Sea Power 2007: RNZN - New ships highlight personnel shortages

1 April 2007

By Nick Lee-Frampton

New Zealand's Project Protector is a massive investment in new maritime capabilities, and the catalyst for some significant operational and cultural changes within the RNZN and the other services and government agencies it will work with.

With the majority of the seven new ships of the Project Protector program due to arrive this year, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) is in a state of "positive tension," according to an RNZN spokesperson.

"That creates on the one hand a training burden, which for the first ships is shared by Tenix, the contractor, but for us it is a matter of releasing people for that training in a timely fashion."

"At the same time we obviously [have to] continue the current operations of the fleet. So personnel management is a bit of a juggling act, but so far we've been successful at it and I think the prospects are that we will have the right people to bring the new ships into service and [maintain] the current tempo of operations," he told ADM.

There must be question marks over the quantity of RNZN personnel however, when Chief of Navy Rear Admiral David Ledson admitted in the NZ Navy Times back in February to a "delicate balance", because of shortages of trained personnel, between a ship sailing or not.

A year ago he said the Navy required another 240 sailors in order to operate the new ships and (at the time of writing) the NZ Defence Force personnel summary shows the RNZN is more than 210 sailors short of reaching that target.

Some of the crew required to operate the new ships will come from the existing 30 year old Inshore Patrol Craft: two of the 91 tonne ships, HMNZS Hinau and Moa, recently were retired which has released some 30 sailors for potential Protector service.

The RNZN has deliberately worked its patrol craft hard since April 2005 in order to train a core of people with practical experience both in conducting coastal patrol operations and in working with other Government departments including customs, police and, particularly, conservation.

Emphasis also has been placed on boarding fishing vessels and other 'constabulary' tasks that the RNZN conducts around the New Zealand coast.

This year will ruthlessly reveal how well prepared the RNZN is to operate the seven new ships.

The initial crew of the amphibious support ship Canterbury are already in Melbourne, conducting systems training on the ship's equipment as well as amphibious training, including operating the landing craft and preparing to have a company of soldiers aboard with little, if any, nautical experience.

Assistant Chief of Navy (Capability), Captain John Tucker, RNZN, says Protector is part cathartic "... but in large measure a catalyst to change all manner of things. These range from organisational and process changes to new skills, new doctrine and new ways of doing business with multiple government agencies - which involves cultural changes."

As well, the RNZN is finding alternative ways of working with the defence industry to support these commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) based ships to achieve the right level of availability, he told the NZ Defence Industry forum last October.

It is worth noting that the Protector ships will be jointly manned and jointly staffed; for example, seven Army personnel and four 'Government officials' will be part of the core complement of the 8,000 tonne Multi-Role Vessel HMNZS Canterbury, together with her naval crew of 53 sailors.

The two 1,600 tonne Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) are intended to carry up to 79 people; less than half that number will comprise the ship's naval crew.

Only with the four 340 tonne Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs) does the Navy element have a majority, with 20 of the 36 people aboard being uniformed sailors.

Originally scheduled for delivery to the RNZN in December 2006, Canterbury is now expected " towards the end of May" and delivery of the remaining Protector vessels is running about six months late.

Lyttelton will be HMNZS Canterbury's home port; RADM David Ledson, the Chief of Navy, is very keen on ensuring community links with the new ships are strong from the outset of their operational service.

"As we paid off ships such as Otago, Wellington and Southland, some of those community links were neglected and we are keen to rebuild them," ADM was told by a Navy official.

"It's a very good way of showing the public what our ships are doing, also of [giving] a particular community a sense of ownership with the Navy, so they can include [us] at various civic functions.

"It also is a linkage the recruiters are keen to encourage. It's a two-way thing and across New Zealand there has perhaps been a maturing in the attitude towards the armed forces and ... I think that is healthy all round."

A similar view was expressed to ADM by Peter Cozens, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Wellington's Victoria University.

"The Protector project will give the public great exposure to what the Navy is doing. The new inshore patrol craft will be extremely valuable assets, they will engage the Navy with other agencies of state - including Immigration, Customs and Police - in the maintenance of security."

"Therefore people will see a lot more of the Navy going about its business and this will highlight the RNZN's profile, which is good for New Zealand and long overdue in my view."

Peter Cozens doubts that the NZ Government fully appreciates the value of such ships.

"Perhaps there is only a grudging understanding of what is required by Government with regard to offshore patrol vessels. They will primarily be employed in the Pacific, around Polynesia and Melanesia and this again will give New Zealand a higher profile in the region and will demonstrate some commitment towards stability and security in an increasingly unstable area."

"I think this is a very good thing - and that they can carry helicopters really enhances their visibility in the region."

"My only criticism would be that two is not enough. The amount of work that is required to be done is enormous and whether or not two [ships will be] sufficient is yet to be seen."

"My instincts tell me that it should be a squadron of at least six ships, but two is a good start and we will learn from that and no doubt collate a great deal of operational information."

"Also the benefits of operating these ships will [become] more apparent and therefore perhaps more will be ordered in consequence."

Recent events in the Antarctic with Japanese whaling ships and protest vessels have underscored the wisdom of having the OPVs (to be named HMNZS Wellington and Otago) ice-strengthened.

They are not intended to be icebreakers but when next there is an incident in the Ross Sea then the OPVs will give the government of the day the option of intervening.

"That will be a new facet to naval operations; it's not that we have been unaware of it but it has been a lesser priority for many years. I think you will see the Southern Ocean featuring in our operations a bit more frequently," said the navy source.

