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THE NEW "POSEIDON CLASS" SUPER AIRCRAFT CARRIER IS OPERATIVE
Highly advanced technologies,interoperability and efficiency,extreme lethality,make this ship the pivot of European naval power
The new giant,plowing through the oceans,will revolutionize European power and magnify the power projection,enormous benefits to the economy and to the engineering know-how
The "CVN Strasbourg" during navigation
The Poseidon Class is the future aircraft carrier replacement class for "Integration Class" aircraft carriers for the European Navy. The Poseidon Class will be the premier forward asset for crisis response and early decisive striking power in a major combat operation. These new ircraft carriers and their carrier strike groups will provide the core capabilities of forward presence,deterrence,sea control,power projection,maritime security and humanitarian assistance. The class brings improved warfighting capability,quality of life improvements for our Sailors and reduced total ownership costs.
Each ship in the new class will save more than $4 billion in total ownership costs during its 50-year service life,compared to the "Integration Class". The Poseidon Class is designed to operate effectively with nearly 700 fewer crew members than a "Integration Class" ships. Improvements in the ship design will allow the embarked air wing to operate with approximately 400 fewer personnel. New technologies and ship design features are expected to reduce watch standing and maintenance workload for the crew. The Poseidon Class ships are the first aircraft carriers designed with all electric utilities,eliminating steam service lines from the ship,reducing maintenance requirements and improving corrosion control.
The new A1B reactor,Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS),Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and Dual Band Radar (DBR) all offer extreme enhanced capability with reduced manning. The Poseidon Class is designed to maximize the striking power of the embarked carrier air wing. The ship’s systems and configuration are optimized to maximize the sortie generation rate (SGR) of attached strike aircraft,resulting in a 33 percent increase in SGR over the "Integration Class". The ship’s configuration and electrical generating plant are designed to accommodate new systems,including direct energy weapons, during its 50- year service life.
The vessels planned are,in all,11. The first ship,the "CVN Brussels",officially entered into service late last week, the other will be operational in the coming months. The phases of research and development of new and avant-garde technologies that make up the ambitious project was attended by dozens of companies,public and private,various government agencies and research institutes,as well as the entire Shore Establishment of the Navy. The same applies to the phases of design and construction. The entire project was led by the European Naval Engineering Corporation,developed and technologically advanced public company,the global leader in the industry. In short,the project will not only bring a leap forward in naval power,but also a great advancement in technological know-how,development for businesses and thousands of new jobs.
The "CVN Brussels" during navigation
The
Poseidon Class carriers will have the same displacement, about 100.000t,as its predecessor,the "Integration Class",but will have about 500 to 900 fewer crew members. The manpower reduction was a key performance parameter added to the original four in the operational requirements document for the CVN 21 programme. It is estimated that the new carrier technologies will lead to a 30% reduction in maintenance requirements and a further crew workload reduction will be achieved through extreme higher levels of automation. The other main differences in operational performance compared with the "Integration Class" are increased sortie rates at 160 sorties a day (compared with 140 a day),a weight and stability allowance over the 50-year operational service life of the ship,and increased (by approximately 150%) electrical power generation and distribution to sustain the ship's advanced technology systems. Another key performance requirement is interoperability.
The hull design is similar to that of the current "Integration Class" carriers and with the same number of decks. The island is smaller and moved further towards the aft of the ship. The island has a composite mast with planar array radars,a volume search radar operating at S band and a multifunction radar at X band,and also carries the stern-facing joint precision approach and landing system (JPALS), which is based on local area differential global positioning system (GPS), rather than radar. The aircraft carrier traditionally carries the flag officer and 70 staff of the carrier battle group. The flag bridge,which was previously accommodated in the carrier's island, was relocated to a lower deck in order to minimise the size of the island. The ship's internal configuration and flight deck designs have significantly changed. The lower decks incorporate a flexible rapidly reconfigurable layout allowing different layouts and installation of new equipment in command,planning and administration areas.
