Constellation-class Guided Missile Frigates

[jlvfr]

So... it's going with just the VDS?

[JA Boomer]

So... it's going with just the VDS?

That's what I took out of it. Doesn't that mean it will not have an active sonar array?

[jlvfr]

I'm guessing the VDS has active modes.

[JA Boomer]

I'm guessing the VDS has active modes.

That makes sense. I have to admit, I did not realize a VDS had such capability. Of course, most of my ASW knowledge comes from reading Red Storm Rising .

[TopHatter]

Construction of Navy’s New Frigate to Begin This Month, Admiral Says


An artist’s rendering of the Constellation-class guided missile frigate. U.S. NAVY

ARLINGTON, Va. — Construction of the U.S. Navy’s next-generation guided-missile frigate (FFG) is to take begin later this month, a Navy admiral said.

“[Regarding] the FFG 62 Constellation class, we’re going to start bending metal later this month,” said Rear Adm. Fred Pyle, director, Surface Warfare Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, speaking Aug. 18 at the Surface Navy Association’s Waterfront 2022 West Coast symposium. “That’s a success story. This frigate is going to bring DDG-like capability. We need to build small surface combatants in numbers [and] get this fighting frigate to sea. So, we’re excited about the Constellation-class frigate.”

Three Constellation-class FFGs—Constellation (FFG 64), Congress (FFG 63), and Chesapeake (FFG 64) currently are on order. In June, the Navy exercised a contract option to order to build FFG 64 from Wisconsin-based Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the ship’s builder.

The Marinette Marine shipyard is currently working on the detailed design for the future USS Constellation.

The Navy has a requirement for 20 frigates. Marinette Marine is now under contract for the first three FFGs with options for seven more.

The Constellation class FFG is based largely on the Italian FREMM frigate, but with a longer hull and features modified to meet U.S. Navy standards on reliability, survivability, maintainability, habitability and lethality. The 496-foot-long steel ship will displace 7,300 tons and have a beam of 64.6 feet and a draft of 18 feet. It will be powered by a combination diesel electric and gas turbine propulsion system.

The FFG will feature a Mk41 Vertical Launching System, canister-launched Naval Strike Missiles, a self-defense launcher, Mk110 57 mm gun, Longbow Hellfire missiles, SeaRAM Mk15 Mod 31 launcher, SQS-62 variable-depth sonar, TB-37 Multi-Function Towed Array, SQQ-98F undersea combat system, SLQ-61 lightweight tow, SLQ-32(V)6 SEWIP Block 2, SPY-9(V)3 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, COMBATSS-21 mission system with Baseline 10 of the Aegis Combat System, one MH-60R helicopter, one MQ-8C or similar-sized unmanned aerial vehicle, and two 7-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats.

Delivery of Constellation is anticipated for 2026.
_______

[Zad Fnark]

Marinette's in Wisconsin. Got a shot of when they were making Little Crappy Ships. Glad they're producing something useful now.

Like this paint scheme. Looks like the old Measure 22.

[jlvfr]

Marinette's in Wisconsin. Got a shot of when they were making Little Crappy Ships. Glad they're producing something useful now.

Thank you for making me gag & spit juice all over the desk and laugh so hard. Thank gods I'm working from home! :D :D :D

[Zad Fnark]

Figured everyone knew that.

If you visit Cdr Salamander, you'll see it often.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/20...hostility.html

[jlvfr]

Figured everyone knew that.

If you visit Cdr Salamander, you'll see it often.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/20...hostility.html

Don't get me wrong, I fully agree. waste of money, just never heard that one before...

PS: on article there, there's mention of US ships 30+ years old? Pfft, we have a corvete that's 51 years old and still working at sea!

[JRT]

This older item quoted below has some interesting info about FREMM. Not sure what in the FREMM design does or does not pull through into the changed design for the new Constellation class.

