Quote:
Originally Posted by rickusn
Here are my initial thoughts. They may or may not hold water.:
Its a start. Im not sure C1/C2 should be separate. Of course the article states this is under debate to some extent:
"One continuing debate is whether C1 and C2 should be based on the same generic hull but with differences across their respective equipment fits to reflect the capability split between the two."
IMHO they should be one class.
Just as the split in capabiliities of the FREMM class for Italy and France concerns me.
I dont see any real savings potential and conversely a real possibility of increased costs.
And concerns about flexibility and manpower/training/maintenance issues.
But politically it may be the only route to procure sufficient ships. But I see it as really adversely affecting efficiency and effectivness of the navies in operating/tactical matters.
As for C3: It could prove to be the most effective replacement program of the three.
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I'm not sure I 100% agree.
Essentially, the idea of FREMM and possibly C1 + C2 is that the same basic hull/engines are used for both ships. C1 gets the high-end, expensive gear. C2 doesnt. This would result in some "dead space" on the C2, which would be referred to as "reserved weight and space".
In essence, I suspect the idea is a modular platform introduced by stealth. The C2 would have the ability to refitted to C1 standard, should the need arise.
While a "bulk buy" of C1 equipment would lower the overall cost if they were all built to that standard, the RN could simply never afford in the present climate to fit so many ships out to the top-level standard.
Doing it this way at least allows the posibility of future upgrades, without having to design a whole new class of ships.
The lack of room for expansion has dogged the RN for a long time - the T42s have essentially been utterly useless for the last decade (in terms of a real, shooting war) because of it. The T22 B1 and B2 suffered from the same problems, and the T23's (although nominally multi-mission) as well.
Ideally, there would be no C2 class. But, if built on the same hull as the C1, they do offer a degree of "future proofing".