Armoredd.com

24 March, 2009, 20:43
Russia Today

The Russian Navy has called for an international agreement that would oblige countries to notify each other about their submarines’ routes in the world’s waterways. They claim this would help prevent marine accidents.

Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev, Deputy Head of Russian Navy Headquarters, made the proposal during an interview to the Ria Novosti news agency on Tuesday.

He said that recent incidents in which atomic submarines collided speak of the importance of such an agreement.

As early as some ten years ago Russia came out with a suggestion for a similar agreement.

Corresponding memorandums were then signed by the British and French. If the agreement had been concluded, each side would have had to inform the other about the regions where their submarines were located. This was supposed to be done to prevent other countries’ ships and submarines from entering those areas at the same time.

However, according to Burtsev, the main opponent to this plan is the US. As their fleet is the most powerful in the world and their submarines are the countries’ main strike force, it is natural that Washington does not want their actions put under control.

Further, reports indicate that the average time US atomic submarines spent in the open sea in 2008 exceeded that during the Cold War period.

Latest accidents
On March 20 a US atomic submarine and a US landing ship collided in the Strait of Ormuz.

In early February there was another crash between a UK Vanguard-type submarine and France’s Le Triomphant. Nuclear weapons were onboard both vessels. According to French authorities, the cause of the incident could be the technical excellence of the submarines as they were moving so secretly they couldn’t detect each other.

After the incident received public attention, a source in Russian military intelligence told Ria Novosti that the French and British Navy should declassify the location where the two submarines crashed to enable ecological monitoring to be held.

Burtsev noted that “there’s nothing surprising in the British and French submarines’ collision”.

“Crashes have taken place in the past and will be repeated in the future, and the main reason for that is that the actions of the submarines are always a secret, the sides never inform each other about their vessels’ locations”.

The Vice Admiral thinks this is the general cause of these accidents.

Northrop Grumman

PASCAGOULA, Miss., March 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Northrop Grumman shipbuilders and U.S. Navy personnel joined forces aboard the amphibious assault ship Makin Island - LHD 8 - to complete a successful U.S. Navy acceptance sea trial in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship is the eighth USS Wasp LHD 1- class amphibious assault ship being built by the company at its Gulf Coast facilities in Pascagoula, Miss.

“The commitment and effort displayed by our LHD 8 team over the past several months were the reasons we were able to achieve this important milestone,” said Tim Farrell, Northrop Grumman vice president and program manager for the LHD 8.

During the acceptance trial, Makin Island performed all required sea trial evolutions for the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). Makin Island proved its operational success with the first gas turbine/electric-powered propulsion system ever used on large deck amphibious assault ships. The gas turbine engines and electric drive, a change from previous steam-powered ships, will provide significant life-cycle savings in manpower and maintenance costs over the previous ships.

When LHD 8 arrived back in Pascagoula, four brooms were raised symbolizing a successful sea trial.

“The four brooms being flown today represent the four teams who came together to make this ship successful: PMS 377, Northrop Grumman, Supervisor of Shipbuilding-Gulf Coast and Ship’s force,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Jeffery Riedel, program manager of Amphibious Warfare Programs for PEO Ships.

The Gulf Coast shipbuilding team met several milestones related to electrical cabling and the propulsion system set by Northrop Grumman in 2008 prior to acceptance trial. The Navy INSURV board was able to observe all electrical cabling installation throughout the ship and examine the integrated propulsion system. Both areas proved successful during the trial.

“This ship could be categorized as a first-in-class ship because of the many design changes associated with the new propulsion system,” said Irwin F. Edenzon, sector vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Gulf Coast. “The LHD 8 team has worked hard to overcome a number of challenges and we’re looking forward to delivering a great ship next quarter.”

The Makin Island is 844 feet long and 106 feet wide and weighs 42,800 tons. Its 70,000 horsepower hybrid propulsion system will drive it to speeds in excess of 20 knots. As a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, it is designed to transport and land a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a force of almost 2,000 Marines, ashore by helicopter, landing craft and amphibious assault vehicle. It will also have secondary missions of sea control and power projection by helicopter and fixed-wing vertical short take-off and landing aircraft; command and control; and mission support, including a hospital with six operating rooms.

Makin Island is scheduled for commissioning at its San Diego homeport in October 2009.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

Updated at 5:46 p.m., Monday, March 23, 2009
honolulu advertiser through the sub report

Advertiser Staff and News Reports

A rapid deployment team of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard engineers and mechanics flew to the Persian Gulf yesterday to support a U.S. Navy submarine involved in a collision there Friday.

“Our Shipyard Team excels at rapid response in situations such as this,” said Capt. Greg R. Thomas, shipyard commander. “True to our legacy, whether flying to Guam or Bahrain to repair stricken submarines or responding to a mishap right off our coast, Pearl Harbor workers consistently adapt and succeed in any adverse situation.”

The nuclear submarine USS Hartford collided with the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans in the Strait of Hormuz early Friday morning. The 12 shipyard personnel will assess the damage to Hartford and begin in-theater repairs, officials said.

Additional shipyard personnel will fly to the region later this week. They will return upon completion of their mission.

The New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel, the Navy said. The propulsion plant of the submarine was unaffected by the collision, officials said.

According to the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, 15 sailors aboard the Hartford were slightly injured but able to return to duty. No injuries were reported aboard the New Orleans and both ships were operating under their own power.

Oil prices reversed course and traded higher last week on the news of the collision in the Strait of Hormuz, the portal for about 40 percent of all seaborne traded oil last year.

Shipyard personnel routinely deploy throughout the Asia-Pacific Region for engineering, maintenance and repair missions, officials said. In addition, rapid deployment teams respond to incidents such as the Hartford collision.

A shipyard team deployed to Bahrain on short notice after a Japanese oil tanker and the submarine USS Newport News collided in early January 2007.

The circumstances surrounding the Strait of Hormuz collision are currently under investigation, the Navy said.

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii with a combined civilian and military workforce of about 4,700. It has an operating budget of $620 million, of which more than $390 million is payroll for civilian employees.

