MARITIME NEWS – 30 SEPTEMBER 2016 Royal Navy warship visits Durban The Type 23 frigate HMS Portland arrived in Durban on Wednesday 28 Sep and berthed at the Naval Station on Salisbury Island. She hosted a special reception on 29 Sep for local dignitaries and invited guests. A Capability Demonstration has also been planned, to showcase the skills and efficiency of the Royal Navy servicemen. Organisers of the gala event say it's significant, as it's the first time in a long while that a major Royal Navy ship of its kind has sailed to the east coast. The ship is currently three-months into a nine-month deployment around the world - having set sail from Plymouth in the UK, in June. Source : East Coast Radio She will be transiting West to the South Atlantic again so Cape readers can also expect a visit by her. It is two and a half years since she was last here under Cdr Sarah West at the time. It has also been more than a year since we last had a frigate/destroyer as the South Atlantic patrol ship! Unmanned air and sea vehicles coordinate together Lockheed Martin has successfully launched a small unmanned aerial vehicle on command from its MK2 Marlin autonomous underwater vehicle. The launch was part of a cross-domain command-and- control event hosted by the U.S. Navy last month and also involved a Submaran, an unmanned surface vehicle developed by Ocean Aero, which provided surface reconnaissance and surveillance. "This effort marks a milestone in showing that an unmanned aircraft, surface vessel and undersea vehicle can communicate and complete a mission cooperatively and completely autonomously," said Kevin Schlosser, chief architect, unmanned systems technology, Lockheed Martin. Lockheed said that in the demonstration the Submaran relayed instructions to Marlin from a ground control station via underwater acoustic communications. The Marlin then launched the Vector Hawk UAV using a specially- designed canister from the surface. All three autonomous vehicles -- the Marlin, Submaran and Vector Hawk -- communicated operational status to the ground control station to maintain situational awareness and provide a means to command and control all assets. "Lockheed Martin has heard loud and clear the U.S. Navy's call to get faster, be more agile, and to be continually creative," said Frank Drennan, director, mission and unmanned systems business development. "We have clearly illustrated that we have the necessary agility and quickness combined with innovative technology to increase the range, reach, and effectiveness of undersea forces." Lockheed Martin's Vector Hawk is designed for canister or hand launch in all-weather, maritime environments to provide a tailored intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability. It is capable of fully autonomous flight and landing. It weighs just four pounds, has a flight endurance of more than 70 minutes and has a line-of-sight range of as much as 9.3 miles. The Marlin MK2 is a battery-powered, 2,000-pound autonomous underwater vehicle that is 10 feet long and has a 250-pound payload capacity. Its endurance is 18 to 24 hours. Source : Space War I rest my case – man (generic that is – male, female and transgender) is slowly becoming obsolete in modern warfare Iranian Navy ships arrive in Karachi Four Iranian Naval ships (the 43rd Fleet/Flotilla) arrived in Karachi for a three day port visit with aim to enhance maritime collaborations between the two Navies. The ships which arrived on Tuesday were Lavan, Konarak, Falakhan and Khanjar . The ships are scheduled to be in Karachi for a 3 day port visit. The ships were welcomed by Pakistan Navy officials and Iranian diplomats. During the visit, the Iranian Navy officers and sailors will have professional discussions and interactions with their Pakistani counterparts on matters of mutual interest. Pakistan Navy has also planned operational training activities, exchange of visits by naval personnel and sports activities for the Iranians. After the stay at Karachi, a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) will be conducted at sea to improve interoperability between the two Navies. The visit is aimed at promoting peace and security in the region and will enhance maritime collaboration between the two countries. Source : The Express Tribune The Lavan is a Hengam class LST delivered in 1984, Konarack is a GP cargo vessel (troop transport) and the other two are Kaman (La Combattante IIa) class missile boats from the seventies. Not much punch. Future of Swedish Submarine Industry Dependent Upon Foreign Buyers Sweden's Saab Suffers Setback Selling Submarines as Poland Opts Out of Partnership The Swedish Armed Forces worry that the future of the Swedish submarine industry may be gloomy unless Saab manages to sell its products to other countries, as Sweden needs partners to share the cost. Photo : SAABGROUP.COM Previously, Saab received a major order from the Swedish government to build two new model A26 submarines while upgrading