The "CVN Brussels",first of the "Poseidon Class",under construction
The carriers of the
Poseidon Class will be armed with the Raytheon evolved Sea Sparrow missile (ESSM),which defends against high-speed,highly manoeuvrable anti-ship missiles. The close-in weapon system is the rolling airframe missile (RAM). The carrier will be capable of carrying up to 90 aircraft including the F-38 Thunderstar,F/A-18 Super Hornet,E-2D Advanced Hawkeye,EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft,MH-60R/S helicopters and unmanned air vehicles and unmanned combat air vehicles. The requirement for a higher sortie rate at 160 sorties a day with surges to a maximum of 220 sorties a day in times of crisis and intense air warfare activity,has led to design changes in the flight deck. The flight deck has a relocated and smaller island,and there are three rather than four deck edge elevators. Deck extensions also increase the aircraft parking areas. The aircraft service stations are located near the 18 refuelling and rearming stops.
European Naval Engineering Corporation was awarded the contract to develop the EMALS electromagnetic aircraft launch system,which uses a linear electromagnetic accelerator motor,four for each carrier. EMALS technology offers the benefit of finer aircraft acceleration control,which leads to lower stresses in the aircraft and pilots and provides a slower launch speed for unmanned air vehicles and allows a wider window of wind-over-deck speed required for the launch sequence.
The flow of weapons to the aircraft stops on the flight deck were upgraded to accommodate the higher sortie rates. The ship carries stores of missiles and cannon rounds for fighter aircraft,bombs and air-to-surface missiles for strike aircraft, and torpedoes and depth charges for anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Weapons elevators take the weapons systems from the magazines to the weapons handling and weapons assembly areas on the 02-level deck (below the flight deck) and express weapons elevators are installed between the handling and assembly areas and the flight deck.
European Naval Engineering Corporation has developed the advanced nuclear propulsion system and a zonal electrical power distribution system for the
Poseidon Class.
THE NEW "EUROPE CLASS" AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP CAME INTO PLAYDevelopment for the European naval power and power projection,but also for the economy and the technological know-how
The "ENS Sicily",in an art impression
The Europe Class amphibious assault ships are being built by European Naval Engineering Corporation and various public and private companies for the European Navy. These ships are intended to be placed alongside "San Giorgio Class" amphibious assault ships. The ships,in which were installed a number of major improvements and new innovative technologies,will allow the huge development of the European power projection. And,as always in these cases,the billionaire project have led to a great development of the entire industrial sector and of the European know-how,and created thousands of new jobs for highly skilled jobs. Are planned 15 ships,the first two came into service in recent weeks, and within a few months the entire fleet will be operational.
Europe Class will be equipped with a gas turbine propulsion system. The design incorporates several modifications to complement aviation operations and support activities. The well deck has been converted into an extended hangar deck and includes two wide and high bay areas. An overhead crane will be installed in each bay area for aircraft maintenance. The design also includes a reconfigurable command and control centre,a hospital,additional aviation fuel storage facilities and aviation support areas. These changes will enable the ship to serve joint,inter-agency and transnational maritime forces.
The vessel will have hangar large enough to accommodate huge aircraft movement. The ship will also have increased aviation fuel capacity,and storage for aviation parts and support equipment. With its 45.000t displacement and complement of strike fighters,it can serve in the small carrier role. The Europe Class amphibious assault ships will be armed with two rolling airframe missile launchers and two Evolved Sea Sparrow missile (ESSM) launchers. ESSM launchers are used against incoming missiles,aircraft and other surface threats. The ship will be fitted with seven twin 50-calibre Browning machine guns. Two 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon systems (CIWS) will also be mounted on the vessel. The phalanx CIWS provides self-defence against anti-ship missiles and close-in air and surface threats. The Europe Class ships will be fitted with the ship self-defence system (SSDS). The SSDS receives data from individual radars, the electronic support measures system (radar warning receiver) and the identification-friend or foe system. It forms a composite track from this data which is used to identify, prioritise and track threats. The system provides final layer of self protection against anti-ship cruise missiles, including subsonic (Mach 0.9) and supersonic (Mach 2+) low-altitude variants.