Friday, Mar 20, 2009
Your Defence News

Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force commissioned its largest helicopter-carrying destroyer, with a 195-meter full-length flight deck, on Wednesday amid concerns about its resemblance to a light aircraft carrier.

One of the largest vessels ever built for the MSDF, the 13,950-ton Hyuga can carry up to 11 helicopters aboard by using the deck and the hanger deck beneath it.

The Hyuga — the first vessel in the Hyuga class — also enables up to four helicopters, such as SH-60K antisubmarine helicopters, to take off and land almost simultaneously.

The government has taken the position that Japan cannot possess an offensive aircraft carrier due to its war-renouncing Constitution. The MSDF denies that the Hyuga is an aircraft carrier, saying the vessel does not have offensive capabilities like attack aircraft.

At a ceremony at IHI Marine United Inc.’s shipyard in Yokohama, Parliamentary Defense Secretary Ryota Takeda handed the MSDF’s rising sun ensign to the skipper, Capt. Katsunori Yamada, to hoist on the destroyer.

”I recognize that people’s expectations for the Hyuga are high,” Yamada told reporters after the event, saying his crew would try to live up to them so that the ship can be up to fighting strength soon.

The Hyuga later headed for the MSDF base in Yokosuka, also in Kanagawa Prefecture, where it will become the flagship for the force’s 1st Escort Flotilla.

With its sophisticated command, control and communications system, the Hyuga will serve as the nerve center for operations ranging from antisubmarine warfare to anti-disaster efforts at home and abroad, and for rescuing Japanese nationals overseas, the MSDF said.

Among the Hyuga’s roughly 340 crew members are 17 women — two officers and 15 sailors — who have become the first servicewomen on board a destroyer since the Self-Defense Forces were established in 1954. Their presence on a destroyer reflects the MSDF’s effort to expand the role of women in the force to make up for the chronic personnel shortage.

The flattop replaces the old 4,950-ton destroyer Haruna. The second Hyuga-class destroyer is to be commissioned in March 2011 to replace a similar destroyer.

Despite its look and feel of a light aircraft carrier, MSDF Chief of Staff Adm. Keiji Akahoshi said Tuesday at a news conference, ”An aircraft carrier, I believe, has a fair degree of offensive functions. Based on that definition, this Hyuga falls a little bit outside of the frame.”

The acquisition of a destroyer that could project the force far beyond Japan’s coast, however, raises concerns in some quarters, with some experts fearing it could spur rivalry with countries like China, which is rumored to be building an aircraft carrier of its own.

Japan denies itself offensive capabilities under its pacifist Constitution, but the government interprets the supreme law to mean that it can possess the minimum level of armed force necessary for its self-defense.

Source: Defense Professionals

SOUTH CHINA SEA (March 8, 2009) Five Chinese vessels shadow and aggressively maneuver in dangerously close proximity to USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS 23) in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters.

Two of the Chinese vessels closed to within 50 feet, waving Chinese flags and telling Impeccable to leave the area. Because the vessels intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to dissuad a closer approach and avoid being boarded.

The incident took place 75 miles south of Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Chinese ships and aircraft routinely steam or fly near U.S. Navy ships in this area, however , these actions were considerably more aggressive, unprofessional and dangerous than we have seen and thus greatly increase the risk of collision or miscalculation.

(U.S. Navy video/Released)

11:52 | 20/ 03/ 2009

MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti) - About 10 submarines from the Russian Navy are accomplishing various tasks throughout the world’s oceans, a source in the Navy General Staff said on Friday.

“Up to 10 submarines are conducting various missions around the globe, including training and combat patrol missions with nuclear weapons on board,” the source said, adding that most of them are from the Northern and the Pacific fleets.

The Russian Navy maintains a fleet of 60 nuclear-powered and diesel-electric submarines in active service, including 10 nuclear-powered strategic submarines, over 30 nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Under a new military doctrine, the nuclear triad of ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines and strategic bombers will remain the core of the Russian armed forces for the next two decades.

“The Navy General Staff believe that strategic submarines will continue playing an important role in safeguarding Russia’s national security because they remain one of the key components of Russia’s military might and serve as a reliable deterrent to potential threats and aggression against the country,” the Navy source said.

Russia has recently started mooring trials of the first Borey class nuclear-powered strategic submarine, which will be equipped with Bulava sea-based ballistic missiles.

The Yury Dolgoruky submarine, built at the Sevmash plant in northern Russia, was taken out of dry dock in April 2007.

The vessel is 170 meters (580 feet) long, has a hull diameter of 13 meters (42 feet), a crew of 107, including 55 officers, maximum depth of 450 meters (about 1,500 feet) and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles and torpedoes.

Two other Borey class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash shipyard and are expected to be completed in 2009 and 2011. Russia is planning to build a total of eight submarines of this class by 2015.

In addition, a fourth-generation Graney class nuclear-powered attack submarine will be delivered to the Russian Navy in 2010-2011. The Severodvinsk submarine combines the ability to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage hostile submarines and surface warships.

The second submarine of this class is expected to enter service by 2015.

Russia is planning to completely modernize the naval component of its nuclear triad by 2016.

Times of the Internet

MOSCOW, March 20 (UPI) —

The Russian Navy announced Friday it would commission the first of its stealthy new Project 677 Lada-class diesel submarines next year.

The deputy head of the Navy General Staff, Vice Adm. Oleg Burtsev, said the sub was already undergoing sea trials from of the St. Petersburg ship yard where construction of the next two Ladas is under way.

The RIA Novosti news service said the Lada class as being built for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare. The ultra-quiet submarines are equipped with cruise missiles and have an advanced anti-sonar coating on the hull that makes it difficult to detect.

Burtsev said Russia plans to build eight Ladas-class submarines to replace the current Kilo class subs.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International
All Rights Reserved.

16 March 2009

Air Force Technology

Lockheed Martin is being awarded a much-anticipated US Navy contract to refurbish 12 submarine-hunting aircraft for Taiwan, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The $665.6m deal was announced after Washington protested what it described as Chinese harrassment on Sunday of the Impeccable, a US Navy surveillance vessel operating in China’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the South China Sea.