FREMM frigates feature CODLAG gearsets
26 September 2008
by Riviera Newsletters

Developments in naval gearing systems have progressed through CODAD and CODOG/CODAG propulsion arrangements – respectively linking diesel engines with diesel engines, and diesel engines with gas turbines – to CODLAG configurations combining diesel-electric propulsion with gas turbines.

CODLAG installations have become attractive for larger naval vessel propulsion, with speed-controlled electric motors applied for cruising and a central gas turbine driving CP propellers for high speed operations. Such a solution – based on Renk gearsets – is specified for the Italian and French Navies’ multi-mission FREMM frigate programme.

A hybrid gas turbine and electric propulsion system will drive the 140m-long/6,000-tonne displacement vessels, which may eventually number up to 27 deliveries, to the customer navies from the Fincantieri and DCN yards in Italy and France. The prime contractor for the frigates is Armaris, a joint subsidiary of the French defence organisations DCN and Thales.

In ‘silent’ mode up to 16 knots, for anti-submarine operations, the twin fixed pitch (FP) propeller shaftlines will be driven by electric motors. High speed service (around 29 knots) will see the engagement of a single General Electric LM2500+G4 gas turbine either alone or in conjunction with the electric motors in a combined diesel-electric and gasturbine system.

Electrical power for the motors will be delivered by four diesel gensets based on V16-cylinder MTU Series 4000 high speed engines, each with a rating of 2,200kW.

A key element of the propulsion plant package will be the CODLAG type 270-175 gearset from Renk which is supplying all the system components in co-production with Fincantieri.

Derived from the German specialist’s established CODAG configuration, the gearset features a cross-connect gear (type AS 270/130) transmitting the gas turbine’s 32MW power to the two propeller shafts, and two main gear units (type AS 175), each connected in a second stage to the shafts.

An advanced propeller clutch (type APC 425), filed as a patent, transmits half the gas turbine power to the shaft train. The electric propulsion motors arranged astern supply power either individually (for cruising speed mode) with a disconnected clutch or in combination with the gas turbine (high speed mode) and connected clutch.

Purpose-developed by Renk for this application, the APC is mounted on a foundation separate from the gear system in order to keep the latter free from vibrations during connection and disconnection procedures. The wet-running multi-disc clutches are of a proven Renk design refined to meet the torque requirement of the slow-running propeller shafts. Their control is fully automatic and adapted to the control system of the vessel’s complete propulsion package.

Toothing precision of the double helical teeth of the gear units will be optimised by Renk’s profile grinding machines, and the 120-tonne gearing system will be final-mounted and tested at Fincantieri in conjunction with the German supplier. The first gearset for the FREMM frigates is planned for delivery at end-2008.

Turkish corvette served by Imtech systems

An extensive Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) will be supplied by Imtech Marine & Offshore for the first of a new Turkish Navy class, the MILGEM corvette. Dutch specialist Imtech, which will execute the project with its Turkish partner and main contractor Yaltes, is a prime candidate to supply similar technology and system integration for the other 11 vessels in the class.

With an overall length of 99m, maximum beam of 14.4m and displacement of 2,000 tonnes, the MILGEM corvette will feature a 30MW CODAG propulsion plant based on one gas turbine and two diesel engines. A maximum speed of 29 knots-plus is anticipated from the multi-purpose class, which will be headed by a vessel under construction at the Turkish Naval Forces’ Istanbul Naval Shipyard.

Imtech’s Unimacs 3000 series IPMS is specified to monitor and control all platform machinery, electrical power generation and distribution, damage control and auxiliary systems. The system will also provide automation to enhance operational effectiveness and survivability, along with onboard training, fire detection, firefighting and damage control, stability and CCTV systems, all integrated in one network. Advanced industrial automation technology will be adapted and packaged for the naval environment.

Co-operation with Istanbul-based Yaltes will lead to an extensive transfer of technology to the Turkish industry, says Imtech, whose naval references list electrical, automation, HVAC and propulsion systems supplied to over 150 ships for 17 navies, with recent projects for the Oman Navy, the Polish Navy and the Indonesian Navy.

