Indian Navy launches Request For Proposal for 4 amphibious vessels (LHD type)
The Indian Navy has launched a request for proposal to build four large projection vessels with dual helicopter carrier and amphibious role. Indian shipyards were consulted but they had no design to propose. Indian Navy is therefore contacting foreign partners to for proposals.
Several international groups should answer the request for proposal. French shipbuilder DCNS with its Mistral class (BPC) already serving with the French Navy and soon with the Russian Navy, the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri with its Multifunctional Ship (MS), Spain's Navantia will likely offer the Buque of Proyecciones Estratégica (BPE) and South Koreans shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries could offer their amphibious assault ship from Dokdo class.
DCNS Mistral class used by the French Navy and soon by the Russian Navy
(picture: French Navy)
At first glance, DCNS and Fincantieri should have some advantage over their competition as both shipbuilders already work with the Indian Navy:
DCNS is working on the Scorpene submarines and P75 engines for corvettes while the Ficantieri is involved in the Vikrant aircraft carrier (derived from the Cavour) and Deepak class replenishment ship. DCNS is even the most established foreign manufacturer in India, where it has a subsidiary and is making significant technology transfer.
The French shipbuilder can also highlight the recent choice of Russia, a leading provider of the Indian armed forces, for its Mistral class LHD.
The competition should remain very tense however, as all parties involved are experienced.
From: Mer et Marine
A number of countries are building amphibious ships with the potential to operate fixed-wing aircraft. Could an arms race ensue?
The Pacific region—for this article, the line of nations bordering the Pacific Ocean stretching from Australia to Japan and the Korean Peninsula—has in the past decade or so witnessed a surge in the number of naval ships sporting a “through deck” design to allow flight operations to be conducted from their flight decks. Usually classified as amphibious ships or helicopter destroyers/cruisers, they had mostly escaped serious scrutiny in the mainstream consciousness. Until the past few weeks, that is, when a series of events thrust these vessels into global news headlines.
Excluding the United States’ two forward-deployed flattops—the USS George Washington and the USS Bonhomme Richard—in Japan, there are now at least eleven such ships planned, being built or in service among the Asia-Pacific’s navies as of today. These ships are officially described as being designed for amphibious operations, while their ability to operate helicopters will also be useful in anti-submarine warfare and to provide aid in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. Still, most are a refit away from (or in China’s case, already capable of) operating fixed-wing aircraft, sparking fears of an arms race against the backdrop of simmering territorial disputes in the region.
Australia
Australia is currently building two 27,800-ton
Canberra-class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) under Joint Project 2048. The ships, HMAS Canberra (LHD-02) and HMAS Adelaide (LHD-01) are based on the Spanish Navy’s Juan Carlos I built by Spain’s Navantia. The design was the winner of a competition with France’s Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN), which offered a larger version of the Mistral class design.
The HMAS Canberra is currently being completed at BAE Systems – Maritime in Melburne after having been
initially laid down in Spain and transported by sea to Australia. She will enter service with the Royal Australian Navy in 2014 while her sister ship will join her two years later. The LHDs will replace the HMAS Tobruk and the Kanimbla-class ships in mainly conducting amphibious operations with a secondary HADR brief.
The Canberra class vessels boast a length of 230.82 metres (757.3 ft), with a maximum beam of 32 metres (105 ft) and maximum draught of 7.08 metres (23.2 ft). Maximum speed is 20 knots, and the LHDs will sport four Rafael Typhoon 25 mm remote weapons systems, six 12.7 mm machine guns, an AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy, and a Nulka missile decoy.
The LHDs will be able to carry 1,046 soldiers and their equipment. Two vehicle decks (one for light vehicles, the other for heavy vehicles and tanks) can accommodate up to 110 vehicles. Each ship has a well deck for landing craft, while the flight deck has landing spots for six NH90-class helicopters or four CH-47 Chinook-class helicopters to operate simultaneously. The ships are equipped with a 13° ski jump retained from the Juan Carlos I design, although Australia has no plans to operate fixed-wing aircraft from these ships. The standard air group will typically be a mix of MRH-90 transport helicopters and S-70B Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters. The hangar can accommodate up to 18 helicopters, but eight will be the standard complement.
JZY-01 carrier-borne AEW under development will not be able to operate from the ship. J-15 operations on board the Liaoning will also be curtailed by fuel and payload limitations due to the ship’s STOBAR configuration. Rotary-wing assets include the Changhe Z-8, which also has an AEW variant, and possibly the Kamov Ka-27 Helix.