Taiwan sealed a government-to-government deal in December 2007 for the turboprop-driven P-3C Orion aircraft, which are US Navy surplus and no longer in production.

They are used for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine missions.

The US Navy, acting as middleman, said last month it had reached a tentative refurbishing deal with Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s top contractor by sales.

The upgrades will include new avionics, or electronic brains, and service life extension kits to allow an additional 15,000 flight hours, said Tierney Helmers, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin maritime systems and sensors business unit.

The first modernised P-3C aircraft will be delivered to Taiwan in 2012, she said. The work is expected to be completed in August 2015, according to a Pentagon contract digest.

The P-3Cs were part of a landmark arms package approved by former President George W Bush for possible sale to Taiwan in April 2001.

In addition to the refurbishing contract, the deal is expected to include support, maintenance, spares and other services that would bring its total value to about $1.3bn, said a navy official who asked not to be named because of the matter’s sensitivity.

The P-3 is the primary maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft operated by the US Navy and 18 international allies. Its roles include anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, search and rescue, drug interdiction, economic zone patrol, airborne early warning and electronic warfare.

By Jim Wolf, Reuters.

By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 20, 2009 17:14:29 EDT
Navy Times

An attack submarine and an amphib are out of action following a collision Friday during a nighttime transit through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

The attack submarine Hartford and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans collided at 1 a.m. local time while moving into the Persian Gulf through the narrow passage between Iran and Oman.

Fifteen Hartford sailors were injured in the collision but were able to return to duty. No injuries were reported aboard New Orleans.

Details of the incident remain unclear. Hartford was “submerged but near the surface” at the time of the collision, according to Navy officials.

Both made their way to a local undisclosed port in the aftermath, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, spokeswoman at 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

“They’re both underway on their own power and both are in the [Persian] Gulf at this point,” she said. “Hartford is on the surface and will remain on the surface until she’s in port.”

Damage to the wounded ships was evaluated at sea and will be more thoroughly examined in port.

Campbell said initial assessments showed two ballast tanks on New Orleans were ruptured, resulting in seawater flooding that required the ship to be stabilized. A fuel tank was also ruptured, causing an estimated 25,000 gallons of marine diesel fuel to spill into the gulf.

“She had flooding in three distinct compartments,” Campbell said. “The flooding is secure, and the ship is making way on her own power.”

P-3 Orion aircraft flew over the area looking for a sheen of spilled oil, but “there’s no indication of that,” she said.

Hartford suffered “visible” damage to the sail and to a bow plane. Campbell could not say if components of the sail such as masts and periscopes are damaged.

“It’s important to point out that Hartford’s [nuclear] power plant was not affected in this at all,” she said. “We’ll be doing a full incident investigation report as well as a [Judge Advocate General’s Manual] investigation.”

This is third recent collision involving a U.S. submarine in the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf.

The attack submarine Newport News and the Japanese oil tanker Mogamigawa collided Jan. 8, 2007, in the Strait of Hormuz, a busy strategic chokepoint that runs between Iran and Oman. In that incident both ships were headed out of the gulf at night when the submerged submarine was overtaken by the faster-moving tanker sailing the same route.

The movement of the large tanker caused the smaller submarine to be drawn into the ship’s surface wake by the intermingling pressure areas created by their hull washes — a phenomenon known in physics as the Venturi effect.

In a previous incident the night of Sept. 25, 2005, the attack submarine Philadelphia, while traveling on the surface, collided with a Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Bahrain. No one was injured in the collision.

Both Philadelphia and Newport News underwent repairs in Bahrain before returning to their homeports.

Hartford and New Orleans are members of the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group. Another ship from the group, the dock landing ship Comstock, was in the area at the time of the collision. Boxer remains in the Gulf of Aden on counterpiracy patrol. It and most of the other strike group departed San Diego on Jan. 8.

New Orleans is the second ship of its class to have a rough first deployment. The first ship, San Antonio, spent a month laid up in Bahrain following major leaking in its oil lubrication system that took nearly a month and cost about $1.4 million to repair.

16:23 | 19/ 03/ 2009

MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy maintains a fleet of about 60 nuclear-powered and diesel-electric submarines, a senior Navy official said on Thursday.

“These 60 vessels include 10 nuclear-powered strategic submarines, over 30 nuclear-powered attack submarines, diesel-electric submarines and special-purpose subs,” the source said.

Delta-IV and Delta-III class subs form the backbone of Russia’s strategic submarine fleet. They each carry 16 ballistic missiles with multiple warheads, and feature advanced electronics and noise reduction.

“The world’s largest Typhoon-class submarines also remain in service with the Russian Navy,” the official said.

The Dmitry Donskoy submarine has been modernized as a test platform for Russia’s new Bulava missile. Two other subs, the Arkhangelsk and the Severstal, remain in reserve at a naval base in Severodvinsk in north Russia.

“They will most likely be modernized to carry new-generation sea-based cruise missiles to match the U.S. Ohio class submarines,” he said.

Russia has started mooring trials of the first Borey class nuclear-powered strategic submarine, which will be equipped with Bulava sea-based ballistic missiles.

The Yury Dolgoruky submarine, built at the Sevmash plant in northern Russia, was taken out of dry dock in April 2007.

The vessel is 170 meters (580 feet) long, has a hull diameter of 13 meters (42 feet), a crew of 107, including 55 officers, maximum depth of 450 meters (about 1,500 feet) and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles and torpedoes.

Two other Borey class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash shipyard and are expected to be completed in 2009 and 2011. Russia is planning to build a total of eight submarines of this class by 2015.

Russia’s nuclear-powered attack submarine fleet comprises vessels of the Oscar II and Akula class. Each sub is equipped with 24 SS-N-19 Shipwreck long-range anti-ship cruise missiles.

A fourth-generation Graney class nuclear-powered attack submarine will be delivered to the Russian Navy in 2010-2011. The Severodvinsk submarine combines the ability to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage hostile submarines and surface warships.