New UK submarine class benefits from long-life nuclear core

The first new UK Royal Navy submarine to benefit from a Rolls-Royce long-life nuclear core, HMS Astute, was recently launched by BAE Systems at Barrow-in-Furness, England. The reactor core is designed to enable the boat to be deployed for a full operational lifespan (over 25 years) without the need to refuel.

Trialled at the Vulcan test establishment in Dounreay, Scotland, since 2002, the long-life core is the fifth generation of core produced by Rolls-Royce, which delivered the first pressurised water reactor for HMS Dreadnought in 1963.

Rolls-Royce has also supplied submarine propulsors for the first time to HMS Astute, and additionally provided switchgear and electrical systems under its name following the group’s acquisition in 2003 of VT Controls.

HMS Astute heads a class of the most powerful attack submarines ever ordered by the Royal Navy and will be joined by two others, Ambush and Artful, now under construction. The Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor is designed to eliminate costly reactor refuelling and to last the complete lifetime of the platform.

A land-based prototype successfully operated at the Vulcan facility for four years after its installation there in 2001, achieving a three-year lead time over the first seagoing core fitted to HMS Vanguard during a refit in 2004.

A lightweight and ‘exceptionally quiet’ propulsor is also sourced for the Astute-class from Rolls-Royce, the design exploiting the group’s gas turbine technology. Rolls-Royce is further responsible for the main propulsion bearings, turbo-generators, flexible couplings and 440V electrical distribution system.

Rolls-Royce has designed, manufactured and maintained nuclear propulsion systems for the Royal Navy for over 40 years. The group’s submarine operations are based at Derby in England where some 1,400 personnel are engaged; the Vulcan reactor core research facility in Dounreay is also operated on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and Rolls-Royce teams are on site at submarine dockyards in the UK.

A 10-year contract with the UK MoD calls for Rolls-Royce to support the nuclear power plant of the Royal Navy’s fleet of 13 Swiftsure, Trafalgar and Vanguard-class submarines as well as the new Astute-class submarines as they enter service.

Under a new contract framework – Flotilla Reactor Plant Support – the MoD and Rolls-Royce will form a joint team to set agreed service levels, the latter being paid for meeting those targets rather than individual packages of work. Rolls-Royce will also receive additional incentive payments for improvements which create savings when the submarines are in service.

The contract covers technical support, spares management, the provision of plant safety cases and product development capability.

GE turbines drive US and Polish projects

Two GE Marine LM2500 gas turbine modules have been ordered for a second US Navy Littoral Combat Ship, LCS 4, to be built by Austal USA as subcontractor to Bath Iron Works of Maine. The first-of-class, Independence (LCS 2), has already been completed with a similar twin-turbine/twin-diesel CODAG propulsion package.

Each turbine will be rated for 29,500 shp at US Navy standard day conditions (100oF), and delivered to the yard in September. A sprint speed of over 40 knots is anticipated from the General Dynamics LCS trimaran-hulled contender.

An LM2500 gas turbine will power the Polish Navy’s new generation Type 621 corvette, Gawron, as part of a CODAG propulsion system with two diesel engines. The same model powers the navy’s frigate Gen K Pulawski.

After production at the US designer’s Evendale, Ohio, facility, the gas turbine will be placed into a propulsion module by GE’s Italian partner Avio, which will also design and supply the module’s electronic control system. The module is scheduled for installation in June 2008 at Poland’s Gdynia Shipyard.

Maintenance and logistics support by GE Marine for LM2500 gas turbines powering the Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class patrol frigates will continue under a renewed five-year contract.

‘The original five-year contract with Public Works & Government Services Canada began in 2001, and since that time has provided the Canadian Navy with more predictable maintenance costs,’ reports Brien Bolsinger, GE Marine general manager, Evendale, Ohio.

‘We are delighted that the navy opted to extend the contract another five years, and that it sees the many benefits, which include a lower total cost of ownership for the fleet of 24 installed LM2500 gas turbines and six spare engines.’

