BAE Systems, CAE, Lockheed Martin Canada, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra Electronics are partnering as Canada’s Combat Ship Team for the Royal Canadian Navy’s future fleet of surface combatants.
Aylar: Aralık 2017
Defence giants team up for Canadian Surface Combatant Project
CAE, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra, along with BAE and Lockheed Martin have teamed up to offer the Type 26 Frigate to Canada.
Although Lockheed Martin Canada is leading the team, the Type 26 is a British vessel that was designed by BAE Systems. The first of eight planned Type 26 frigates is currently under construction for the British Royal Navy and promises to be a capable vessel if Canada adopts it.
Speculation is mounting that Canada is seriously considering the Type 26 Frigate for its ‘Canadian Surface Combatant’ project.
Lockheed Martin, BAE and the host of Canadian, European and American firms have modified the basic Type 26 design for Canada’s requirements. Chief among the modifications is the addition of the indigenous Canadian-designed CMS 30 combat management system, which is currently installed onboard the upgraded Halifax-class frigates that are the mainstay of the Canadian fleet.
However, the Type 26 is not the sole competitor for the CSC program. Other bidders are submitting the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate design and the French/Italian FREMM design. But regardless of who ultimately wins the CSC design contest, the prime contractor to build the ships will be Irving Shipbuilding Inc
Lockheed Martin Awarded $22.74 million Pentagon contract to modify the LCS Design for Saudi Arabia Frigate Project
The new frigates will the centerpiece of the long-awaited Saudi Naval Expansion Program II. SNEP II is set to modernize the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet as part of a wide-ranging estimated $20 billion arms package.
The frigates will cost about $6 billion, the largest line item of the $20 billion SNEP-II deal. The package will also modernize the frigate’s planned homeport at the King Abdul-Aziz Naval Base on the Persian Gulf. While the Freedom-class variants are being built in Wisconsin, a final production facility has not been selected.
At about 4,000-tons, the frigate can field a crew of 100 to 130. It runs on a power plant of two Rolls Royce MT-30 gas turbines and two Colt-Pielstick diesel engines. The ship will field eight RGM-84 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles (ASM), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sonar suites, and torpedoes.
The new Saudi ships will be built around an eight-cell Mk-41 vertical launch system and a 4D air search radar. The deal also includes 532 Raytheon RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSM) which can be loaded four to a Mk 41 cell. With 16 cells per hull, the Saudi Freedoms will be able to potentially field 64 anti-air missiles per-ship.