Skjold class
 The KNM Storm
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The Skjold class ( Skjold is the Norwegian word for shield ) are six modern missile speedboats of the Norwegian Navy , whose design was designed for high speed and low detectability . With a top speed of around 60 knots, they are among the fastest warships in the world and are also extremely seaworthy, which is why they were reclassified as “coastal corvettes” at the beginning of 2009. The lead ship, the KNM Skjold , was completed in 1999 and extensively tested in the following years both in Norway and together with the United States Navy in the United States . After lengthy political discussions, five more units were finally ordered, which were delivered to the Navy by mid-2009. These six boats were originally intended to replace the Storm class and thus complement the Hauk class , but according to changes in defense plans , the Skjold class is intended to be the only component of the Norwegian speedboat fleet. Accordingly, the Hauk class was completely retired by 2008.
history
As early as the late 1980s, the Norwegian Navy was looking for a successor to the Storm- class high-speed guns, which would complement the Hauk- class torpedo high- speed boats, which were still new at the time . These considerations resulted in the SMP 6081 project , which had a top speed of at least 45 knots, powerful rocket armament, a powerful 5.7 or 7.6 cm gun, an advanced command and control system (FüWeS) and extensive measures to reduce the Probability of detection required. In the following, a large number of different hull shapes were evaluated. At that time, the minesweepers and hunters of the Alta and Oksøy classes were built for the Norwegian Navy , made entirely of GRP and designed as Surface Effect Ship (SES). This concept turned out to be the most suitable for the required services and the planning subsequently concentrated on a fast SES catamaran with a displacement of around 300 t. The required high speed should make it possible to effectively protect the Norwegian coasts, which are over 2,500 km long, with relatively few boats.
In November 1996, the two Norwegian shipyards, Kvaerner Mandal (now Umoe Mandal , part of the Umoe Group) and Mjellem & Karlsen - the German shipyard Abeking & Rasmussen had withdrawn because local bidders were preferred - submitted their bids, with Kvaerner Mandal could win the job. This began in early 1997 with the construction of the type boat, which was finally handed over to the Norwegian Navy on April 17, 1999, but not put into service. An intensive test program was immediately started, which in 2001 and 2002 also included a 13-month relocation to the USA. This project was not only intended to expand the range of tests carried out by the Norwegian Navy, but also to provide the US Navy with new knowledge for its LCS program , which - albeit significantly larger and with global reach - is also a high-speed ship for operations near the coast Goal has.
In view of the disappearance of the Soviet Union as the greatest threat to the Norwegian coasts and the consequent reduced defense budget, the procurement of a small type of boat without global range for coastal defense in Norway sparked a discussion about the meaning and purpose. One of the most prominent opponents of the Skjold class was the then highest-ranking Norwegian soldier as Chief of Staff, Army General Sverre These , who recommended in 2007 that parliament should stop the project for reasons of cost. The proponents were finally able to prevail, but not only the number of boats fell victim to the need to save - instead of the original twelve and then eight, only six boats were purchased - but also the Hauk class: originally the Skjold class should have supplemented this , then it was planned to keep around half of the Hauk class and it was finally decided that the entire Hauk class would be retired, which was implemented in 2008. The successor to the Hauk class planned for 2015 has also been shelved. After the decision in principle in favor of the Skjold class had been made, the contract for the construction of the five series boats and the modernization of the type boat was concluded at the end of 2003. The volume of the contract was officially put at NOK 3.6 billion (around EUR 370 million). The costs of the entire project, including, for example, the construction of the type ship, on the other hand, amount to NOK 4.675 billion (around EUR 500 million). In October 2005 the second boat, the KNM Storm , was finally laid down and delivered in February 2008. By the end of 2009, all six boats had been completed and handed over to the Navy; the formal commissioning took place by 2010. In addition, the Skjold type boat was returned to the manufacturer in 2003 to convert it to the series standard.
technology
hull
The Skjold class is basically a 47.5 m long and 13.5 m wide catamaran made entirely of GRP , which in normal displacement travel has a displacement of 270 tn. l. (274 t ). However, the Skjold class is not a conventional catamaran design, but a so-called surface effect ship , or SES for short. An air cushion of just 0.05 bar overpressure is generated between the two hulls of the catamaran with rubber aprons . This technique, similar to a hovercraft, lifts the ship a little out of the water. In the Skjold class, the pillow bears 50 to 80% of the ship's weight, depending on the source, and 20 to 50% is carried by the water. This reduces the draft from 2.3 m during displacement travel to 0.9 m using the air cushion. The water displacement and the frictional resistance decrease accordingly, which enables significantly higher speeds with the same drive power. Further advantages are an increased maneuverability and an increased resistance to underwater explosions as well as a lower probability of location due to active and passive sonar . The final benefit is the increased capabilities for operations in shallow coastal waters.