two Gotland-class submarines currently in use, with a total price tag of around 10 billion SEK ($1.2 billion). Both are regarded as technically challenging projects that take several years. Additionally, there is a major risk of ballooning costs. This may ultimately become a burden for Swedish taxpayers. Alternatively, crucial elements within the armed forces may face severe cutbacks. Saab is expected to deliver by 2024, which means that the new submarines will not be put into service until 2025. Meanwhile, it's nearly time to start working on the development of the next major update of the submarines. In order to ease the burden for the tax-payers, the Swedish government pins its hopes on signing partnerships with other countries to share the cost. So far it has not gone so well. Norway, one of the prospective buyers, made it clear in April this year that it no longer considers Swedish submarines a viable option. Instead, Norway opted to buy submarines from fellow NATO countries, which in practice means either Germany or France. Saab's board of directors repeatedly tried to play down the importance of the Norwegian refusal. Two weeks ago, Saab CEO Håkan Buskhe told Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet that he personally never expected Norway to become a buyer. In terms of defense, Swedish-Norwegian relations have suffered a lot of setbacks in recent years. Another stumbling block was Norway's adamant refusal to buy Swedish Gripen fighter jets. Nevertheless, Saab still expects to be flooded with offers. Its hopes are now pinned on Poland and the Netherlands, where Saab previously initiated partnerships with local companies. Sweden is one of few countries to develop its own submarines, and the A26 is marketed as a cheaper, quieter, and harder-to-detect alternative to previous generations. This means that the submarine can be used more effectively for intelligence gathering. Another highlight is a hatch in the bow that can be used to drop off divers, manned and unmanned vehicles or other equipment. Saab seems to be virtually alone in offering this unusual solution, which previously faced reproach from submarine experts. Critics believe that it may become problematic to shut the hatch once it comes into contact with mud, silt and gravel. Nevertheless, Saab's leadership remains optimistic. "I almost cannot imagine how many different things may be accomplished with this feature. Some of our potential customers have shown great interest in it, while others are more on the conservative side. We are the first in the world to do this, and it may become a new standard, the head of Saab's subsidiary Saab Kockums Gunnar Wieslander told Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. Saab took over Kockums, previously owned by the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp, in the summer of 2014, after the Swedish government saw ThyssenKrupp was about to shut down Swedish submarine development to benefit German- made submarines. Saab Kockums has since increased its staff to about 1,000 employees at its Development Center in Malmö and a shipyard in Karlskrona. Source : Sputnik News US Navy boasts longest range anti-air warfare intercept in Navy history Princeton launched the SM-6 missile during the test. Photo : US Navy The U.S. Navy announced that it has successfully completed the longest range anti-air warfare intercept in Navy history which took place at the Point Mugu test range in California, on September 22. The navy, however, did not specify the length of the intercept. During a test of the Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air (NIFC-CA) system, Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), equipped with the latest Aegis Baseline 9, successfully processed data from a remote airborne sensor to engage and destroy an over-the-horizon threat representative target using Standard Missile-6 (SM-6). The Navy added that this was not the first time that SM-6 has shattered its own distance record. The missile broke the previous long-range intercept record in January of this year onboard USS John Paul Jones at Pacific Missile Range Facility, a milestone it originally set in June of 2014. According to the navy, this NIFC-CA test was the tenth consecutive successful live-fire test to demonstrate an over-the- horizon, engage-on-remote capability. This particular test also successfully validated the NIFC-CA from the sea kill chain concept. NIFC-CA From The Sea is a program of record which uses four pillar programs to act as a kill chain for the surface fleet: Aegis Baseline 9.0, Cooperative Engagement Capability, E2D Hawkeye and SM-6. SM-6 provides U.S. Navy ships with extended-range protection against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-ship cruise missiles and ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight. The active radar and extended range of the SM-6 allow it to track and destroy over the horizon targets which are out of sight of operators on deck.