It was already widely expected that
China will be building more carriers after the Liaoning. In late July 2013, photos surfaced of a module of what appears to be an aircraft carrier under construction. The existence of a trench near an edge of the module fuelled speculation that this carrier will be equipped with a CATOBAR (Catapult Take Off Barrier Recovery) system, which China is very keen on developing for its future carrier fleet. However, another image of the Liaoning on a visit to Dalian on further sea trials appears to show a carrier’s bow section being built in the background. Interestingly, this looks to be another STOBAR design, with the gradient for a ski jump being quite obvious despite the module being in the shadows.
In the absence of concrete information, speculation is that the module seen in Shanghai is either a mock-up or construction model built to test and demonstrate the building capabilities of the shipyard to the PLAN. Still other reports have stated that the module is part of the
reported Type 081 amphibious assault ship, similar to the U.S Navy’s Tarawa-class Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) ship. The new class will reportedly displace between 30-40,000 tons according to different sources, carry four hovercraft and up to 20 helicopters. Commissioning date is believed to be 2015.
With the Liaoning training up a core of naval and air crew, developing tactics and establishing a doctrine in carrier operations while further carriers are being built, there is little doubt China looks set to be the regional carrier power in the near future.
Japan
Of all the nations deploying flattops in the Asia-Pacific, undoubtedly the most controversial has been Japan’s. Suspicion runs deep in the region about Japan’s true intentions despite its pacifist postwar constitution specifically banning the nation from deploying offensive weapons, fuelled by lingering anger over what is perceived as Japan’s failure to fully atone for its actions in World War II. With this in mind, the outcry that accompanied each launch of a Japanese flattop, classified as Helicopter-Destroyers (DDH) by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), is always predictable. But that hasn’t stopped Japan from being the Asia-Pacific nation with the most flight deck-equipped ships, with four in service or being built.
The JMSDF commissioned the Hyuga and her sister Ise in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Displacing 13,950 tons standard and 19,000 tons fully loaded, the ships are equipped with enhanced command-and-control capabilities, allowing them to serve as flagships for the JMSDF. The ships' primary mission is to function as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, and four landing spots for helicopters are provided for on the flight deck, although a maximum of 11 can be carried. The irregular plan form of the flight deck and the location of the forward Phalanx Close-In Weapon System would preclude the Hyuga-class from operating fixed-wing aircraft without a substantial flight deck redesign. The normal helicopter complement is three Sikorsky SH-60K Seahawk antisubmarine helicopters and a single Agusta-Westland MCH-101 Merlin airborne mine countermeasures helicopter; however this can vary depending on the mission.
The JS Hyuga was heavily involved in the HADR effort after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011. In June 2013, she became
the first JMSDF ship to operate the Boeing MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during the Dawn Blitz exercise with the U.S. Marine Corps off the coast of California.
On August 6, 2013, Japan followed up with the
launch of the JS Izumo, the lead ship of an even larger DDH design. Displacing 19,500 ton empty and 27,000 tons fully loaded, the Izumo and her as-yet unnamed sister will be the largest ships in the JMSDF inventory. Like the Hyuga and Ise before her, the Izumo will also be tasked primarily with anti-submarine warfare. The flight deck has five helicopter landing spots that allow simultaneous landings or take-offs, with a maximum complement of 14 helicopters theoretically possible.
Expected to be commissioned in 2015, the Izumo’s flight deck does appear to be more easily configurable to operate fixed-wing aircraft than the Hyuga class. Unsurprisingly, the Izumo’s launch has sparked controversy, having been described by the Chinese as an “aircraft-carrier in disguise.” The fact that neither the Izumo nor Hyuga-class ships are equipped with well docks for landing craft would have increased suspicion that they are designed specifically for aircraft operations.
South Korea
South Korea launched the ROKS Dokdo in 2005 and commissioned it two years later. In a move that likely didn’t go down well in Tokyo, it took the Korean name of the islands at the center of a territorial dispute with Japan. A multi-purpose ship capable of handling a variety of missions, the Dokdo displaces 14,000 tons empty and 18,000 tons fully loaded. Three ships of the class were planned; however the third vessel was cancelled by a previous government. The second, the ROKS Marado, was to suffer the same fate, but funding was restored in 2012.