drive
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In the development phase, five different drive concepts were evaluated, which differed both in the number (two or four) and in the type ( diesel or gas turbine ) of the engines. The power to be provided by the drive system was initially estimated at 10,000 kW, but increased to 12,000 kW in the course of the planning. A configuration with two Rolls-Royce gas turbines, each with an output of 6,000 kW , was chosen for the Skjold type boat . However, the five series boats switched to a COGAG system : two gas turbines from Pratt & Whitney with an output of 2,000 kW each drive the boats while cruising , while two more turbines with an output of 4,000 kW from the same manufacturer can be switched on for top speed. This configuration improves fuel efficiency compared to the original variant, since the four gas turbines can be operated more often in the optimal speed range. Due to the spatially separated engine rooms in the two hulls, the gas turbines can only be operated in pairs. This means that it is not possible, for example, to run the two 2,000 kW turbines and one 4,000 kW turbine, but one of the two pairs of equally powerful turbines or all four turbines must run. As part of the upgrade to the series standard, the type boat was also converted to this configuration with four instead of two gas turbines. In addition, there are two marine diesel engines for maneuvering, also known as maneuvering diesels, from MTU , each with an output of 370 kW (500 hp). The power of the gas turbines, but also of the maneuvering diesel, is transmitted with SSS overrunning clutches from Renk AG to two waterjet drives from Rolls-Royce-KaMeWa with a diameter of 80 cm, which generate the desired propulsion.
The air cushion required for the high speeds of up to 60 knots is generated by two high-performance fans driven by two MTU diesel engines, each with 735 kW (1000 hp). Due to the lifting effect of the air cushion, these diesel engines are also known as lifting diesels. There are also two auxiliary diesel engines from MTU with an output of 275 kW.
Stealth
The boats of the Skjold class are built according to the principles of stealth technology . The aim is to reduce the probability of detection, with the focus on the two most common electronic location methods, radar and infrared . The radar signature is mainly determined by three factors: size, shape and construction materials of the object. The small size benefits the Skjold class in two ways, because it reduces the radar cross-section and made it possible to manufacture the entire surface from glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) , which is not possible with larger ships with current technology. Through the extensive use of GRP, on the one hand the weight could be reduced, on the other hand it was possible to largely do without metallic materials and to integrate radar-absorbing materials (RAM) directly into the composite matrix. While the waiver of metallic materials significantly increased the corrosion resistance, the latter was able to reduce radar reflection considerably. In addition, the design of the Skjold class has been optimized for a particularly low radar signature. This can be recognized by the many angled and smooth outer surfaces as well as the very tidy-looking exterior of the boats. This is due to the fact that all equipment such as the dinghy, turret and rocket launcher was specially disguised. The windows of the bridge are also fitted flush with the outer skin and equipped with special windshield wipers, while windows were completely dispensed with in all other rooms in order to keep the radar signature low. The bridge windows were provided with a thin radar-repellent layer to prevent radar radiation from penetrating into the angled inner workings of the bridge. It is not known which material was used for the coating. A technique that is often used is the application of a thin metallic layer, for example made of gold .
Locating using infrared requires infrared radiation that is higher than that of the surroundings. Critical here are on the one hand the heat produced in the ship, for example by the propulsion system, and on the other hand the exhaust gases emitted. The first problem is taken into account by a special coating optimized for this problem. It is not known what measures have been taken with regard to the exhaust gases, but the usual techniques are the mixing of the exhaust gases with ambient air before they are discharged or the injection of seawater into the exhaust gas jet, which can significantly reduce the temperature. For optical camouflage the boats are in a specially the Norwegian coast with its fjords towards optimized camouflage painted.
Armament
The main armament of the Skjold -class are eight anti-ship missiles of the type Naval Strike Missile , or NSM for short, which are manufactured by the Norwegian arms company Kongsberg. This anti-ship missile, which was also designed as the successor to the Norwegian AGM-119 Penguin , was specially tailored to the needs of the Norwegian Navy and its current procurement projects, the Skjold class and the Fridtjof Nansen class , and is therefore particularly suitable for operations close to the coast, including in the narrow fjords. Further characteristics are the low radar signature, the smaller size compared to western competitor models and the basically possible use against land targets due to the GPS steering. The eight missiles are housed in two quadruple launchers at the stern of the boats, which can be fully retracted into the ship's interior to reduce the signature. Once extended, they fire at an angle away from the longitudinal axis of the boats.