“The tests of the cruise missile for the submarine are under way,” the source said.

Diesel-electric submarines in the Russian Navy are represented by Kilo class vessels. They will be gradually replaced by Project 667 Lada class submarines. The sub features a new anti-sonar coating for its hull, an extended cruising range, and advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine weaponry, including Club-S cruise missile systems.

The first submarine of the Lada class, named the St. Petersburg, is undergoing sea trials and may enter service with the Russian Navy this year.

A second Lada class submarine, the Kronshtadt, which is the first in the production series, is also being built at St. Petersburg’s Admiralty Shipyards and will be commissioned in 2009.

A third submarine, whose keel was laid in November 2006, is named after a city associated with Russian naval glory - Sevastopol - and is expected to be launched in 2010.

The source also said the Russian Navy has several ’special purpose’ submarines designed for testing of new technologies and weaponry. Some open sources earlier reported the existence of Project 20120 B-90 Sarov diesel-electric submarine, which has a nuclear reactor as a supplementary power generator.

The vessel was commissioned in 2007 and according to some reports may be used by Russia’s Northern Fleet as a spy vessel in northern waters.

Lockheed Martin

MOORESTOWN, NJ, March 18th, 2009 — Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] latest Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System with flight test-proven terminal intercept capability recently received full certification from the U.S. Navy. This newest upgrade to the operational BMD system deployed today adds the capability to defeat short-range ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere in their final (terminal) stage of flight. The system is already certified to defeat longer range ballistic missiles above the atmosphere.

By June 2009, Aegis BMD version 3.6.1 will be installed in the U.S. Navy’s 17 of 18 Aegis BMD-equipped ships. Beginning next summer, Aegis BMD version 3.6.1 will also be installed on three additional Aegis-equipped ships, all homeported on the east coast, being modified to perform ballistic missile defense.

Separate from the 3.6.1 installations, the Aegis BMD capable ship USS Lake Erie (CG 70), is being fitted with the next Aegis BMD spiral that includes an improved on board computing capability and the Standard Missile-3 Block IB. USS Lake Erie will begin sea trails of this next spiral in 2009.

The Navy’s latest upgrade certification of the proven sea-based missile defense system followed a thorough government test and evaluation, including a June 2008 test mission with the Aegis BMD cruiser USS Lake Erie. In the test, Lake Erie’s SPY-1B radar detected and tracked a ballistic missile test target, and computed a targeting solution to guide two SM-2 Block IV missiles to a successful endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere) intercept.

“Build a little, test a little, learn a lot– that is the systems engineering backbone behind Aegis,” said Orlando Carvalho, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Surface/Sea-Based Missile Defense line of business. “We understand the importance of fielding ever-more-capable ballistic missile defenses, and the role Aegis’ continuous development has in the Navy’s and Missile Defense Agency’s plans to field that capability.”

The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the United States’ Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Currently, a total of 20 Aegis BMD version 3.6-equipped warships – 18 in the U.S. Navy and two in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force – have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and track missions.

The Aegis Weapon System is the world’s premier naval defense system and the sea-based element of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Its precision SPY-1 radar and missile system seamlessly integrate with its own command and control. Its ability to detect, track and engage targets ranging from sea-skimming cruise missiles to ballistic missiles in space is proven and unmatched. The Aegis BMD Weapon System also integrates with the BMDS, receiving track data from and providing track information to other BMDS elements.

The 88 Aegis-equipped ships currently in service around the globe have more than 950 years of at-sea operational experience and have launched more than 3,500 missiles in tests and real-world operations. In addition to the U.S. and Japan, Aegis is the maritime weapon system of choice for Australia, Norway, South Korea and Spain.

Lockheed Martin is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, including the first operational hit-to-kill missile defense system, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3). It also has considerable experience in interceptor systems, kill vehicles, battle management command, control and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, as well as radar and other sensors that enable signal processing and data fusion. The company makes significant contributions to nearly all major U.S. Missile Defense Systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

The Hindu

New Delhi (PTI): India’s plan to induct newly built Shivalik stealth frigate in the Navy this year may be hit with the US Administration halting the warship’s gas turbine engines supplier from operationalising the contract.

Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) built the warship fitted with two LM 2500 gas turbine engines and was readying it for sea trials in a couple of months when the bad news from General Electric (GE) came as a shocker for the Indian Public Sector Undertaking shipyard, Navy sources said here on Monday.

Interestingly, LM 2500 is the engine Navy chose for its Indigenous Aircraft Carrier currently under construction in Cochin Shipyard and for which the keel laying was done by Defence Minister A K Antony in the last week of February this year.

The GE communication, sources said, indicated that it could take up to three months for the matter to be resolved with the new Obama dispensation, which was currently reviewing its military relations with several countries.

Not just with India, GE was instructed to halt work with even US allies such as United Kingdom and Australia, sources said.

However, the Navy’s top brass, putting up a brave face, claimed the US ban would not impact its Shivalik project, codenamed P-17, under which a series of three guided missile frigates are to be built, with the other two being named Sahayadri and Satpura.

Story Number: NNS090312-19
Release Date: 3/12/2009 4:56:00 PM
US Navy

From the Department of the Navy

WASHINGTON (NNS) — Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announced March 12 that the fourth littoral combat ship (LCS) will be named USS Coronado.

The announcement continues the practice of naming the agile LCS vessels after American mid-sized cities, small towns and communities. The ship is named in honor of the patriotic citizens of Coronado, Calif.

Home to Naval Air Base North Island (NASNI) and Naval Amphibious Base (NAB), Coronado has been home to the Navy since 1917.

More than 90 tenant commands reside at NASNI, including the Naval Aviation Depot, the largest aerospace employer in San Diego. The base is homeport to two aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).

NAB Coronado has approximately 5,000 personnel and more than 30 tenant commands including Naval Surface Force Pacific and Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Pacific. The base is also home to Naval Special Warfare Command including several SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) and special boat teams, and the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training center.

