Page 62 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2019

PACIFIC
HUNTER CLASS
“The changes to the Type 26 reference
design which define the GCS-A or Hunter class are largely confined to the ship’s weapons and sensor systems.”
sonar, which is the subject of ‘de-risking’ activities aboard a Type 23 vessel, and a hull-mounted Ultra Electronics Type 2150 hull-mounted sonar system.
In day to day submarine warfare opera- tions, the ships’ sonar will be combined with sensors aboard the Royal Navy’s em- barked AgustaWestland Merlin HMA.2 ASW helicopters. Each Type 26 ship can carry a single Merlin, but the flight deck on the stern is able to accommodate even larger helicopters, including the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.
A large multi-purpose integrated mis- sion bay forward of the helicopter hangar can be used for a number of roles, including carriage of small watercraft and unmanned aerial, surface or undersea vehicles.
Many of the shore side facilities for the Hunter class will be new/upgraded.
The UKs Type 26 ships will also come with a formidable air defence capabil- ity, for which the primary sensor is BAE Systems’ Type 997 Artisan 3D medium- range air and surface surveillance radar. Principal effectors will be the MBDA Sea Ceptor missile defence system, launched from Mk.48 cannisters, and BAE Sys- tems Mk.45 Mod.4 5-inch medium cali- bre gun, but the ships also have 24 Mk.41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells for other weapons.
Propulsion is a combined diesel-electric or gas (CODLOG) system based around the Rolls-Royce MT30 Marine Gas Tur- bine. Brochure figures claim a maximum speed in excess of 27 knots and a range of more than 7,000 nautical miles in electric motor-drive.
An Australian Hunter
The changes to the Type 26 reference de- sign which define the GCS-A or Hunter class are largely confined to the ship’s weapons and sensor systems, including substitution of the Artisan air surveil- lance radar with CEAFAR2 and Aegis combat system. Other changes will in- clude increasing the number of Mk.41 VLS cells, reconfiguration of the ship’s aviation capabilities to allow embarka-
tion of the Navy’s Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, and the integration of Harris Corporation’s Hawklink Ku- band data link, as used by US Navy major surface combatants.
Australia’s Hunter class ships will be easily identifiable by their unique mast configuration, which is being redesigned to take the CEAFAR radar into consid- eration, together with the integration of Hawklink and other sensors and commu- nications systems.
“The Artisan radar of the UK’s Type 26 is different to that of Hunter, so the ap- proach to positioning the masts with CEA- FAR radar needs careful consideration. The CEAFAR radar is heavier and has a higher power requirement, so it will require a more considered integration,” explained ASC Shipbuilding’s Craig Lockhart.
“So, we’re changing the mast structure and moving some UK-specific technology out in favour of Hawklink and other sys- tems, which will allow Hunter to enjoy a much broader interoperability with part- ners and allies.
“The communications masts are pro- vided by Rohde and Schwartz and again are subject to trade studies to consider their interoperability with the Hunter configuration.”
ASC Shipbuilding has created a mast working group within the integrated de- sign team to study solutions, which may result in a different solution to mounting, structure and materials being used.
Because the CEAFAR radar is signifi- cantly more powerful than Artisan, the Hunter design will also require modifica- tions to the heating, ventilation and cool- ing (HVAC) and spatial management.
“It produces more heat in certain modes, so it requires improved cooling manage- ment and at the same time it’s heavier, so stability and displacement is being mod- elled,” Lockhart added.
“It’s well within our design parameters, but the biggest challenge will be making sure the dynamics of the ships’ power system work as well as planned and we can supply enough capacity to all parts of the ship.
“Whilst we’re completely confident that the generating capacity is more than enough, we are making sure we model the system is such a way that we don’t dilute the power supply to other parts of the plat- form – even when we need to operate the radar in conjunction with all the other platform and weapons systems.”
Other topside changes to the basic design will include removal of the forward Sea Ceptor silo and an increase in the number of Mk.41 VLS cells from 24 to 32, which will accommodate the Raytheon RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) weapons cur- rently used by the RAN and its US ally.
Further aft, two four-cell missile launch- ers will be added for either the Navy’s cur- rent anti-surface Boeing RGM-84 Block II weapon or, more likely, an advanced surface to surface missile which will be
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