IMDEX 2001 - regional navies eye submarines

The IMDEX naval show in Singapore in May shed some light on the region's maritime aspirations, and especially on the emerging market for submarines.
Asia's prime naval defence event, the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX Asia) 2001, opened on May 8 and was dominated by the issue of submarines.

Exhibitors from 17 countries ranging from 'The Usual Suspects' to Emirates Marine Technologies (interceptor boats, patrol boats and special delivery vehicles) attracted 40 high-quality official delegations to the delight of those exhibitors. At nearby Changi Naval base lay a dozen warships for inspection including Australia's Anzac-class frigate HMAS Arunta.

It is generally accepted that if the region's economic recovery continues then three major submarine orders are in prospect, but it was the situation to the north which dominated conversations. For the favourite game within the arms bazaar is 'Guess whose submarine design will be acquired by Taiwan?'. The answer may be wrapped in the solution to the requirements for another customer, Malaysia.

President George W. Bush's decision in the aftermath of the recent spy plane crisis to fill Taipei's arms shopping trolley was undoubtedly as much a knee-jerk reaction to national humiliation as the Republican's traditional support for Taiwan. The provision of four destroyers is easy to meet; the Kidd Class have become something of an embarrassment having been offered to several navies (including Australia) and been rejected.

But it is the decision to supply six submarines which has raised eyebrows. American submarines played a key part in the defeat of Japan but that was 55 years ago. In the 1950s the United States followed the nuclear track and the last American-built diesel electric submarine went down the slipway in 1956.

While there are certain basic features in building submarines, as in the production of vehicles, there are also significant differences in scale. The average nuclear submarine is 5,000-9,000 tonnes, two or three times that of most diesel-electric boats, although the Collins Class are 3,300 tonnes. The construction techniques require different skills, indeed the steel used in the pressure hulls for nuclear-powered vessels is much thicker to operate at depths below 300m which is the norm for diesel electric boats. The design expertise is long gone and to expect an American yard to produce a modern diesel electric submarine is rather like expecting a truck manufacturer to produce a family car.

Any American shipyard supplying Taiwan with modern diesel-electric submarines will need to use a European design, but this market introduces unique problems as the Dutch discovered. In 1981 Taiwan placed a contract with the Dutch shipyard RDM Submarines for two Zwaardvis-class boats and these were delivered in 1987-1988. The contract aroused the wrath of Beijing which retaliated against Dutch trade with China and consequently while RDM was willing to accept an order for another four ships the Dutch Government vetoed the plan.

For RDM and the Dutch defence industry this has meant a lean decade since the last Walrus-class were built for the Royal Netherlands Navy. There was little official compensation in the form of finance or orders and The Hague added insult to injury by declaring surplus two more 2,640 tonne Zwaardvis Class ships. RDM mothballed these vessels and sought a buyer but only recently has its fortunes begun to turn.

Until recently the only ASEAN navy with submarines has been Indonesia which operates two German Type 209/1300s. But Singapore's decision to acquire four Sjöorman Class submarines from Sweden has led to renewed interest in this type of warship within the region especially from Malaysia and Thailand which have long had ambitions in this field. Malaysia's Eighth Five-Year Plan for Defence has provided an outline requirement for two training boats followed by two (possibly four) operational ones and three miniature submarines are reported to be on order.

Manufacturers are already lining up to meet the Malaysian requirement with two boats scheduled for decommissioning by their navies being offered for the training requirement and the most modern designs for the operational one. The Franco-Spanish partnership of DCN International/Izar (formerly Bazan) is offering the Scorpène with UDS Subtics combat system, available in a basic design or compact version. The German Submarine Consortium is believed to be offering Type 212 or Type 214 and STN ISUS 90 combat system, although with HDW now owing Swedish shipyard Kockums a Gotland or even a Collins-type might be available. The Rubin Design Bureau in Russia is offering the Amur 1650 while RDM Submarines is offering the Moray Class with either Lockheed Martin Subics 900 or ISUS 90.

The last company may have the edge for it shipped its two surplus Zwaardvis boats to Malaysia where they can be refurbished at Lumut; their requirement for a 67-man crew means two crews could be trained simultaneously. The company is also on the verge of signing a deal to supply two Moray Class submarines to Egypt under American FMS rules with the ships built by the Ingalls shipyard in the United States.

There was speculation at IMDEX that a solution similar to the Egyptian deal might get the Americans off the hook but the Dutch government might still throw a spanner in the works. They could either veto the transfer of the design or could demand final approval of customers. The Germans have already said that they will not permit any of their designs to be built for Taiwan, the French risked sufficient Chinese wrath by supplying La Fayette-class frigates to Taiwan and suffered trade sanctions, while it is extremely unlikely that the Russians would compromise their profitable naval arms trade with Beijing.