Two previous ships have been named for Coronado. USS Coronado (PF 38), a Tacoma-class patrol frigate, earned four battle stars for supporting landings in New Guinea and Leyte during World War II. USS Coronado (AGF 11) served as flagship for the Third Fleet and was decommissioned in 2006.

Designated LCS 4, Coronado will be designed to defeat littoral threats and provide access and dominance in coastal waters for missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare. There are two different LCS hull forms - a semiplaning monohull and an aluminum trimaran - designed and built by two industry teams, respectively led by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. These seaframes will be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads, called mission packages, which can be changed out quickly. Mission packages are supported by special detachments that will deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors.

Hamish McDonald Asia-Pacific Editor
March 14, 2009
Sidney Morning Herald

THE Great Recession is having at least one positive spin-off for the navy: recruitment is up and meeting targets.

Which is just as well. The submarine HMAS Farncomb that came into Sydney Harbour as part of the fleet yesterday is one of just three of the navy’s six Collins Class subs that currently can be crewed at any one time, despite hefty pay bonuses.

The submarines are the long-range sharp end of the defence forces, with a potential offensive role that will become even more important when the F-111 strike bombers are retired next year.

At least until the navy gets its new Spanish-designed air warfare destroyers, they are Australia’s only combat asset that the Americans see as useful in the war scenario that everyone hopes will not happen - a fight with China in defence of Taiwan.

In the preliminary lobbying before the Rudd Government’s imminent defence white paper, the navy is signalling that it wants to stay in the submarine game by starting work on a new generation of ultra-quiet and otherwise capable boats to replace the Collins subs in a decade or two.

While a lot of attention has focused on the plans of the Chinese and Indian navies to build their naval air capabilities, events last Sunday at a point in the South China Sea about 75 nautical miles south of Hainan suggest the navy’s new recruits should think underwater about their career path.

According to the US Navy, the auxiliary ship Impeccable, manned by a civilian crew, was carrying out “routine operations” in international waters. These operations, it emerged, involve towing passive and active sonar arrays to pick up and record the acoustic signatures of submarines, detect mines and other obstacles, and generally get to know the seabed topography. The ship is one of five specially designed vessels used to assist the navy in this task.

The waters around Hainan are of special interest in two ways. Satellite images have recently confirmed the building of a big new submarine base at Yulin on the island, including a cave-dock. Where the Impeccable was sailing is right in the vast stretch of the South China Sea that China has long claimed as territorial waters, regardless of the UN Convention on Law of the Sea and claims by other littoral states.

Five Chinese-flagged vessels - including three government patrol boats and two trawlers - came close to the Impeccable, cutting across its bows. When the Impeccable’s crew responded with fire hoses, Chinese crewmen stripped to their underpants to keep up the close-range jostling.

Compared with the hijacking of the US Navy spy ship Pueblo by the North Koreans in 1968, or the jostling by Chinese fighter aircraft of the American EP-3 electronic spy plane in April 2001 - also over the South China Sea - it was history repeated as farce, with no harm done. But the incident has analysts all around the Asia-Pacific region worried about its portents for a more serious challenge.

It followed several incidents in previous days where Chinese coast guard planes buzzed US surveillance ships. It came shortly after the first visit to Beijing by the new US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, where she said worries about human rights would not halt co-operation in dealing with the economic crisis. And it came just a few days before the visit to Washington of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, where he prepared for President Barack Obama’s first meeting with the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, at the G20 summit in London next month.

Hu is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, the top command of the People’s Liberation Army. Either he is trying to test the new President’s mettle, or the Chinese military is doing it off its own bat.

“The reporting points out that the Chinese party involved included one PLA navy vessel and four civilian vessels from different bureaucracies, which strongly suggests that this was not a rogue military operation, but a well-orchestrated joint civil-military undertaking,” says Tai Ming Cheung, an expert on the Chinese military at the University of California, San Diego.

“The use of fishing trawlers and civilian patrol vessels … harks back to the People’s War at Sea approach to naval defence when you mobilised civilian assets to overwhelm the enemy.”

The motive appears to be to claim territorial sovereignty over the entire 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, giving China the right to control activity in this zone. Chinese domestic laws and maps assert this, but have no standing internationally, according to experts on the Law of the Sea. Chinese territory extends 12 nautical miles from shore, like that of every other nation.

Up to that boundary, foreign navies can manoeuvre and listen as much as they like, and the US Navy shows every intention of wanting to exercise that right to the full.

According to US Navy literature, 30 planned Virginia-class submarines “will expand on the ability of submarines to operate inside an enemy’s defences not only for surveillance, but to deliver powerful precision weapons to targets on land or sea”. New systems “will build on our robust deep-ocean capabilities to provide even greater sensitivity to slow, quiet targets in shallow, coastal waters”.

In the EP-3 incident, one Chinese pilot died after colliding with the bigger and slower American plane, which then limped into Hainan itself for an emergency landing. The crew was returned after President George Bush’s administration sent a letter now known to the Chinese as the “two sorries” expressing regret for “the entering of China’s air space and landing without permission”.

To the Americans, that meant an apology for the flight into Hainan. To the Chinese, it meant an acknowledgement the plane was in Chinese air space when the interception occurred. The Impeccable incident suggests the Chinese are returning to the issue.

“This appears like an early Chinese effort to establish strategic maritime bastions in which its submarines and naval forces can operate without interference from the US,” says Cheung.

“The US is adamant not to allow this as it has enjoyed command of the high seas in the Asia-Pacific for such a long time.

“So these increasingly competitive strategic impulses from the two navies points to much more friction in the future.”

Copyright © 2009. Fairfax Digital

Northrop Grumman

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Northrop Grumman Corporation (NSYE:NOC) has successfully redelivered the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Toledo (SSN 769) to the U.S. Navy. The redelivery took place Feb. 21 following successful sea trials.

The ship began its Depot Modernization Period in 2007 at the company’s Shipbuilding sector in Newport News, Va. The work included upgrades to the submarine’s sonar, combat and weapons systems and maintenance work on the propulsion, auxiliary and habitability systems. Additionally, preservation work was performed on all ballast and internal tanks.