A specially disguised ship gun of the type 76/62 Super Rapid from Oto Melara serves as secondary armament . The stand-by magazine holds 80 rounds and can be reloaded manually. The cadence is a maximum of 120 rounds per minute and the deviation is 0.3 mrad under operating conditions . This weapon can be used against sea, land and air targets and has a maximum firing range of over 18 km, whereby the effective range is significantly lower at around 8 km. For a boat of this size, however, this is an extremely adequate armament; the significantly higher power of this weapon also tipped the scales against the other gun under consideration, the Bofors 57 mm gun .
Shoulder-launched anti - aircraft missiles , so-called MANPADS , of the Mistral type are carried as a further system for defending against air targets . However, since this system has to be set up manually first, it is actually only suitable for scenarios in which the boat is tied up hidden in a fjord, as setting up and aiming will be difficult when driving and completely impossible when driving fast. The starting frame can be set up within 60 seconds and is equipped with IFF and an infrared camera for night operations.
On October 12, 2010, MBDA announced that the newly developed SIMBAD-RC starter - a fully automatic version of the manual SIMBAD dual starter for Mistral anti-aircraft missiles - would be installed on board one of the Skjold -class boats for test purposes in the first quarter of 2011 . This would significantly increase the air defense capabilities of the boats, as the response time could be significantly shortened to just 5 s and deployments on the move would also be conceivable.
A decoy launcher of the Multi Ammuntion Softkill System (MASS) type from the German armaments company Rheinmetall is also available to defend against attacking missiles . The launcher behind the turret has programmable omnispectral decoys in 32 tubes that can be reloaded manually. By using multispectral decoys it is possible to cover all relevant spectra - (electro-) optical, infrared, ultraviolet, laser and radar - with a single system. While radar- and infrared-guided weapon systems are supposed to offer the wrong target by means of aluminized glass fiber strips ( chaff ) or the burning of heat flares made of red phosphorus ( flares ), laser and electro-optically guided missiles are supposed to be deflected from the target by an artificial smoke screen that is impenetrable for them. In order to use the decoys as efficiently as possible, the factors elevation , azimuth , number, interval and distance can be freely determined. In the case of an anti-ship missile approaching at Mach 2, the response time should be only 2 s.
The boats also have two remote-controlled weapon stations of the Protector RWS Sea type from Kongsberg on the bridge deck. If necessary, these can be installed instead of the M2 Browning and are used for close-range security and speedboat defense.
Ship interior
The boats are divided into six watertight sections and have four decks. The lowest deck is limited to the two catamaran hulls and includes, in particular, the two engine rooms with the four gas turbines and the maneuvering diesels as well as various storage rooms for fuel, provisions and ammunition. The main deck above is the only one that extends the entire width and length. In the front part it contains the two lifting diesels including the two blowers as well as the ammunition feed and the gun standby magazine. All the crew's rooms, including the galley and mess , are located in the middle part . The two retractable rocket launchers for the NSM and the dinghy are housed in the stern of the main deck. The third deck above only comprises a room in the small structure that contains the operations center. The gun is also mounted on this level. To ensure operational safety under arctic conditions, there are heated walkways on the upper deck. In the fourth and top deck there is also only one room, the bridge .
The entire interior of the ship is under a slight overpressure for the purpose of NBC protection , as this effectively prevents the contaminated ambient air from entering. In addition, an ABC lock is available for decontaminating contaminated people.
The composite materials used are fire-insulating and not heat-conductive, which makes fighting much easier in the event of a fire.
Sensors and electronics
The main Skjold- class sensor is the Thales MRR-3D-NG radar . The TRS-3D from EADS and the Sea Giraffe from Ericsson were tested as alternatives, but they did not succeed. The MRR-3D-NG is a three-dimensional multi-purpose radar in G-band with a rotating antenna and integrated friend-foe detection (IFF). The antenna is relatively light with a weight of approx. 550 kg and rotates through 360 ° either 10 or 30 times per minute, as required. The maximum range should be up to 180 km for larger objects such as passenger planes, 125 km for combat aircraft and 40 km for small targets. Furthermore, the radar device is electronically stabilized and can also be used for fire control of the ship's gun. A dedicated navigation radar is also available for navigation, which has been optimized to ensure that it is not likely to be detected.
The fire control system (Fire Control System, FCS) Ceros 200 from Saab takes over . This system comprises a fire control radar operating in Ku-band, a camera, an imaging infrared camera (IIR) and a laser range finder and is used for fire control of both the gun and the anti-ship missiles. In addition, the system can also be used as a passive location system at short distances.