The Dokdo class is capable of carrying up to 720 marines and multiple vehicles, while a well dock allows for amphibious assaults. There are five landing spots on her flight deck able to operate helicopters the size of the Sikorsky S-70 Blackhawk/Seahawk, while the hangar can accommodate a maximum of 15 helicopters of various types. The Dokdo was designed specifically to conduct “Over the Horizon” amphibious operations, whereby amphibious landing operations with high-speed LCACs and helicopters are launched far from the landing beaches to minimize risks to the landing ship. Her versatility has been demonstrated in 2010, when she was part of a task force conducting search and locate operations for the corvette ROKS Cheonan, which had been
sunk in a North Korean sneak attack.
It has been acknowledged that the Dokdo’s flight deck has been coated with urethane, which improves the ability of the flight deck to withstand the high temperatures of aircraft operations. However, like the JMSDF’s Hyuga-class, her irregular shaped flight deck and positioning of the forward CIWS would require extensive modification before fixed-wing aircraft could operate off her.
Thailand
Thailand is the oldest operator of a current carrier in the Asia-Pacific. The HTMS Chakri Naruebet was constructed by Navantia in Spain and commissioned in March 1997. Similar to the Spanish carrier Principe de Asturias, it is fitted with a 12° ski jump to operate the Royal Thai Navy’s (RTN) fleet of AV-8S Matador (Harrier) jets. The Chakri Naruebet was originally for Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance and protection and search and rescue, but it could also be used for flagship command and control, air support for the Thai surface fleet or disaster relief.
Displacing almost 11,500 tons full load, the Chakri Naruebet is the smallest aircraft carrier currently in service. She was to operate a mixed air group of Matadors and S-70B Seahawk helicopters, with the RTN purchasing ten former Spanish aircraft for the purpose. However the Asian financial crisis of 1997 put paid to those ambitions, with a lack of funding confining the Chakri Naruebet to port most of the time. The Matador fleet has also suffered accordingly, with the fleet finally being withdrawn from RTN service in 2006.
In recent years the Chakri Naruebet has spent more time at sea, mostly to assist in HADR missions. She took part in relief operations in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and in response to separate flooding incidents in late 2010 and early 2011. In 2012 Saab announced that it had received an order from the Royal Thai Navy for the upgrading of the Chakri Naruebet’s command and control system.
The F-35B Question
So are these ships aircraft carriers or not? If you (rightly) consider a helicopter an aircraft, then technically the answer is yes. But to describe these ships as aircraft carriers in the traditional sense of carrying fixed-wing aircraft for offensive purposes, things become murkier. The Liaoning and Chakri are undoubtedly intended to carry fixed-wing aircraft from the outset, even if the latter hasn’t done so for a long while now. However, the Canberra and Izumo-class ships, while having a flight deck capable of operating Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) jets such as the Lockheed-Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, would still require significant modification before they could be operational in that sense.
For starters, the ships will require
a thermal-resistant coating applied over the landing spots to protect the deck from the extreme temperatures during the F-35B’s landing cycle. Operating fast jets will also mean a large logistics support tail will require to be based on board the ship, with more hangar and storage room being taken by ammunition, spare parts and other support equipment and personnel required to support the jets. All this will require tradeoffs in space on board the ships, which will almost certainly compromise their ability to perform their other intended roles.
Another major stumbling block would be that using aircraft carriers in an offensive capacity requires the carrier itself to be escorted with its own battle group. Currently none of these Pacific navies have the warships, they have yet to fully develop the naval doctrine or tactics required, and they don’t have air and ground crews trained to operate in this way. This is all a huge undertaking, requiring years to carry through, even with help from current carrier operators such as the U.S. Navy. Other than China, none of these navies appear to have plans for this in the near future.
While some have questioned the utility of 12-16 F-35Bs on deck in a conflict, it must be considered that despite the bad press,
a fully operational F-35 will represent a game-changer in air combat as we know it. Even a dozen of these aircraft, hypothetically operating from a mini-carrier escorted by a battle group in the vast Western Pacific, will pack serious combat capability and complicate the calculus for any adversary in any conflict. However, the fact is that neither Australia, Japan or South Korea are, or have budgeted for, acquiring the F-35B, even if the former two nations have signed up for the Conventional Take Off and Landing F-35A version.
This brings us to the age old issue: Money. With budgets under pressure in Australia or Japan, neither country is in a position to fund such radical changes in defense posture. Certain alarmist reports notwithstanding, the idea of aircraft carriers from regional countries trading blows in the western Pacific is, to use a maritime term, dead in the water.
Who Will Supply 4 LPHs And Other Related Hardware For The Indian Navy?
