Iran to Launch New Submarine to Boost Naval Capabilities in High Seas

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran plans to launch a semi-heavy submarine soon in a bid to boost its naval capabilities in the high seas, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced.

“The Defense Ministry will take another step in developing the operational capabilities of this strategic force (Navy) after this advanced submarine (Fateh) joins the Navy fleet in future,” General Dehqan said.

He stressed that as before the Defense Ministry is ready to help the Iranian Navy reach an international balance with regard to its presence in territorial and free waters.

General Dehqan reiterated that the Iranian Navy has shown that it is one of the main security elements and contributors in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

He pointed to the defense ministry’s backup for Iran’s naval forces, and said, “Design and manufacture of different surface, subsurface, light, semi-heavy and heavy vessels like Zolfaqar missile-launching frigate, the advanced Jamaran II destroyer, Al-Sabehat, Qaem, Midget, Qadir and Huvana submarines in different classes, flying boats in different classes and floating pools in different tonnage are part of the Defense Ministry’s backup.”

In September, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that Fateh will be launched this (Iranian) year (ending on March 20, 2014).

“Based on the Navy’s plans, the Fateh submarine will be launched this year," Sayyari told reporters in Tehran in September.

He said that Fateh submarine, Kaman-class missile-launcher warships and Jamaran 2 destroyer will come into operation in the current year.

The Iranian Navy dispatched its 27th flotilla of warships to the high seas in August to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.

According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.

People"s Liberation Army - Navy commissioned Type 056 Jiangdao Class corvette 586

New guided missile frigate commissioned in East China Sea Fleet

(Source: China Military Online)   2014-01-08

The ceremony for naming and presenting flag to the guided missile frigate Ji’an is held in Shanghai, Jan. 8, 2014. (Navy.81.cn / Dai Zongfeng)

       SHANGHAI,January 8 (ChinaMil) -- A commissioning, naming and flag-presenting ceremony for the new-type guided missile frigate “Ji’an” was held at a naval port in Shanghai on Wednesday morning. This is the first new-type guided missile frigate that is officially commissioned to a maritime garrison command of the East China Sea Fleet under the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN).

　　The guided missile frigate Ji’an (hull No.586) belongs to a new-generation of light guided missile frigate developed independently by China. After commissioned to a maritime garrison command of the East China Sea Fleet, the warship will mainly undertake such missions as maritime patrol, ship escort. Besides, it can also conduct anti-submarine and anti-surface operations individually or coordinating with other forces.

　 　Ji’an City is famous for Jinggangshan Mountain, the birthplace of the Chinese Workers and Peasants’ Red Army, and one of the first-generation guided missile frigates of the PLAN was also named Ji’an (hull No. 518). The No. 518 frigate had served for 35 years with the total voyage of more than 200,000 sea miles before it retired in 2012.

　　Gu Xiangbing, deputy commander of the East China Sea Fleet under the PLAN, presented the army flag and issued the naming certificate to the ship.

PLAN Type 054A Jiang-Kai

 by Chris King

I used the DML/Dragon USS Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate hull as the basis for this model. The hull was extensively modified to create the proper shape, with various parts coming from my spares box. 

Aft-deck of frigate Yi Yang (548). In this image, US Navy sailors are boarding to meet prior to conducting a bilateral counter-piracy exercise. Visible on the flight deck is a Harbin Z-9 helicopter

 The Type 054A (NATO codename: Jiangkai-II Class) is the new-generation multirole missile frigate developed from the Type 054 (Jiangkai Class), incorporated with improved weapon systems and sensors. The frigate is being built by the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard and Guangzhou-based Huangpu Shipyard, both part of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). 

13th Escort Taskforce of the Chinese Navy arrived in Valletta, Malta type054a frigate missile piracy

 So far a total of four hulls have been commissioned: Xuzhou (530), Zhoushan (529), Huangshan (570), and Chaohu (568). The first and third hull were built by the Huangpu Shipyard, and the second and fourth by the Hudong-zhonghua Shipyard. The fifth and sixth hulls were identified in the two shipyards in late 2008. 

 

PLAN-Jiangkai

The Type 054A was designed primarily for air defence role, featuring a medium-range air defence missile system with a 32-cell vertical launch system (VLS) on the bow deck. The frigate is also capable of anti-surface strike with its YJ-83 anti-ship missiles.

The frigate Zhou Shan (529) Moored on the Huangpu River in Shanghai

 Like the Type 054, the Type 054A incorporates a number of stealthy features in its hull design, including the sloped side to minimise radar cross section and the reduced profiles of external features. The helicopter deck at the stern has a single landing spot for a medium size helicopter, such as the Russian Kamov Ka-28 Helix, or the indigenous Harbin Z-9C. The deck is fitted with the helicopter handling system. The vessel has a full displacement of 4,500 tonnes. 

Missiles

 

The primary surface strike weapon system is the YJ-83 sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missile. Two quadruple launchers are installed at the mid-ship position. The missile uses active radar-homing to deliver a 165kg warhead to a range in excess of 180km. 

 

C-802-Cruise-Missile-Zhenguan-Studio-1S

The principal air defence weapon system is a 32-cell VLS developed by Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Centre (EOTDC). The exact model of the air defence missile is unknown, but some reports have suggested that it may be the 38km-range Russian 9M317 (NATO codename: SA-N-12) Shtil semi-active radar-homing medium-range SAM, or its Chinese copy reportedly designated HongQi-16 (HQ-16). 