Other benefits cited for the customer are reduced administrative functions (such as procurement, inspection and technical support, and material and inventory management) at a time of shortages of skilled technicians.

Rolls-Royce turbines primed for UK and US Navy destroyers

The most powerful ships of their type ever built for the UK Royal Navy – the Type 45 Daring-class destroyers – will provide a valuable reference for the Rolls-Royce intercooled and recuperated WR-21 gas turbine. With a length of 152.4m and beam of 21.2m, the multi-role vessels are primarily designed for air defence.

Production of six destroyers is under way at BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions in Glasgow, Scotland, and VT Shipbuilding in Portsmouth, England. Daring, the lead-ship, started harbour and sea trials this summer, Dauntless is fitting out, Diamond will be launched in November and steel for the sixth, Duncan, has been cut.

Rolls-Royce has supplied electrical systems and propeller shaftlines for the first four of class, and by the end of the year will have delivered stabilisers, steering gear, anchoring and mooring windlasses for all six destroyers.

The group’s outfit also includes fixed pitch (FP) adjustable bolted propellers (ABPs), with slotted holes on the hub accommodating a blade pitch adjustment of up to three degrees and thus allowing the optimum blade angle to be maintained through life. Furthermore, using an ABP rather than a monobloc FP design enables spare blades to be carried on board rather than a complete propeller.

An integrated electric propulsion system is based on twin WR-21-driven gensets which will also supply power for ship’s services. The WR-21 turbine completed shock trials at end-2005 before installation in an Electric Ship Technology Demonstrator facility in the UK, where it has run at full power in the Type 45 shore integration trials supporting the Ministry of Defence in its system de-risking programme.

Integration and testing of the WR-21 systems for ships four, five and six (Dragon, Defender and Duncan) continues at DCN’s facility in Indret, France.

Across the Atlantic, Rolls-Royce gas turbines will supply power for the US Navy’s most advanced surface combatant, the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class multi-mission destroyer. An initial contract calls for Rolls-Royce to provide gas turbine-generators for the first two of class, but with options for three further vessels. Seven ships are budgeted for the programme over the next seven years.

The 80MW power station for the all-electric destroyers will be based on two 36MW Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbine gensets and two RR4500 gas turbine gensets, with deliveries starting in 2009. The MT30, described as the world’s most powerful marine gas turbine, is derived from the Trent aero engine family. The 4MW RR4500 sets will be driven by the Indianapolis-built MT5S turbine, a follow-up to the successful 501-K34 engine which supplies auxiliary power for the US Navy’s DDG51-class destroyers.

Rolls-Royce earlier supplied an MT30 genset package and an RR4500 genset to Northrop Grumman for powering the integrated power system (IPS) engineering development model (EDM) at the US Naval Surface Warfare Centre’s facility in Philadelphia.

An integrated power system will foster flexible energy management, allowing the connected supply to be matched to the tactical requirement. Where maximum speed is required, the bulk of the power available will be assigned for propulsion; at lower speeds, the surplus power will enable innovative weapons (such as high-powered microwave systems, lasers for active ship defence and rail guns) to be deployed.

Savings are anticipated from reduced fuel consumption and more efficient engine operating powers.

Lockheed Martin has also selected twin MT30 gas turbines for propelling its monohull Littoral Combat Ship candidate for the US Navy’s projected LCS programme. The turbines are arranged to drive four Kamewa waterjets (also from Rolls-Royce) for a maximum speed exceeding 50 knots. MP

[TopHatter]

Fincantieri CEO talks US frigates

ROME — The building of new U.S. Navy frigates in Wisconsin is about to get more efficient thanks to the introduction of techniques used to make luxury cruise ships in Italy.

The Italian company Fincantieri, which is constructing Constellation-class guided-missile frigates at its stateside Marinette Marine yard, plans to implement processes it perfected building cruise ships on tight deadlines at its Monfalcone yard in Italy, CEO Pierroberto Folgiero told Defense News.