Since the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, the landing platform dock (LPD) and the amphibious assault ship (LPH) have emerged as an instrument of soft power, with their on-board fleets of multi-purpose utility helicopters, landing craft (LCM), and air-cushion vehicles; plus their command-and-control capabilities and cavernous holds proving to be invaluable for disaster relief, small-scale policing or mass civilian evacuation operations. At the same time, the LPDs and LPHs have proven to be invaluable tools for undertaking asymmetric warfare (against pirates in the high seas), expeditionary amphibious campaigns (such as those undertaken by the Royal Navy in 1982 to retake the Falklands Islands), and low-intensity maritime operations involving vertical envelopment tactics, which the Indian Navy calls “effecting maritime manoeuvres from the sea”.
It was in the September 2004 issue of
FORCE magazine that I had penned an analysis on the need for the Indian Navy to urgently begin planning for acquiring a modest fleet of no less than three LPHs for it to undertake both humanitarian relief operations within the Indian Ocean Region whenever required, as well as prepare for the prospects of undertaking power projection-based expeditionary amphibious campaigns with its own integral naval infantry assets (as opposed to the still existing flawed practice of transporting a mere mechanised battalion of the Indian Army on board large landing ship tanks (LST-L). It came as no surprise to me when my analysis was laughed upon and ridiculed in circles within Navy HQ, but suffice to say that this state of affairs lasted only for the following three months, following which Navy HQ, headed at that time by Admiral Arun Prakash, the Chief of the Naval Staff, directed the Directorate of Plans & Operations to begin preparing the NSQRs for procuring a fleet of LPHs with a great sense of urgency. However, matters did not move swiftly enough on the procurement front, despite the articulation and unveiling by Navy HQ of its doctrines for effecting maritime manoeuvres from the sea though joint amphibious warfare operations. This, however, did not deter the Navy from setting up—on June 24, 2008—its Advanced Amphibious Warfare School and Fleet Support Complex--in the enclave that will come up along the beach road on the outskirts of Kakinada, about 500km from Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is here that the Navy is quietly but progressively raising its first of three naval infantry battalions (to eventually become a Brigade-strength formation), which will be trained and equipped to undertake both amphibious and vertical envelopment air-assault operations by 2018.
On the procurement front, matters began to move only last October when the Cabinet Committee on National Security accorded approval to Navy HQ to begin drafting the request for Information (RFI) regarding the acquisition of four LPHs and related hardware under the ‘Buy and Make Indian’ clause of the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP-9). Under this clause, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) can invite proposals (based on a capability definition document) from those Indian shipbuilders from both the public sector and private sector that have the requisite financial and technical capabilities to enter into joint ventures with foreign shipbuilders and together undertake indigenous construction of the warships. In early December 2010, the Navy HQ issued its RFIs to Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Company Ltd, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Mazagon Docks Ltd, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd.
These shipyards were required to forward a Detailed Project Proposal outlining the roadmap for the development of design and construction of the LPHs. After the RFI responses were submitted by March 7 this year, the Detailed Project Proposal, thereafter, was examined by a Project Appraisal Committee (PAC) constituted by the MoD’s Acquisition Wing to verify the credentials of the foreign partners, together with confirming the acceptability of the respective joint ventures between the Indian shipyard and its foreign collaborator. By the end of next week the Indian shipyards shortlisted for issue of the request for Proposals (RFP) would be intimated. Thereafter, the MoD will invite responses to the RFP only from Indian Shipyards.
A detailed analysis of the already-issued RFI brings out several interesting indicators about both the overall configuration of the desired vessel and its performance/operational capabilities. For instance, the RFI has specified that the length of the vessel should be approximately 200 metres; the draught should not exceed 8 metres; the endurance at sea must be for 45 days; the diesel-electric propulsion system of should of either twin-shaft configuration (with twin rudders and fixed-pitch propellers) or shock-graded podded propulsion; the vessel must have a suitable well-deck for carrying amphibious craft like LCMs or LCACs and LCVPs on davits and should have the capability to launch these craft when underway; the vessel must be able to house combat vehicles (including main battle tanks, infantry combat vehicles and heavy trucks on one or more vehicle deck; and the vessel should be able to undertake all-weather operations involving heavylift helicopters of up to 35 tonnes MTOW.
