Posted on 11/20/2014 7:26:35 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
ABOARD HDMS NILS JUEL IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY — It is striking how the now-familiar smooth, angled architecture of today’s warships, intended to reduce visual, heat and other signatures, is also somehow inherently Danish-modern. And the first thing one notices after boarding this ship is how clean and spotless everything is — almost relentlessly clean.
“We clean the ship every day,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Jensen, the ship’s operations officer. “It’s easier to keep a clean ship clean than to clean a dirty ship.”
The Nils Juel is the Danish Navy’s newest warship, handed over only in August. It’s the third and last of the Iver Huitfeldt class of large frigates which, along with two similar Absalon-class combat support ships, will make up Denmark’s primary naval force for the next three decades.
They could also be the last significant naval ships built in Denmark, as the Odense Shipyard that built them closed with the delivery of Nils Juel. But the team that designed the ship — a combination of Maersk Shipping, Odense and the Danish Navy — has established itself as Odense Maritime Technology (OMT), marketing its expertise in producing spacious, logical, efficient designs that can be bought for a fraction of the cost of similar warships built elsewhere.
The Danes claim Nils Juel and its sister ships were built for US $325 million apiece — an impressive accomplishment for a ship displacing more than 6,600 tons, fitted with a sophisticated combat and communications suite, armed with Standard, Evolved Sea Sparrow and Harpoon missiles, 76mm and 35mm guns, torpedoes and a helicopter, able to cut the waters at 30 knots and travel more than 9,000 nautical miles without refueling.
(Excerpt) Read more at c4isrnet.com ...
Everything Shipshape: The Nils Juel, above, cruises Chesapeake Bay after taking part in exercises with the US Navy. The ship was handed over to the Danish Navy in August. The frigate's spacious bridge, left, spans almost the full width of the ship. (Christopher P. Cavas/ / staff)
At first glance, yet another one small gun, missiles only boat. Most any WWII destroyer would make sushi out of them in minutes with their 5” batteries.
This is an air-defense frigate, so its weapons suite is focused on that mission.
If they could get close enough and get a good range, maybe. I suspect they’d be burning at the waterline long before that.
Only if they could survive long enough to get in range.
Even the popguns on this thing effectively outrange 5”/38’s.
I see two guns on the forward deck.
The 76mm/62 OTO Compact has a much higher rate of fire (120 rpm) versus the WWII era 127mm/38 Mk 12 and Mk 22 mounts (maybe 20 rpm). Throw in a much better fire control radar.
I have a question for those who know these things.
It seems navies are using Frigates now, but from a size perspective they seem to be the same size as what used to be called a destroyer escort. Were DEs actually Frigates? Is it the size or the mission that differentiates the types?
Thank you in advance.
At least I'd hope this boat has a good ASW capability, but of course you cannot see that other than the generous helo deck.
how many AAM launchers does it have?
That is a good question for Jeff
I also like his website
They opt for specialized ships to handle different tasks. They do have frigates, the Absalon class, that are geared for surface warfare.
4 x VLS with up to 32 SM-2 IIIA surface-to-air missiles (Mk 41 VLS)
2 × VLS with up to 24 RIM-162 ESSM (Mk 56 VLS)
On the contrary, the Danish navy seems to focus the most on anti-surface warfare compared to other NATO navies. This ship has space reserved for 16 Harpoon missiles, twice the number seen on your average USN/Brit/French warship. And system of swappable weapons modules that the Danes use allows them to use different weapons for different missions.
http://www.mc.nato.int/org/smg/Documents/Naval%20Units/IVER-kl%20%20-%20engelsk.pdf
However, as the article says, the only thing holding them back is funds. Hence, the 76 mm gun hasn’t been replaced by a 5 inch.
324mm torpedo launchers are hidden behind access doors to reduce radar cross section. Keep in mind though that a helicopter is a formidable ASW asset. On board ASW torpedo tubes are more a point defense. The helo can attack further out, especially if the ship’s sonar can go out to convergence zones.
The ship can also be fitted with a pair of quad Mk 141’s for Harpoons, unless Denmark chooses to go with the Norwegian NSM.
Keep in mind that the Russians tend to overload their ships. One comment I heard was “too many quarts in a pint pot”.
So they can also carry up to 56 SAM’s? Are these the ones that reload automatically like I have seen in some videos ?(probably some cable channel)
Yes, I am aware of the Harpoons, but this class is classified as an air-defense frigate and that is why I focused my discussion on that aspect of its capabilities.
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seriously most ww2 stuff would be dead as soon as they had a missile lock.
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