“We have a great shipbuilding and Navy team who have worked on just about every inch of Toledo since her arrival,” said Becky Stewart, vice president of Submarines and Fleet Support at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Newport News. “Their hard work, dedication and spirit of cooperation have resulted in the successful return of a highly complex and capable submarine to the Navy’s fleet.”

USS Toledo is the 26th Los Angeles-class submarine built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. It was christened on Aug. 28, 1993 and commissioned into service Feb. 24, 1995.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

By Mark Mcdonald
Published: March 12, 2009
International Herald Tribune

HONG KONG: The recent confrontation between a U.S. surveillance vessel and five Chinese naval ships appears to be another episode in “a wider and dangerous cat-and-mouse game” between the Chinese submarine fleet and American sub-hunters, a military analyst said.

Hans Kristensen, who is with the Federation of American Scientists, said the U.S. ship, Impeccable, was probably monitoring China’s new nuclear-powered attack submarine when a standoff occurred Sunday in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon said the Chinese vessels blocked and surrounded the American ship, which claimed right of free passage in the area. A U.S. Navy spokesman, Captain Jeffrey Breslau, called the Chinese actions “dangerous.”

China, likewise, criticized U.S. naval activities in the area.

“We urge the United States to respect our legal interests and security concern,” said a Defense Ministry spokesman, Huang Xueping, according to the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua. He called the U.S. surveillance activities “illegal.”

Breslau acknowledged that the Impeccable had been towing an underwater listening and mapping device known as a Surtass array. At one point, he said, the Chinese tried to snag the tow-line with a long grappling hook.

The incident occurred 120 kilometers, or 75 miles, south of the Chinese island of Hainan, the Pentagon said. Kristensen, in his blog on the federation’s Web site, said a Chinese Shang-class nuclear sub had recently been spotted in satellite photographs at a covert naval base on Hainan.

China claims an “economic exclusion zone,” which extends out 200 nautical miles from its coastline, with exclusive rights to oil and gas exploration, drilling and fishing. For other activities and normal sea passage, international territorial waters are typically defined as 12 miles offshore.

“And there’s a long proud tradition of intelligence collection underwater,” said Andrew Davies, director of operations and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. “The limits were often breached underwater during the Cold War, even well inside the 12-mile limit.”

Kristensen said the U.S. Navy has been “busy collecting data on the submarines and sea floor to improve its ability to detect the submarines in peacetime and more efficiently hunt them in case of war.”

He also noted that U.S. and Soviet ships had similar skirmishes during the Cold War, “when Soviet spy ships were lurking off U.S. naval bases and U.S. ships were lurking off Soviet bases.”

“That resulted in the Incidents at Sea Agreement, which Beijing and Washington need to copy to guide their interactions at sea,” he said. “This is not an us-versus-them issue or who is most to blame, but about regulating military operations so they don’t mess up relations and increase distrust.”

In a recent visit to Hong Kong, the commander of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, Admiral Timothy Keating, said “nascent initiatives” had begun between Beijing and Washington to develop a code of conduct at sea.

“We want them to understand there are rules of the road, both literal and figurative,” Keating said of his Chinese counterparts. “It is very much in their interest to observe and operate by those rules.” Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, did not mention the naval confrontation when he addressed officers from the People’s Liberation Army in remarks reported on Thursday. In brief comments on state-run TV and in the newspaper China Daily, he urged the military to “staunchly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”

Otherwise, state media did not play up the incident on Thursday. And both the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, meeting in Washington, said they were clearing the air over the incident. Yang said U.S-China relations were “at a new starting point.”

The Chinese navy also appears to be a new starting point, especially in terms of its reach, analysts said.

In its first modern deployment of warships beyond the Asia-Pacific region, China recently sent two destroyers and a supply ship to the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, at the mouth of the Suez Canal. The ships have escorted Chinese-owned merchant vessels and are collaborating with navies from other nations.

“The significance of that shouldn’t be underestimated,” Davies said. “It’s sophisticated. It’s something grown-up navies do.”

He said China was “clearly a strategic competitor” of the United States now, and its growing naval confidence is “certainly consistent with a more assertive China.”

The Chinese also have indicated they intend to build their first aircraft carrier. They have bought a mothballed Soviet carrier to use as a template for assembling a new carrier, a project that one analyst called “reverse engineering.” The navy also bought an old Australian carrier, ostensibly for scrap, but which has become part of the carrier project.

Chinese fighter pilots, Davies said, also have been practicing on an airstrip built to the same size and scale as the landing strip on the deck of a carrier.

3/3/2009
VNSI

After finishing of outfitting details and performing successful sea trials, the fourth SIGMA CLASS Corvette, “KRI Frans Kaisiepo”, built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) for the Navy of the Republic of Indonesia will be handed-over and commissioned on Saturday March the 7th.

The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Prof. Dr. Juwono Sudarsono, will sign the hand-over documents on behalf of the Republic of Indonesia. The commissioning into the Indonesian Navy of the Corvette will be done by the Chief of Navy of the Republic of Indonesia, Admiral Tedjo Edhy Purdijanto.

The delivery of the last of 4 Corvettes takes place within 3 years after the effective date of Contract.

The crew of the “KRI Frans Kaisiepo” will sail back home to Surabaya on April the 11th, after a thorough crew training by the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Economic impact of reassignments could be $8 million

By Jennifer Grogan
Published on 3/9/2009
The Day

Groton- As three crews of sailors, and their paychecks, pull out of Groton permanently this year, local retailers could see an estimated annual loss of between $7 million and $8 million, according to an economic researcher.

The loss should eventually be tempered by future Virginia-class submarines to be commissioned and homeported at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, bringing sailors and their spending power back to the area.

But some are worried about the impact on the local economy in the meantime, particularly given the current climate.

”It’s akin to losing three small companies in the region, in the sense that we’ve got skilled people who are contributing to the local economy and the local community,” said state Sen. Andrew Maynard, D-Stonington.

