Defense Technology International - May 2008 - (Page 39)

SCHELDE ward sections, up to the foundation for the main gun, are being built by Buijs Co., a small family enterprise near Rotterdam that has also produced these sections for the Indonesian ships,” says van Ameijden. Morocco decided it wanted ships based on the Indonesian corvettes but augmented with a helicopter hangar and longer-range anti-air missile system. Indonesia uses MBDA’s Tetral system that ﬁres Mistral veryshort-range missiles on its corvettes. Morocco speciﬁed MBDA’s verticallaunch Mica system that ﬁres shortand medium-range missiles. The Moroccan ships will feature a common, systematic arrangement, including a Thales-supplied combat system with anti-air, anti-submarine, anti-surface and electronic warfare Indonesia earlier ordered four capabilities. Sigma corvettes with 12 modular Morocco also wanted robust 3D volhull sections. The fourth ship is ume-search and missile-designation under construction. radar, so it selected the new Smart-S Mk. 2 from Thales. The Smart-S Mk. 2, for command and control, and accomwith a range of 140 naut. mi., provides 3D modations for 110 personnel. The other target designation to the Mica missiles. two ships will have a crew of 91. Schelde ordered six Pielstick main Engagement coordination is performed by the Tacticos combat management system diesel engines for the Moroccan ships (two in each) in late 2007 before the from Thales. This is the same configuration that Moroccan contract was signed, because was specified on three patrol vessels the line was closing down. The French ordered last year by Oman from VT supplier (formerly SEMT Pielstick, now Shipbuilding of Southampton, England. Man Diesel SA) is able to provide the Morocco will beneﬁt from the missile, engines for Morocco, but for future ships sensor and C2 integration work per- the machinery plant of the Sigma series will be redesigned to work with other formed on that program. The Morocco contract calls for one types of two-stroke diesel engines, most 2,300-ton ship (designated Sigma 10513) likely from Man or MTU. At-sea experience with the Sigma-sethat will be 105 meters long, with a beam of 13 meters. The other two ries corvettes for Indonesia has been ships will have a displace- satisfactory, says Goossens. The two ment of 2,100 tons (Sig- ships delivered, KRI Diponegoro and ma 9813s) and a length Hasanuddin, encountered extreme of 98 meters. The weather en route to Indonesia: the stretched version former having to endure a typhoon in will have addi- the Indian Ocean and the latter contional facilities fronted with rough seas (Sea State 7) in the Mediterranean. “There was some minor damage but in general, both ships and their engines did well,” he says. According to Goossens, some 60 Sigma h u l l -fo r m m o d e l t e s t s w e r e p e rformed at the Netherlands-based Marin research laboratory in 2002 and 2003, representing vari- ous conﬁgurations with different trim settings and ship lengths. Schelde Naval Shipbuilding made a 10% proﬁt (target was 5%) in 2007 and currently has its largest order book ever, worth approximately €1.2 billion, for navy and coast guard ships for Indonesia (four Sigma series corvettes, of which two have been delivered); the Netherlands (four custom-designed patrol ships); Morocco (three Sigma frigates), and Sweden (three coast guard vessels). Another large order from the Netherlands for a 26,000-ton joint support ship is expected to be awarded in early 2009, and acquisition work is continuing on additional export orders. Schelde, the only naval shipbuilder in the Netherlands, is a subsidiary of Damen Shipyards Group, which is active worldwide in commercial and military markets. Schelde focuses on the international market for patrol ships, corvettes, frigates and large amphibious support ships and helicopter carriers. It has in recent years established a close working relationship with the Damen-owned Galatz Shipyard in Romania, although it is not involved in work for Sigma ships. “This has to do with the learning curve; they are still gearing up to work on thin-hulled ships such as the Sigmas, which use 5-mm. steel rather than the 6-12-mm. steel used for patrol ships of the Dutch navy or Swedish coast guard,” says van Ameijden. Schelde is expecting to become even more integrated within the Damen Shipyards Group. Damen is planning to develop “more and better standard products” and will be investing in shipyards in countries with “competitive wages.” One such is Vietnam, where Damen is building a large shipyard that’s slated to start operations in 2010, which in the longer term will also provide opportunities for Schelde. For the near future, however, Schelde will have to get the production for Morocco going while at the same time having to complete the Indonesian program and perform the detailed design and production preparations for the Netherlands patrol ship program, with that country’s Joint Support Ship looming around the corner. ■ Read Janssen Lok’s posts on DTI's weblog, Ares, updated daily: AviationWeek.com/ares Morocco ordered three multimission frigates from Schelde that use the shipbuilder’s Sigma modular hull design. AviationWeek.com/dti MAY 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 39 http://AviationWeek.com/ares http://AviationWeek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - May 2008

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