THE FIRST SUBMARINE OF THE "SAURO CLASS" IS OPERATIVENew innovative and advanced technologies,combined with the highest level of operating efficiency,will lead the European submarine force to a new stage of development
The "ENS Cadiz",the first submarine of the "Sauro Class",during navigation
The Sauro Class new attack submarine is an advanced stealth multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and littoral (shallow water) operations. It was developed to provide a replacement for the old generations of submarines in combating,the prohibitive unit cost and changing strategic requirements led to the European Navy and Ministry of Defence defining a smaller new-generation attack submarine. The project, which lasted several years, has seen the investment of several billion, both from the government, which the private party. The captain of a team that has dozens of companies,public and private,large and small,was as usual the European Naval Engineering Corporation. Research and development activities have involved a consortium of national proportions,consisting of dozens of companies (public and private),government agencies and research organizations (public and private),which has led to new innovations and to an exponential growth of technological know-how. These new submarines will lead to the development of European military capabilities,but also allowed a substantial economic and technological development,and the creation of thousands of new highly skilled jobs. There are total 30 submarines,which will replace the previous classes: the first one is already in operation for a few days,the next will follow gradually in the coming months.
The engineering teams and design and build teams of the European Naval Engineering Corporation,and of the various companies of the consortium,in partnership with the Naval Sea Systems Command and others Shore Establishment agencies of the European Navy,have used extensive CAD/CAE simulation systems to optimise the design of the submarines of the Sauro Class. The hull size is length 377ft by beam 34ft and the displacement is 7.300t dived. The hull structure contains structurally integrated enclosures,which accommodate standard 19in and 24in width equipment for ease of installation,repair and upgrade of the submarine's systems. The submarine is fitted with modular isolated deck structures,for example the submarine's command centre will be installed as one single unit resting on cushioned mounting points. The submarine's control suite is equipped with computer touch screens. The submarine's steering and diving control is via a four-button,two-axis joystick. The noise level of the Sauro Class is very low. To achieve this low acoustic signature,the submarines incorporates newly designed anechoic coatings,isolated deck structures and a new design of propulsor.
The command and control systems module (CCSM) has been developed by a team of companies led by Unsersea System Corporation,a division of the European Naval Engineering Corporation. It will integrate all of the vessel's systems - sensors,countermeasure technology,navigation and weapon control - and will be based on open system architecture (OSA) with Q-70 colour common display consoles. The Sauro Class has two mast-mounted Raytheon submarine high data rate (sub HDR) multiband satellite communications systems that allow simultaneous communication at super high frequency (SHF) and extremely high frequency (EHF).
The "ENS Valencia" under costruction
The Sauro Class is equipped with 12 vertical missile launch tubes and four 533mm torpedo tubes. The vertical launching system has the capacity to launch 16 Tomahawk submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM) in a single salvo. There is capacity for up to 26 mk48 ADCAP mod 6 heavyweight torpedoes and sub harpoon anti-ship missiles to be fired in torpedo tubes. Mk60 CAPTOR mines may also be fitted. An integral lock-out/lock-in chamber is incorporated into the hull for special operations. The chamber can host a mini-submarine to deliver special warfare forces such Special Forces teams or Marine reconnaissance units,for counter-terrorism or localised conflict operations. Sauro Class is fitted with the AN/WLY-1 acoustic countermeasures system,which provides range and bearing data,along with the mast-mounted AN/BLQ-10 electronic support measures (ESM) system,which provides full spectrum radar processing,automatic threat warning and situation assessment.
The Sauro CLass sonar suite includes bow-mounted active and passive array,wide aperture passive array on flank, high-frequency active arrays on keel and fin,TB 16 towed array and the TB-29A thinline towed array,with the AN/BQQ-10(V4) sonar processing system. A Sperry Marine AN/BPS-16(V)4 navigation radar,operating at I-band,is fitted. The submarines have two Kollmorgen AN/BVS-1 photonic masts,rather than optical periscopes. Sensors mounted on the non-hull-penetrating photonic mast include LLTV (low-light TV),thermal imager and laser rangefinder. LMRS long-term mine reconnaissance system will be deployed on the Sauro Class. LMRS includes two 6m autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles,an 18m robotic recovery arm and support electronics.