”There is a trickle-down effect for those who were providing goods and services to the hundreds of people that are now gone,” said Denny Hicks, director of strategic planning for the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut.

The number of submarines homeported at the base has fluctuated between 16 and 18 since 2001. Currently the base has 18, but the USS Hawaii is moving to Naval Station Pearl Harbor this summer, to be joined by the USS Texas in the fall. The USS Albuquerque is moving to San Diego this summer.

The moves, which will temporarily bring the number of submarines in Groton down to 15, are part of the Navy’s realignment of submarines between the coasts to counter the increased threat posed by other countries’ submarines.

An average household in New London County spends about $25,000 annually on retail and household goods. Submariners spend less in areas like health care, which is provided through the government, and on certain goods that they can purchase at the base commissary. There are also a lot of single sailors, bringing the average annual household spending for them down to about $19,000, according to Jeff Blodgett, vice president of research at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

This means that the three crews of 140 people each, some with spouses and children, collectively spend between $7 million and $8 million annually, Blodgett said, adding that this is a conservative estimate.

Blodgett said so many businesses are reeling from the impact of this crisis, “this may be the proverbial straw that causes some of them to close the door.”

John Antonino, one of the principals in the Antonino Auto Group, said he does not expect to see a drop in car sales but possibly a slight decline in the service side of the business.

”A lot of the military personnel are transplants, and I may not be able to sell them a car, but I’ll service theirs,” he said. “The average service visit is generally every 12,000 miles, so I’d be lucky to see them once or twice a year, which is not enough to really make a difference.”

Antonino said he was more interested in the fact that Electric Boat has recently hired engineers and designers, bringing people into the area with high salaries who may purchase his cars.

Fewer submarines locally means fewer for Electric Boat to work on, but executives have incorporated the effect of the moves into the business plan, said Robert Hamilton, company spokesman.

”There are still plenty of opportunities for us to do maintenance and modernization work at the base and as the ships leave Groton, we’re back-filling with the new Virginia class to a great extent,” he said.

The next Virginia-class submarine, the New Mexico, is on track to be delivered to the Navy and possibly commissioned by the end of the year, followed by the Missouri in 2010, Hamilton said.

”We have submarines leaving for other ports, and that’s part of life in Groton,” Maynard said, “but we’re really looking forward to when the shiny new Virginia class are being plunked into the Thames and steaming upriver.”

More than 1,200 students out of the 5,100 in the Groton public schools have at least one parent in the military. Groton Superintendent Paul Kadri said the impact of the submarine moves would be “minor and temporary” since the children involved will be in different grades and some families may choose not to relocate.

Lt. Patrick Evans, public affairs officer for Submarine Group Two, called the base “the primary East Coast homeport for Virginia Class submarines to transition to the fleet” and said that the base’s value to the submarine force will not change with these departures.

Groton

Obama administration cites days of ‘increasingly aggressive’ acts

updated 11:56 a.m. PT, Mon., March. 9, 2009
MSNBC

WASHINGTON - The White House said Monday that it expects China to respect international law following an incident in which five Chinese ships shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close to a U.S. Navy vessel in the South China Sea, according to the Pentagon.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the U.S. has protested the action. The United States will continue to operate in those international waters, he said, and the Chinese must observe international law.

“On March 8, 2009, five Chinese vessels shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity to USNS Impeccable, in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters,” the Pentagon said.

The Impeccable sprayed one ship with water from fire hoses to force it away. Despite the force of the water, Chinese crew members stripped to their underwear and continued closing within 25 feet, the department said.

Defense officials in the administration said Sunday’s incident followed several days of “increasingly aggressive” acts by Chinese ships in the region.

The Chinese ships included a Chinese Navy intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel, and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, officials said.

“The Chinese vessels surrounded USNS Impeccable, two of them closing to within 50 feet, waving Chinese flags and telling Impeccable to leave the area,” defense officials said in the statement.

“Because the vessels’ intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to protect itself,” the Defense statement said. “The Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet.”

Emergency stop
Impeccable crew radioed to tell the Chinese ships that it was leaving the area and requested a safe path to navigate, the Pentagon said.

But shortly afterward, two of the Chinese ships stopped directly ahead of the Impeccable, forcing it to an emergency stop in order to avoid collision because the Chinese had dropped pieces of wood in the water directly in front of Impeccable’s path, the Pentagon said.

Defense officials said the incident took place in international waters in the South China Sea, about 75 miles south of Hainan Island.

“The unprofessional maneuvers by Chinese vessels violated the requirement under international law to operate with due regard for the rights and safety of other lawful users of the ocean,” said Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.

“We expect Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative activities that could lead to miscalculation or a collision at sea, endangering vessels and the lives of U.S. and Chinese mariners,” Upton added.

Military-to-military consultations resumed
The incident came just a week after China and the U.S. resumed military-to-military consultations following a five-month suspension over American arms sales to Taiwan.

It also comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is due in Washington this week to meet with U.S. officials.

And it brings to mind the first foreign policy crisis that former President George Bush suffered with Beijing shortly after he took office — China’s forced landing of a spy plane and seizure of the crew in April of 2001.

The Pentagon said the incident came after several other incidents involving the Impeccable and another U.S. vessel Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

It described those as the following:

-On Wednesday, a Chinese Bureau of Fisheries Patrol vessel used a high-intensity spotlight to illuminate the entire length of the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious several times as it was operating in the Yellow Sea, about 125 nautical miles from China’s coast, the Pentagon said, adding that the Chinese ship Victorious’ bow at a range of about 1400 yards in darkness without notice or warning. The next day, a Chinese Y-12 maritime surveillance aircraft conducted 12 fly-bys of Victorious at an altitude of about 400 feet and a range of 500 yards.

-On Thursday, a Chinese frigate approached USNS Impeccable without warning and crossed its bow at a range of approximately 100 yards, the Pentagon said. This was followed less than two hours later by a Chinese Y-12 aircraft conducting 11 fly-bys of Impeccable at an altitude of 600 feet and a range from 100-300 feet. The frigate then crossed Impeccable’s bow yet again, this time at a range of approximately 400-500 yards without rendering courtesy or notice of her intentions.

