Posted on 06/09/2017 3:23:10 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
With a budget of €1.2 billion, the Finnish navy is bolstering its fleet with its Squadron 2020 (Laivue 2020) project moving forward at pace.
Most recently the main contractor, the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command (FDFLOGCOM), signed a contract with Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) for the design of four Squadron 2020 project multi-role corvettes.
Separately, FDFLOGCOM selected Atlas Elektronik, Lockheed Martin Canada and Saab to battle it out for the Squadron 2020 combat system.
The navy is expecting to select one of these competitors and sign a contract within the next 12 months, according to Cmdr Jon von Weissenberg, project manager for 2020 with the Finnish Navy.
Speaking at the Future Surface Fleet conference in Portsmouth, he also said that the building contract for the corvettes should be in place by 2018. Squadron 2020 will replace three different class of ship currently scheduled for retirement.
‘We are still on our original timescale and the first ship delivery is expected in 2021,’ von Weissenberg added.
The plan is for the new corvettes to be operational out to 30 years with one mid-life upgrade planned, alongside continuous upgrade of the subsystems during this time.
While the navy could have gone for an off-the-shelf ship design, von Weissenberg said the requirements were too specific for this.
Finland is one of the only nations to still carry out minelaying and this was one of the driving factors for not choosing a ship design already out there, according to von Weissenberg.
Other significant factors include the need for ice-breaking capability, given all of Finland’s ports freeze during the winter months, alongside open sea endurance.
‘We need a hull that can do 27 knots at sea and also break ice,’ von Weissenberg said.
The corvettes will have an ice going capability that is able to sustain independent operations in the Gulf of Finland and Archipelago Sea with an Ice Class 1A mixed with sea state 5 abilities.
The current design of the vessel sees a 100m long ship with a 3,000 tonne displacement and an average crew of 60. The multi-role corvette will be tasked with ASuW, ASW and AAW.
Various simulated testing has been carried out over the last year including ice-going tests and full scale propeller tests.
If they can get these babies built and commissioned for $300 million, could we order a bunch of them for the price of a designed from scratch LCS? I like the ice-breaking feature.
Sorry, it was a "word association" thing.
(say the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear or read the following word)
Notice that it is at least in the colors of the Finnish flag.
:)
Gorgeous!
And still my favorite Vette body style.
If they can get these babies built and commissioned for $300 million, could we order a bunch of them for the price of a designed from scratch LCS? I like the ice-breaking feature.””
There may be a range issue. The US navy requires more range than ships designed for costal defense. I think, though I could be wrong, that is why the US destroyers and Cruisers are bigger than those of other nations. Bigger ship = more fuel = goes farther.
One of the first Vettes. Either ‘53 or ‘54. Nice
...it says on the plate 1953. That was year 1 for the Vettes.
Yep! I'll stick with my Chevy Corvette!
Could also be a ‘55.
Doh! Reading is fundamental! Although, the body style of the 53-55 didn't change.
The '69s, I think, were mine.
A pal in Michigan bought a numbers-matching black ‘63 coupe,
It has the 300 327/4 speed.
His daughter asked what the little round things were on the door panels.
She had never seen wind up window cranks...
That is NICE!
Correct. That is, before we noticed the 1953 on the license plate.
I didn't know til you mentioned it that the 53-54 body style continued into '55.
Car? What car?
;^)
I’ve got a fellow Corvette owner friend with a ‘53 and another has a ‘55. Me, ‘98 Convert.
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