An alternative solution might be for Taiwan to copy the Zwaardvis Class, whose hull form is based upon a US design, with the United States providing technical support and much of the equipment. Such a solution might well require taking one of the Republic of China's boats out of service for some time but such a drastic solution may be the only means of resolving the dilemma. In any event Taiwan seems unlikely to acquire any of the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technical solutions which will be available as options to Malaysia. AIP permits diesel electric submarines to remain deep underwater rather than having to approach the surface to recharge batteries using a schnorkel.

The underwater emphasis at IMDEX was reinforced with the first showing of the Saab Bofors Underwater Systems Double Eagle Mark III remotely operated underwater vehicle. The Mark II has been bought by four customers, including Australia, and the new version is intended to complement it when it enters production in 2003. It has twice the power of its predecessor while the forward propulsion system has been increased from two to four motors., increasing the mass from 360 kg to 500 kg and the length from 2.2m to about 3m.In addition Kockums revealed its new S-SRV second generation submarine rescue ship. Designed to the new NATO standard and capable of operating down to 700 m it is an evolutionary development of the company's URF and can rescue a complete crew of 35 from a wreck, even one at an angle of 45 degrees.

BAE Systems displayed a corvette design which is believed to be close to that being built for Brunei, showing a much more powerful vessel than had hitherto been considered. The sensor fit includes BAE Systems' AWS-9 search radar while the weapon fit is an Otobreda 76mm SR (Super Rapid) gun, eight Exocet anti-ship missiles, a 16-cell silo for Seawolf Vertical Launch air defence missiles, two DSI 30mm guns and two triple tubes for lightweight torpedoes.

Details of the Malaysian 'Patrol Vessel' based upon the Blohm & Voss MEKO 100 were also available from models, leaflets and discussions with German manufacturers. The 1,650 tonne ships will have EADS Deutschland TRS-3D/16ES search radar and TMEO weapon control directors, but no sonar. The basic weapon fit will consist of an Otobreda 76SR and an Otobreda 30mm gun. The ship will be equipped to carry a 21-cell launcher for the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile air defence system as well as eight launchers for the MBDA (formerly Aerospatiale Matra) Exocet MM 40 missile but initially these systems will not be installed.

Defence shows are often interesting not for what is displayed or discussed but rather for the subjects that dare not raise their name such as the Taiwan submarines. It was the Russians who accidentally drew attention to one such subject when, at a press conference, the Rubin Design Bureau stated they were offering upgrades to the very successful Kilo Class submarines, a design rejected by Malaysia. Sensors and communications were mentioned together with the Shkval high speed underwater missile and the Klub missile system.

The last system dominated the Russian Rosoboronexport stand with two similar missile systems each with surface- and submarine-launched versions for what was described as the 'long range anti-ship' role. In fact these missiles are the Russian equivalent of the American Tomahawk 'cruise' missile and the Russians tended to dance around the unpalatable fact that their real role was for attacking land targets. Tomahawk too once included a long range anti-ship model but the trend towards littoral warfare makes long range anti-ship operations politically too risky and many navies are either reducing their medium range anti-shipping missile inventory or embarking fewer missiles such as Harpoon. It is worth remembering that the Americans converted all their anti-ship Tomahawks to the land attack role.

With even the medium range anti-ship missile market declining manufacturers are adding a land-attack capability to such missiles. At IMDEX both the Boeing Harpoon and the Alenia Marconi Systems Otomat discretely mentioned the new capability for Harpoon Block II and Otomat Mark 2 Block IV respectively. On the MBDA stand, Europe's new multi-national missile company (incorporating Matra, BAe Dynamics, Aerospatiale and Alenia), there was no overt indication that later models of Exocet MM 40 Block 2 (and possibly the submarine-launched SM 39) is scheduled to have a land attack capability. In fact their stand seemed to have a greater emphasis upon air defence missiles including the new Mica Vertical Launch with video of ballistic and turn-over tests of this weapon.

Litton Marine Systems were displaying a number of navigation and sensor products including the AMIRIS 2100 thermal imager surveillance system. Company representatives stated that the week before the show they had been making a presentation of this sensor to the Australian Defence Department for the Fremantle replacement.

The Australian presence was somewhat muted. The Defence Department had the largest stand and close by were CEA Technologies and Eden Technology. The former was displaying a wide range of capabilities including communications including its Integrated Ship Communications System (ISCS), radars (such as CEA-FAR, CEA-Ship which is used to classify vessels and CEA-Scope to detect periscopes), the Warrlock direction finding system and C3I such as the CEA-MAST track management system.

Eden was displaying its capabilities and products including the Asset Management & Planning System (AMPS), sold to Australia and New Zealand to support the Anzac frigates, and the Facilities Maintenance Management System (FMMS). The Fleet Onboard Command Update System (FOCUS) developed in association with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) is now ready for deployment into all warship classes.

By Ted Hooton, Singapore