-On Saturday, a Chinese intelligence collection ship challenged USNS Impeccable over bridge-to-bridge radio, calling her operations illegal and directing Impeccable to leave the area or “suffer the consequences.”

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article:
China says U.S. naval ship was breaking law: report

Mon Mar 9, 2009 11:38pm EDT

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China accused a U.S. naval ship of conducting illegal surveying off southern Hainan island, a Hong Kong TV website reported on Tuesday, after the Pentagon said Chinese vessels had harassed the ship in international waters.

Global oil prices rose 3 percent on Monday, partly in a knee-jerk reaction to tension between the world’s top oil consumers. But the confrontation was unlikely to do lasting damage to ties between two countries closely involved in trying to end the global financial crisis, a Chinese analyst said.

The United States urged China to observe international maritime rules after the Pentagon said five Chinese ships, including a naval vessel, harassed the U.S. Navy ship in international waters.

The Chinese vessels “shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity” to the USNS Impeccable, an unarmed ocean surveillance vessel, on Sunday, with one ship coming within 25 feet, a U.S. Defense Department statement said.

The tropical resort island of Hainan is the site of a Chinese naval base that houses ballistic missile submarines, according to independent analysts.

An unnamed spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington denied the Chinese ships had violated maritime rules and said U.S. ships had been conducting illegal surveying, the website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television (news.ifeng.com) reported.

“The U.S. claim about operating in high seas is out of step with the facts,” the report quoted the spokesman as saying. “The U.S. navy vessel concerned has been consistently conducting illegal surveying in China’s exclusive economic zone,” the station quoted the spokesman as saying.

“China believes this contravenes international laws of the sea and China’s relevant laws.”

Chinese authorities had “repeatedly used diplomatic channels to demand that the U.S. side cease unlawful activities in China’s exclusive economic zone,” the report added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry was unavailable for comment.

U.S. defense officials said the incident followed days of increasingly aggressive Chinese conduct in the area, including fly-bys by Chinese maritime surveillance planes.

It comes just weeks after the two sides resumed military talks, postponed in November after a U.S. announcement of arms sales to Taiwan, a self-ruled island China claims as its own.

And it echoes a stand-off in 2001 between U.S. and Chinese military forces after a U.S. spy plane made an emergency landing on Hainan after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet. China released 24 crew after a U.S. apology.

NO MAJOR FALLOUT TO TIES-ANALYST
The dispute is unlikely to do deep damage to Sino-U.S. ties when both sides are grappling with the global financial crisis, but it suggests Beijing will take a tougher stance as its naval ambitions grow, said Shi Yinhong, an expert on regional security at Renmin University in Beijing.

“The United States is present everywhere on the world’s seas, but these kinds of incidents may grow as China’s naval activities expand,” said Shi.

The Impeccable is one of five ocean surveillance ships that serve with the U.S. 7th Fleet, which is based in Yokosuka, Japan. The ships use low-frequency sound to search for undersea threats including submarines, a U.S. military official said.

A U.S. Defense Department spokesman said the Chinese vessels had surrounded the Impeccable, waving Chinese flags and telling the U.S. ship to leave.

The Pentagon also described accounts of half a dozen other incidents dating back to March 4, in which the Impeccable and its sister vessel, USNS Victorious, were subjected to aggressive behavior.

Oil prices rose on news of the maritime jostling, although analysts said it was hard to see how the tension could threaten oil supplies or inflate prices.

“I can see the geopolitical risk between two producing countries. But the U.S. and China are two major consumers. I don’t know why oil prices would rise on that,” said Tony Nunan, risk management manager at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.

The confrontation coincides with two sensitive anniversaries in Tibet, making China especially sensitive to outside scrutiny of its affairs. It also comes as neighboring North Korea says it is on full combat readiness in response to the start of annual military exercises by U.S. and South Korean troops.

Analyst Shi said the seas off Hainan were important to China’s projection of its influence with a modern naval fleet.

“The change is in China’s attitude. This reflects the hardening line in Chinese foreign policy and the importance we attach to the strategic value of the South China Sea.”

Denny Roy, an expert on Asia-Pacific security at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, said the confrontation appeared intended to send a message to Washington.

“I don’t think this happened spontaneously,” he said. “…No doubt it had the endorsement of central leaders in Beijing.”

A recent study of China’s rising power by a top People’s Liberation Army thinktank said the country should seek to avoid confrontation with Washington but not shrink when pressed.

“We don’t want to stir up trouble, but nor will we fear it,” said the study published last year by the PLA Academy of Military Science in Beijing.

“Especially on core interests involving our country’s national unity and territorial integrity, we must keep an actively enterprising stance, defying brute force and daring to flash our sword.”

(Additional reporting by Ian Ransom in Beijing and David Morgan in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Dean Yates)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Friday, Mar 06, 2009
Your Defence News

Minehunting is one of the Swedish Navy’s specialities. The introduction of the upgraded Koster-series provides the Swedish Navy with new vessels at the cutting edge of technology. It is Kockums that has been entrusted with the upgrade of five former Landsort-class MCMVs. The key elements of this new MCMV concept are new combat management systems, search radar and fire control systems, as well as new sonar and new ROVs. HMS Koster and HMS Vinga have already been handed over to the end customer, FMV (the Swedish Defence Matériel Administration). The next step is when they are commissioned for service with the Swedish Navy.

At the same time, HMS Landsort has been decommissioned and mothballed. Her fate is uncertain. She will either be sold or employed in some other capacity. Whatever her fate, her former commanders – who had gathered for a small farewell ceremony – were unanimous in their opinion that HMS Landsort had proved herself to be a fantastic vessel during her 25-years service in the Swedish Navy.

Now HMS Koster will head this newly upgraded series of five vessels, which are designed to meet today’s most stringent requirements. It means that the Swedish Navy has acquired a modern mine countermeasures system with a new generation of subsea ROVs, advanced air defence capability and extended mission capability.

Source: Defense Professionals