"The OPV as a type is becoming more visible in navies - the French, Italians, the US Coast Guard, the Malaysians ... some of those vessels are mini-frigates. Navies have analogous problems; the unit cost of a modern destroyer or frigate-sized surface combatant is a bit frightening.

"The growth of OPVs is a reminder that not even bigger nations can just continue to afford to build frigates or destroyers without thinking [hard] about it. So in that regard the RNZN is quite well positioned with regard to our choices for OPVs. I think that is a result of good analysis, a bit of luck and good inspiration too.

"That is not saying that OPVs are a replacement for frigates," he added.

"We have been operating Te Kaha for 10 years now and Te Mana since 1999. They are not as fast as the Leander class frigates were, but their fuel consumption and their logistics are a lot more efficient and effective."

"There are no underlying criticisms or disappointments with the Anzacs, they have proven to be very good, very reliable, very capable ships."

"The crew of Te Kaha who were onboard her then still talk about their rapid transit from Singapore to East Timor with pride - to get there in a hurry when the situation was serious - as an example of the ship's capability for sustained high speed at a time when it mattered," ADM was told.

While both the RNZN's two Anzac-class frigates and the replenishment ship HMNZS Endeavour have maintained their planned schedule of international deployments, they have also been operating intensely in the training role at the same time.
The next step in the frigates' immediate future will be the installation of Rafael's Mini-Typhoon electro-optical, remote gun control system for the 12.7mm machine guns (two per frigate) that enables the weapon to be used accurately day or night.

"It gives us commonality with the Australians ... but we didn't choose it just because the Aussies have got it. We went through a whole appropriate assessment for it."

Scheduled for 2008 is the beginning of the Anzac platform system upgrade (PSU) which includes improving the diesel engines, HVAC and chilled water.

CAPT Tucker describes this as 'seriously intrusive surgery' that will span a number of years.

"The level of work being undertaken at the ships' home port in Devonport will ramp up and remain at a high level in specific trades for the next few years. Moreover, the Protector vessels will have arrived and will be demanding their share of attention."

The HVAC upgrade is intended to be a permanent fix to shortfalls experienced while operating in the Gulf region and conveniently will provide the capacity to deal with the additional heat loads expected from other upgrade programs, notably the weapons system.

Around 2010-2013 the ANZAC frigates are expected to "migrate" to Evolved Sea Sparrow, plus an upgraded combat management system and possibly phased array radar and Infra Red Search & Track (IRST).

Also due next year is the upgrading of the Raytheon Phalanx CIWS to Block 1B which includes a thermal imager, optimised gun barrels and a stabilisation system which will give the frigates the ability to target small, fast attack craft as well as supersonic missiles.

Other weapon elements likely to be considered in this time frame include a new torpedo, improved Mk41 vertical launch system (from baseline IV to V), a new decoy launching system and a new towed array.

To date, however, no changes have been charted for the frigates' Mk 45 gun.

The RNZN frigates' operating pattern is that there are two five month deployments per year; one accompanied by Endeavour and the other not, "because you can't work Endeavour twice as hard as the other two," ADM was told.

Endeavour is a very important asset and has to be managed pretty much in consultation with the RAN. The RAN only have two replenishment ships, so Endeavour is effectively one third of Australasia's collective replenishment capability.

"There are many occasions when Endeavour (operational since 1988) is wanted for an event or exercise because the other two may not be available; there's a lot of coordination with the Aussies so we are getting the best employment of Endeavour in conjunction with the commitments of the other two [replenishment] ships. So she's a strategic asset in that sense," ADM as told.

CAPT Tucker says there is "growing confidence" that Endeavour can be operated successfully until 2013, possibly using voided wing tanks as an effective second hull. The jury is still out on the capability requirements of any replacement for Endeavour, he says.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is encouraging the world to go for double bottomed tankers so that's a factor that has be considered in Endeavour's long term future.

The RNZN has upgraded the fleet with electronic chart displays and apparently this has been greeted with great enthusiasm by the ship's bridge teams.
Obviously the RNZN needs to keep up with its major allies, especially in terms of communications, command and control and for quite a small nation navy and a relatively low budget navy that is a challenge.

Relatively marginal programmes in the RNZN's near future include satellite TV, improved MCM capabilities, improved comms and NVG friendly lighting for the helicopter crews. Upgrading the Seasprites also is certain to come to the forefront in the near future.

Infrastructure advances include shore-to-ship power supplies and establishing and maintaining fuel reserves

Advances in technology, however, are not necessarily matched by advances in political wisdom. Peter Cozens is concerned that some politicians appear to have a poor understanding of the RNZN and its newest ships.

"I heard just recently, for example, a politician saying [HMNZS Canterbury] had problems with its bow doors ... well, the ship is not equipped with bow doors!

"So it illustrates on the one hand how poorly informed some politicians are about this particular ship and its capabilities, and I think that in our community that is a great weakness. Most NZ politicians would be able to tell you about the price of milk or wool but the fact they can't tell you what a major ship of the RNZN is capable of I find rather annoying."

"[Canterbury] is a brand new venture for the Navy and indeed the NZ armed services. Clearly this is going to require new operating procedures internally within the armed services and that is going to take some time to settle down; there are different cultures involved here. You have the Navy way of doing things and the principal customer is the Army, so there is going to be a settling-down period in which things are sorted out but [Canterbury] is going to be a great asset to the NZ Government.

"I think it is the beginning of a dawning awareness in New Zealand that we are in fact a maritime nation."