Weapon systems and mission sensors to go on board the projected four vessels will all be pre-selected (known also as customer-furnished or buyer-nominated equipment) and mentioned in the RFI. Such hardware will include the point-defence missile system (PDMS), close-in weapon system (CIWS), anti-torpedo decoy system, countermeasures dispensing system, 12.7mm heavy machine guns, and 7.62mm light machine guns. In addition, each of the four vessels will be required to have one E/F-band combined air-surface surveillance radar, one C/D band air surveillance radar, and an integrated marine navigation system employing X- and S-band navigation radars. But the RFI, in what can only be described as an act of omission, does not specify the kinds of active/passive hull-mounted panoramic sonar (low-frequency or ultra low-frequency) and minehunting sonar suites that is desired.
From the above-mentioned specifications outlined in the RFI, we can come to some probable conclusions. Firstly, the desired vessel’s dimensions clearly call for a LPH solution (with a maximum displacement of up to 21,000 tonnes), as opposed to the conventional smaller LPD or larger LHD. Secondly, the type of heavylift helicopters desired clearly limit the options (to be exercised under a separate contract involving competitive bidding) to the AgustaWestland AW-101, and Sikorsky’s S-92 Super Hawk and CH-53K Super Stallion. Thirdly, even though C/D band (old L-band) airspace surveillance radars THALES-built Smart-L (its S-1850M variant equipping South Korea’s Dokdo-class LHDs) and Selex Sistem Integrati’s Kronos-3D NV are available, the Indian Navy, by choosing to pre-select this piece of hardware, has already decided in favour of the naval variant of the EL/M-2282 AD-STAR active phased-array radar from the ELTA Systems subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, which has been selected for the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (INS Vikrant) now being fabricated by Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
The same goes for the desired E/F band (old S-band) air/surface volume search radar, for which the BAE Systems-built Sampson, Lockheed Martin/Raytheon SPY-4, and THALES’ Herakles MFR-30 could have been offered. Instead, the Israel Aerospace Industries/ELTA Systems-built EL/M-2248 MF-STAR liquid-cooled active phased-array radar (which has also been selected in a four-array configuration for INS Vikrant as well as for the three Project 15A Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyers, the four projected Project 15B DDGs and seven projected Project 17A guided-missile frigates, and may well be retrofitted on to the three existing Project 15 Delhi-class DDGs in the near future) has been pre-selected. The MF-STAR, which offers superior performance in high-moisture clutter conditions like rain or fog, and is excellent for scanning and tracking within a very large volume, employs multiple beam-forming and advanced high-PRF waveforms to extract stressing, low RCS threats even in conditions of heavy jamming and dense clutter.
Key performance characteristics include three-dimensional volume search, anti-ship cruise missile missile horizon search, multi-airborne target tracking, surface surveillance, helicopter detection, gunnery control and splash spotting. The MF-STAR can initiate tracks against sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles at ranges in excess of 25km, and out to more than 250km for a high-flying combat aircraft. It can also provide mid-course guidance for the Baral-2/8 MR-SAM/LR-SAM.
It thus seems that the Indian Navy is terribly conservative by not embracing the concept of an integrated mast housing dual-band active phased-array radars (DBR) employing distributed S-band and X-band arrays, but using an unified back-end radar electronics and operating software. When using DBRs, a warship’s combat management system receives a single stream of data, and the radar itself is able to mix and match its antennae as the situation requires. At the design tier, this approach allows fewer radar antennae, all flush-mounted with the superstructure for maximum stealth. At the tactical tier, integration at the radar-level offers faster response time, faster adaptation to new situations, and better utilisation of the warship’s power, electronics, and bandwidth.
At the life-cycle maintenance tier, it allows one-step upgrades to the radar suite as a whole. The use of active phased-array, digital beam-forming radar technologies will thus help DBR-equipped warships to survive saturation attacks. The DBR’s most salient feature is the ability to allocate groups of emitters within their thousands of individual modules to perform specific tasks, in order to track and guide MR-SAMs against tens of incoming sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles simultaneously. In addition, DBRs have uses such as very high-power electronic jammers, and/or high-bandwidth secure communications relays. As far as integrated S-/X-band marine navigation radars go, the competition is between UK-based Kelvin Hughes and Terma of Denmark.
Another area where the Navy seems to have favoured conservatism instead of playing technological leapfrog is in the area of propulsion system. While on one hand the Navy has been extremely eager to embrace the on-board electric ‘chappati’ (Indian bread) maker, it has, for unknown reasons, decided against an all-electric propulsion system in which, instead of a propulsion shaft connecting the two, the all-electric drive will use the warship’s engines (gas turbine or diesel) to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity, which will be routed down thick cables to an-electric motor that will drive its propellers. The advantages of such propulsion systems are many, including an appreciable enlargement of the well-deck, making the vessel’s superstructure more resistant ro damage by distributing engines and generators around the vessel, and easier on-board maintenance procedures, as some of the engines can be stopped without halting the warship.