The system for electronic warfare (EloKa) of the type CS-3701 comes from the US company EDO Systems and also includes a radar warning receiver. It is used to locate, analyze and identify a wide variety of electronic signals. The communication equipment includes twelve radios for different frequencies in the HF, VHF and UHF ranges as well as terminals for the standardized NATO data links Link 11 and Link 16 , which are supplied by the German company Aeromaritime.
A command and weapon deployment system (FüWeS) of the Senit 2000 type, based on the Linux operating system , is a joint development by DCNS and Kongsberg to integrate the large number of different sensors and effectors . There are six operator terminals for the FüWeS in the operations center.
crew
The Skjold class is designed to get along with the smallest possible crew and requires, for example, a smaller crew than the much smaller Hauk class. The platform management system, PMS for short, makes an important contribution to this, as it enables every part of the ship, including the propulsion system, to be monitored at all times. The bridge, which is more like an airplane cockpit than a traditional ship's bridge, was designed for the smallest possible crew and now only has three workplaces. According to official information, the crew consists of three sailors, four conscripts and fourteen officers, a total of 21 people. The crew is divided into the four areas mechanics / electrics, weapon systems, catering and operational activities. In 2003, however, the number of officers in the Norwegian Navy was given as nine, which would correspond to a crew of only 16 people.
A simulator from the manufacturer Kongsberg, which is an exact replica of the bridge, is available at the Norwegian Naval Academy in Bergen for training the bridge crew.
Changes to the series boats
The five series boats have received some changes compared to the Skjold type boat , and the Skjold was subsequently converted to these specifications. In addition to the already mentioned modified propulsion system with now four gas turbines, the foredeck had to be reinforced in order to be able to withstand the recoil of the selected 7.6 cm gun. In addition, improved processes have been introduced in the manufacture of composite hull parts for series boats, which allow greater strength and thus greater resistance to bullets. In addition, the electronic systems on the bridge and in the operations center were slightly modified.
Boats
As of July 2010, all six boats are in service. The Haakonsvern naval base near Bergen acts as the home base of the entire speedboat flotilla . The base at Olavsvern near Tromsø , where Hauk class boats were also stationed, is now only maintained as an alternative base.
_(2_Nov_2001).jpg)
 Skjold class
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| Hull number | Name (German translation) | Keel laying | Launch | delivery |
| P960 | KNM Skjold (shield) | 4th August 1997 | September 22, 1998 | April 17, 1999 |
| P961 | KNM Storm (Sturm) | October 2005 | October 30, 2006 | February 20, 2008 |
| P962 | KNM Skudd (shot) | March 2006 | May 3, 2007 | August 2008 |
| P963 | KNM steep (resistance) | October 2006 | January 14, 2008 | December 2008 |
| P964 | KNM Glimt (lightning) | May 2007 | March 29, 2012 | April 2012 |
| P965 | KNM Gnist (spark) | December 2007 | October 23, 2012 | November 2012 |
literature
- Stephen Saunders: Jane's Fighting Ships 2003-2004 . Jane's Information Group, 2003, ISBN 0-7106-2546-4 .
- Eric Wertheim: Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2007, ISBN 978-1-59114-955-2 .
Web links
- Official website of the Norwegian Armed Forces:
- The Skjold class at waffenHQ.de
- Official website of the manufacturer
- The Skjold class on naval-technology.com
- The Skjold class on AMI International
Footnotes
- ↑ a b page of the Norwegian Schnellbootflotille ( memento of the original from September 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ^ Article from Defense Technology International . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ↑ Media release from the Norwegian Armed Forces ( memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ↑ a b Media release by the Norwegian Armed Forces ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ↑ page of the manufacturer . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ↑ Manufacturer's data sheet (PDF; 989 kB). Retrieved May 28, 2010.
- ↑ Page of the manufacturer ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
- ^ Analysis by Greenpeace as protection for nuclear power plants (PDF; 173 kB). Retrieved May 28, 2010.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved September 27, 2010.
- ↑ Presentation of the manufacturer ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 842 kB). Retrieved July 8, 2008.
- ↑ Skjold class at globalsecurity.org ( Memento of the original from July 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ↑ Manufacturer's data sheet ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
- ^ The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapon systems, Norman Friedman, US Naval Institute Press, 2006, ISBN 1557502625 , page 65
- ↑ Article on Maritime & Energy ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ^ Page of the Norwegian Armed Forces ( memento of the original from June 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
