines of 47,500 WPS each were chosen for the Halifax class. The power is transmitted by a Royal Schelde gearbox and two Escher-Wyss variable-pitch propellers , which leads to a top speed of 29 knots. The entire drive system is monitored and controlled by an Integrated Machinery Control System (IMCS) from the Canadian company CAE . A variant of the same control system is used on the Arleigh Burke class of the US Navy .

In addition, four generators of 850 kW each from AEG are scaffolded to cover the electricity demand .

Armament

Submarine hunting

According to their main mission, the submarine hunt, the central weapon system of the CH-124 Sea King helicopters. This is equipped, among other things, with a diving sonar on a winch as well as Mk 46 torpedoes and is intended to fight submarines in cooperation with the more powerful, less mobile sensors of the mother ship. In order to be able to use a relatively large helicopter like the Sea King on such small ships in heavy seas, the ships have a special system, which in the Canadian Navy has the nickname beartrap (in German bear trap). The helicopter lowers a rope as it approaches the ship, which is then used to pull it down onto the landing deck. The rotor runs at full power, so that in the event of a sudden upward movement of the ship, the helicopter would rise instead of crashing onto the landing deck with full force. This system allows landing up to sea ​​strength 6 . Because of this landing system, the Sea King are jokingly referred to as the Crazy Canucks .

A program is currently underway to replace the 40-year-old Sea Kings with new CH-148 Cyclone helicopters. However, the first deliveries have been delayed from the original target in 2008 to 2010 and full operational readiness is not expected before 2013.

In addition, submarines can be fought with the two twin torpedo tubes of type Mk 32 Mod 9, which use the same Mk 46 torpedoes as the on-board helicopter .

Guns

The main gun is located on the foredeck. The Halifax class was with the 57 mm L70 Mk 2 - Ship gun by BAE Systems (formerly Bofors ) equipped. This is a 57 mm caliber gun with 70 caliber lengths , which is able to carry up to 220 2.4 kg projectiles per minute over a range of up to 17 km. However, the effective range is only half. This weapon can be used against a wide range of targets, the small caliber and the high rate of fire being particularly suitable for combating smaller sea and air targets. In particular, the weapon is suitable for use against anti-ship missiles. On the other hand, the weapon is only suitable to a very limited extent for combating land targets, which has recently become more important.

A 20 mm CIWS of the Phalanx type is also installed as the final self-defense against approaching anti-ship missiles . The range of this system is a maximum of 3500 m and effectively 1500 m.

As the attack on the USS Cole demonstrated, there is a significant threat from attacks by small, fast boats. To enable such ward, are on all ships of the Halifax-class eight 12.7 mm machine guns of the type M2 Browning installed.

Missile

For air defense, an eight-cell VLS for RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is scaffolded amidships on both sides . This system is primarily suitable for the self-protection of ships. In addition, eight anti-ship missiles of the type RGM-84 Harpoon are carried in two quad launchers to combat sea targets .

Electronic warfare

The Shield II system from BAE Systems is scaffolded to protect against approaching missiles . This is a fully automatic system that shoots chaffs or flares over a range of 2000 m or 169 m , depending on the threat . Each ship has four starters with six decoys each .

The corresponding system for defense against torpedoes is the AN / SLQ-25 Nixie . These are two sound generators towed on a steel cable, which are supposed to offer attacking torpedoes a false target.

Furthermore, a radar detector of the type CANEWS (Canadian Electronic Warfare System) and a radar jammer of the type SLQ-505 are scaffolded. Both devices were developed in collaboration between Thorn and Lockheed Martin Canada .

Sensors

The Sea Giraffe HC150 3D radar from Ericsson, which works in the G and H bands, was selected as the multi-purpose radar . In addition, an AN / SPS-49 (V) 5 radar is scaffolded. This is a two-dimensional long-range aerial search radar from Raytheon that operates in the C and D bands. A Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation radar that works in the I-band is also available. Two K-band SPG-503 (STIR 1.8) radar devices were also installed for the fire control. These have a range of 140 km and were manufactured by the Dutch armaments company Signaal, which is now part of Thales .

Two different sonar systems are scaffolded for submarine location - the original main task :

  • The hull-mounted AN / SQS-510 (V) medium frequency (2–8 kHz) active sonar is particularly suitable for shallow waters as well as for locating mines and attacking torpedoes, but has the disadvantage of revealing the location of the ship. Targets can be located between 1.8 and 55 km.
  • The passive AN / SQR-501 CANTASS low-frequency tow sonar from General Dynamics Canada is primarily intended to detect submarines in the open sea without revealing its own position.
  • To locate the third possibility, submarines, nor can data from sonobuoy be in a particular system of the type DG-C AN / evaluated UYS-503rd

modernization

In addition to being equipped with more modern and significantly more powerful helicopters, the ships themselves are also to be adapted to current requirements. On July 5, 2007, a $ 3.1 billion modernization program called F rigat E L ife EX tension , or FELEX for short, was announced, which should be completed by 2017 and extend the service life until after 2030.

In the field of electronics, the guidance system, the radar system, the IFF and the ECM systems are to be modernized, new decoys of the type MASS and an infrared target search and target tracking system (IRST) from Thales of the type Sirius are to be added, as well as the Thales STIR fire control radars by Saab Ceros 200 to be replaced. On the weapons side, there are plans to replace the Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles with the RIM-162 ESSM, which has both range and performance , and to modernize the Phalanx-CIWS. The latest version of this weapon system was equipped with an improved radar and an additional infrared system from Thales. This should not only improve the ability to defend against anti-ship missiles - the originally intended task - but also create the possibility of effectively fighting attacking speedboats and drones.

Time schedule

The frigates are overhauled every 18 months. To speed up the work, several ships are being worked on at the same time. While one is in the final stage, a new one is already being gutted and old parts are being removed.

date Operational from ship
Fall 2010 Summer 2012 (planned) HMCS Halifax (FFH330)
Spring 2011 Fall 2012 (planned) HMCS Calgary
Fall 2011 Spring 2013 (planned) HMCS Fredericton
Spring 2012 Fall 2013 (planned) HMCS Winnipeg
Summer 2012 Winter 2013 (planned) HMCS Montreal
Spring 2013 Winter 2014 (planned) HMCS Charlottentown
Spring 2013 Winter 2014 (planned) HMCS Vancouver
Spring 2014 Fall 2015 (planned) HMCS Ottawa
Fall 2014 Spring 2016 (planned) HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC
Winter 2014 Summer 2016 (planned) HMCS St. John's
Spring 2015 Fall 2015 (planned) HMCS Regina
Summer 2015 Winter 2016 (planned) HMCS Toronto

Individual evidence

  1. Naval frigates to receive $ 3.1B refit ( en ) CBC News . July 5, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  2. Ottawa Citizen - Defense Watch: MORE INFORMATION ON SOFTKILL SYSTEM FOR HALIFAX-CLASS FRIGATES , accessed August 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Halifax Class Frigate, Canada (en) , Naval-Technology.com. Retrieved December 20, 2009. 
  4. ^ Raytheon Canada awarded contract (en) , Newswire.com. Retrieved December 20, 2009. 
  5. FELEX Project Schedule - Department of National Defense ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.materiel.forces.gc.ca

Web links

Commons : Halifax class  - collection of pictures, videos, and audio files