Unconfirmed reports suggested that the VLS could also launch an anti-submarine missile designated Yu-8. The missile carries an acoustic-homing torpedo, possibly developed from the Yu-7 (Mk-46 copy). 

Guns

 

A single-barrel 76mm gun (possibly Russian AK-176 copy) is installed on the bow deck, in front of the VLS. 

The frigate is equipped with two Chinese indigenous Type 730 seven-barrel 30mm CIWS to provide short-range air defence. The Type 730 CIWS has a maximum rate of fire of 4,600~5,800 rounds/min and a maximum range of 3,000m. The gun is controlled by the Chinese-made TR47C fire-control radar and an electro-optic director, both mounted on the roof of the gun turret. 

There are two Type 87 six-tube anti-submarine rocket launchers installed on the bow deck, with 36 rockets (240mm calibre, 34kg warhead). The maximum range is 1,200m. 

Sensors

 

The sensors of the Type 054A Jiangkai-II class are mainly Russian designs, produced either by licensed co-production or reverse-engineering of the systems obtained along with the Project 956 Sovremenny class missile destroyers. 

The air search radar is a Fregat-MAE-5 (NATO reporting name: Top Plate) 3D air search radar mounted at the top of the front mast, offering two channels in E-band. The radar can track up to 40 targets simultaneously, and has a maximum range of 120km to aircraft and 50km to sea-skimming missile. 

Four MR90 (NATO reporting name: Front Dome) F-band radars (two on top of the bridge, two on the roof of the helicopter hanger) provide guidance for the air defence missiles. Originally designed to provide fire-control for the 9M317/SA-N-7 Shtil SAM, each radar can provide two channels to guide two missiles simultaneously. 

A large round radome installed on top of the bridge houses the Mineral-ME (NATO reporting name: Band Stand) radar that provides anti-ship missile control and over-the-horizon radar acquisition and target designation of surface ships. 

The ship has three indigenous Type 347G I-band radars, two of which are integrated with the Type 730 CIWS to provide fire-control and a standalone radar is installed on top of the bridge behind the large round radome provides fire-control for the 76mm main gun. There is also a large round radome mounted at the top of the rear mast, possibly housing a MR36 (Type 346?) surface search radar. 

Countermeasures

 

The ship is equipped with two 18-tube multiple rocket launchers at the mid-ship position. They are thought to be used to launch decoys/chaffs. The round radome installed on top of the helicopter hanger and few smaller round radomes are believed to house electronic warfare antennas. 

Propulsion

 

The propulsion is a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) arrangement. The system is based on four SEMT Pielstick (now MAN Diesel SA) 16 PA6V-280 STC diesel engines.

Bangladesh gets its first Hamilton class cutter

 

Bangladesh navy frigate Somudro Joy (F-28) at Pearl Harbor in 2013

 

DHAKA, Bangladesh, May 30 (UPI) -- Bangladesh received it first decommissioned Hamilton class cutter from the U.S. Coast Guard at a ceremony on Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Calif.

The Coast Guard transferred the 3,300-ton cutter, formerly the USCGC Jarvis, to a 20-member team from the Bangladeshi navy.

The Jarvis -- decommissioned in October and renamed BNS Somudro Joy -- was sold to Bangladesh as an excess defense article through a foreign military sales program, the Bangladeshi news website bdnews24.com reported.

At the ceremony were U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, Cmdr. Coast Guard Pacific Area and Chief of Naval Staff for the Bangladeshi navy Vice Adm. Muhammad Farid Habib, a report by the Bangladesh military website bdmilitary.com said.

The ship's commanding officer Capt. Mohammad Nazmul Karim arrived in Alameda in March to begin preparations to accept the Jarvis. Another 70 crew members arrived this month.

Around 26 former Jarvis crew members will advise the Bangladeshi crew until Somudro Joy sails for Bangladesh this year.

The 378-foot Somudro Joy, which has a helicopter landing deck and hangar, is powered by two Pratt and Whitney gas turbines and two Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines.

The Bangladeshi navy said the guided missile frigate, now the largest vessel in the fleet, will receive a further refit and upgrades after arriving in Bangladesh, bdmilitary.com reported.

Planned upgrades include boosting the vessel's combat capability with more AShM and SAM launchers.

 

The Jarvis was built by Avondale Shipyards and commissioned in 1972 and will be replaced by Legend class National Security Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Somudro Joy joins the BNS Bangabandhu guided missile frigate built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in the South Korea and commissioned in 2001.

In January, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina commissioned the BNS Padma, the first Bangladeshi-built warship, at the Titumir Naval Base, near Khunla, around 90 miles south of Dhaka.

The 160-foot frigate cost around $7.4 million and has four 37mm and two 20mm cannons, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency reported.

At the commissioning, Hasina said the navies of China, India and Myanmar are becoming more active in the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh needs the Padma to protect its coastal waters.

Hasina also said the country is on target to purchase two submarines but didn't say where the vessels would come from.

Activities are going on to purchase two submarines from a friendly country," she told Parliament while replying to a written question on her government's efforts to modernize the navy, army and air force.