Coming now to the weapons suite, the Navy has a choice of combinations to choose from, including the SeaRAM and Phalanx Block 1B from Raytheon, Sadral from MBDA integrated with OTOBreda of Italy’s twin-barrel 30mm/82 Compact or the Goalkeeper from THALES Nederland, the combination of Phalanx Block 1B/Barak-1 from Israel Aerospace Industries, and the combined Palma PDMS/CIWS from Russia’s Tulamashzavod JSC. It is believed that the Phalanx Block 1B/Barak-1 combination is the Navy’s preferred choice. The Navy’s shipboard decoy control and launching system of choice is ELBIT Systems’ DESEAVER-MK, which is already on board the three Project 16A Brahmaputra-class and three Project 17 Shivalik-class FFGs. The combat management system and ESM/ELINT/EW suites will be procured off-the-shelf as standard fitment along with the LPHs. Although not yet specified, but depending on space availability, the selected LPH model could also house a module containing up to 12 tactical NLOS-PGMs like the ‘Prahaar’, to be employed for providing lethal and long-range indirect fire-assaults in support of friendly naval infantry forces. Also not yet stated officially is the Navy’s requirement for shipborne attack helicopters, for which the HAL-developed LCH could emerge as the logical choice.
Finally, we come to the foreign shipbuilders with their respective proposals, comprising DCNS of France with its Mistral-BPC 21,300-tonne LPH, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems with its 20,000-tonne MHD-200 LPH (with two separate heli-decks on two levels), Fincantieri of Italy with its 20,000-tonne Mosaic LPH design, South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries & Constructions Co with its 18,800-tonne Dokdo-class LPH, The Netherlands-based Schelde Shipbuilding of the Royal Schelde Company with its 16,800-tonne Rotterdam-class LPD, Navantia of Spain with its Athlas 21,560-tonne LHD and 13,900-tonne Galicia-class LPD, and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems with its 25,000-tonne San Antonio LPD-17 design. From this list, the frontrunners are expected to be Mistral-BPC, MHD-200, Mosaic LPH, and the Dokdo-class LPH. While DCNs is believed to have joined forces with Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Company Ltd, Mazagon Docks Ltd has aligned itself with Fincantieri, while Larsen & Toubro has linked up with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. It remains unclear whether or not GRSE and Cochin Shipyard Ltd will be invited to respond to the RFP. However, these two companies are unlikely to be left empty-handed, and are instead likely to get contracts for licence-building high-speed air-cushioned vehicles from either US-based Textron Marine and Land Systems (LCAC) or Hanjin Heavy Industries & Constructions Co (LSF-2), LCMs (with designs being offered by Navantia and Hanjin Heavy Industries & Constructions Co), or high-speed catamarans, for which France’s CNIM is likely to offer its L-CAT catamaran.
Between the expected frontrunners, the competition is expected to be fierce between the Dokdo-class LPH, Mistral-BPC and MHD-200. The Mistral-BPC has already been ordered by France (three units for €990 million) and Russia (four units for €1.12 billion). The MHD-200 is thought to cost no more than €150 million. The Mistral-BPC can carry up to 16 helicopters, four L-CAT catamarans or two air-cushion vehicles, 13 main battle tanks, around 100 other vehicles and a 450-strong infantry force. It has also facilities for the command staff required for waging a Brigade-sized expeditionary campaign, and is equipped with a 69-bed hospital. The MHD-200’s design concept is altogether different because, according to Thyssenkrupp, “the LPH needs to match container-ship technology to gray-ship thinking. For disaster relief, you need space for a big hospital--120 beds and a full trauma unit, or you need to be able to pull 2,000 people off the beach”. Another unusual feature of the MHD-200 is its stepped rear deck, which can be loaded with containerised supplies or used as an extra landing pad, with direct hangar access.
To conclude, it has indeed been an arduous process for the LPH procurement project, considering that the time elapsed between project conceptualsiation and issuance of RFPs has been five years--a task that could well have been fulfilled in less than two years had the Defence Acquisition Council been more efficient in its functioning. Add to that another four years to be taken for the contract award stage to be reached, plus another three years for launching of the first LPH, and we are then likely to see it entering service only around 2020—
Prasun K. Sengupta
