Navy warships to get self-defence weapons upgrades
Fri, 16 May 2008 02:21p.m.http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalN...d/423/articleID/56017/cat/64/Default.aspx#top
The navy's two warships are about to get sharper teeth to fight off attacks by small surface craft.
The Phalanx quick-fire Gatling gun on the Anzac frigates, HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Te Mana, can fire up to 4500 rounds of 20mm ammunition a minute but only at anti-ship missiles and strike aircraft and not at small boats.
The navy is spending $25 million to upgrade the computer-controlled, radar-guided guns so they can also fire at small craft, such as speed boats or jetskis which may come in fast to attack the ships.
"If you have got a guy coming on a jetski or the like, wishing to do some damage to the ship, the Phalanx can be used to account for that," said navy spokesman Commander Keith Gilchrist.
He said the age of the existing Phalanx guns on the frigates was also a factor and meant they "might be challenged a little bit" against some of the high-performance airborne threats it could face.
The navy is also gearing up to spend up to $500 million or more on upgrading the self-defence systems on the two frigates and a further $60 million on a platform systems upgrade as part of the mid life upgrades of the two ships.
The platform systems upgrade, which does not include the combat systems on the ship, was likely to begin next year and be completed in 2010.
It could include propulsion equipment such as gearboxes and engines, air conditioning units, generating equipment, main machinery control equipment and computers which monitor the ship and its main components.
The self-defence upgrade was likely to start in four or five years and included a wide range of combat systems on the two frigates.
"The self-defence upgrade is about upgrading the self-defence system and the sensing systems on the ship to enable it to go into areas against a threat that has perhaps changed from when the ships were originally conceived and built.”
"We are not aiming to do anything different from what the ships can do already. We are looking to retain a similar mix of weapons and sensors but the sensors will be 21st century sensors rather than 1990 sensors which we acquired when the ship was built."
He said the systems would also be enhanced to deal with different threats the ships were likely to now encounter.
"As technology changes everyone moves up a gear and therefore, the level of threat the ships might encounter is different to what it was."
In the long term development plan, the Defence Force said the frigates were critical in the protection of New Zealand and Australian territorial sovereignty, for participating in Five Power Defence Arrangements, for supporting New Zealand's relationships with regional partners, and for peace support operations in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Those environments contained significantly higher threats to ships than in New Zealand's immediate area, including sub-surface threats.
The plan said by 2010 the frigate's self-defence systems would become increasingly ineffective and to continue to operate in those areas would carry serious risks.
Within two years the design of the self-defence systems on the frigates would be nearly 25 years old, and would become increasingly difficult and expensive to support, the plan said.
- NZPA
fftopic If members wish to conduct such discussions, please do so via PM and/or email. Feel free to continue discussion of NZ ship/module construction and modification capabilities, as they can directly impact the RNZN.