“We aim to use more preconstruction on land at Marinette, which means building modules before adding them to the vessel, meaning less work in the dock and more work on land — which is much more efficient,” he said. “It is the model we use for our cruise ships at Monfalcone and other merchant shipyards in the group. We are transferring the technique to our naval yards in Italy, and we have carried out a study to make changes at Marinette. We have sent a team and plan to put the changes into effect in 2023.”

Eight months after he was named head of the state-controlled company, Folgiero, 50, is focusing on the 2020 contract from the U.S. Navy for three frigates — of an expected total order of 20 — based on the FREMM vessels Fincantieri built for the Italian Navy. Work is already underway at Marinette, which Fincantieri purchased in 2008 and where it already builds Freedom-class littoral combat ships for the U.S. Navy.

“We’ve invested more than $300 million in our Wisconsin shipyards to meet the Navy’s requirement of two frigates a year, and it’s important we continue to improve productivity,” Folgiero said, adding that the move to producing more modules on land will require additional covered areas and cranes to transfer the modules.

The challenge is finding the employees to make it happen, he noted. “The key point is the availability of skilled staff, which is the bottleneck to maximize production,” he said.

As production accelerates, Fincantieri has said, the company will need 1,000 extra staff members at Marinette and the two other yards it controls in Wisconsin. At Marinette alone, the firm aims to increase the head count by 700 in the next three to four years, from 1,900 to 2,600.

Fincantieri’s unusual blend of work on defense platforms — which accounted for 29% of its 2021 — and cruise ships has produced synergies before, with lessons on comfortable quarters learned in cruise ship construction passed onto military vessels; conversely, cruise ships have benefited from naval tricks to make them more silent.

The firm also claims it applies the same punctuality to defense orders as it does in the deadline-conscious cruise sector.

“The operational discipline we have in the cruise sector we apply to naval construction, and we have a control of costs and times, which clients greatly appreciate: for example, Qatar, to which we have just delivered vessels on budget and on time despite COVID-19 disruptions,” Folgiero said.

The CEO was named to take over from retiring head Giuseppe Bono in April after nine years running Italian engineering firm Maire Tecnimont Group, which is involved in building petrochemical plants. When it came to entering a new field, Folgiero said he had no qualms.

“This business is about engineering, procurement and construction. We manage clients and contracts and sell, and that is what I have done for many years,” he said. “I don’t believe you must only be an expert on the product. Companies can suffer by obsessing about the product. What you must know is how to improve processes, achieve operational excellence and perfect the engineering. It’s about how you buy and build.”
________

[jlvfr]

Fincantieri CEO talks US frigates

ROME — The building of new U.S. Navy frigates in Wisconsin is about to get more efficient thanks to the introduction of techniques used to make luxury cruise ships in Italy.

________

... luxury frigates?

[TopHatter]

... luxury frigates?

Apparently those FREMMs are quite luxurious by warship standards...I can't find the article I was reading that mentioned the European versions creature comforts, but even the U.S. versions will be pretty cozy compared to past warships.

"Fincantieri’s FFG(X) design replaces the outdated 30-person plus bunkroom style accommodations and will be redesigned to stateroom standards to include toilet and shower facilities."

[Monash]

I assume the heated swimming pool will be located above the helicopter hanger? I also think a 'sky bar' raised up on the radar/coms mast would be a good feature, it could have lift access and rotate for panoramic views while off duty crew unwind over nice cold pina coladas.

[kato]

"Fincantieri’s FFG(X) design replaces the outdated 30-person plus bunkroom style accommodations and will be redesigned to stateroom standards to include toilet and shower facilities."

On the French and Italian ones there's 4-man cabins for enlisted crew, officers depending on rank anywhere from 4-man cabins to double and single berthing.

Embarked Naval Infantry protection element only gets two 6-man cabins btw.

I assume the heated swimming pool will be located above the helicopter hanger? I also think a 'sky bar' raised up on the radar/coms mast would be a good feature, it could have lift access and rotate for panoramic views while off duty crew unwind over nice cold pina coladas.

On the Italian ones every head includes a bidet.