The
Future Surface Combatant is a
Royal Navy programme to replace Britain's
Type 23 frigates and a variety of
smaller escort/patrol ships. The FSC concept has proceeded in fits
and starts since the late 1990s, but it has been brought forward in
the 2008 budget, at the expense of two
Type 45 destroyers being cancelled.
The original FSC was intended as a replacement for the Type 23s,
but it has now become an umbrella programme for three new vessels
:
- C1 - Force Anti-Submarine Warfare Combatant
(formerly Versatile Surface Combatant)- around ten large vessels
for high-threat environments
- C2 - Stabilisation Combatant (formerly Medium
Sized Vessel Derivative) - around eight cheaper vessels
- C3 - Ocean-Capable Patrol Vessel - around
eight smaller ships to replace minesweepers and possibly current
patrol ships.
C1 and C2 may share a common hull of around 6,000 tonnes - the Type
45 hull has been mooted as a possibility. The C3's will be smaller,
2,000-3,000 tonnes.
Background
At the end
of the Cold War the Royal Navy was principally an anti-submarine
force designed to keep the North Atlantic
clear of Russian submarines. The first of a
new class of frigates, the Type 23 "Duke" class had come into
service in November 1987. These were advanced
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) designs
but were less suitable as general purpose escorts, having limited
anti-surface capabilities and short-range anti-air missiles. Since
they were intended to spend their working lives towing sonar arrays
through the North Atlantic, it was expected that their service
lives would be just 18 years and a replacement would be needed by
around 2005.
History
Planning for a replacement escort vessel started in 1998 with the
ordering of a research vessel, the
RV
Triton, to study whether a trimaran design was
practical for such a large and complex vessel.
By 2001 it was becoming clear that a more general purpose design
was required, with better anti-surface and shore bombardment
capabilities. A variety of advanced designs were proposed by
industry, including several multihulls of 6,000-9,000 tonnes, and
even a "mothership" carrying four smaller ships of 1,500 tonnes.
However budget pressures escalated as the cost of the new carriers
and Type 45s became apparent in the early 2000s. In 2004 plans
switched to a two-class solution, one a surface combat version of
the Type 45 and the other a smaller "
Global
Corvette", but the programme was cancelled on 25 November
2004.
Meanwhile it had become apparent that the Type 23s were having a
much easier life than originally planned, and would last into the
2020s if given appropriate mid-life upgrades. For instance, in
August 2008 it was announced that they will receive the new
Insyte Artisan 3D search radar.
However the four remaining Type 22s would still need replacing
between 2015-2020. So work on replacements continued, but at a low
intensity. In March 2005, the plan was still for a two-class
solution, a cheaper
Medium Sized Vessel Derivative
entering service in 2016-9 and a more capable
Versatile
Surface Combatant entering service around 2023.In early
2006 the MoD started a Sustained Surface Combatant Capability
(S2C2) programme which explored synergies between the FSC and other
needs, for minesweepers, patrol ships and survey ships.
By early 2007 this had crystallised into the three requirements -
C1, C2 and C3 - mentioned above, and this is the form that the FSC
programme is expected to take with the green light given by
Planning Round 2008 (PR08). The FSC has yet to become a formal
project within the MoD, at present it is the responsibility of a
section within the MoD's Frigates Integrated Project Team.
Proposals
The most pressing need is the replacement of the four Batch 3
Type 22s from 2015. This C2
requirement (formerly the MSVD) could be met by an "off the shelf"
purchase of the Franco-Italian
FREMM
multi-role frigate, or a version of the Type 45 destroyer optimised
for ASW and surface warfare. Other vessels that have been proposed
for the FSC requirement in the past include :
DML Frigate Concept (FC65)
At DSEi 2005 in September, DML Group unveiled a new
frigate design concept known as FC65. The FC65 is a
high speed, long range, surface combatant, intended to offer good
capability in both offensive and defensive roles. Approaching 150
metres in length and with a displacement of 6,600 tonnes loaded,
the vessel is powered by twin MT30 gas turbines, with four large
waterjets that allow it to reach its speed capability of while
being sufficiently efficient to provide over endurance. Two
Merlin helicopters can be
hangared, and the flight deck can accommodate large
rotorcraft.
The FC65 features a versatile vertical launch system for both
offensive and defensive stores, and has a 54_caliber_Mark_45_gun"
href="/5"/54_caliber_Mark_45_gun">Mk45 5-inch gun to provide
shore bombardment support. Special Forces are catered for in the
flexible internal cargo deck aft. This can be re-configured for
military or non-military tasks. At 40 metres long and 12 metres
wide, the space is large enough to allow transportation of a wide
range of vehicles, stores, boats, personnel or other cargo.
The design deliberately focuses on rapid adaptability, and can be
rapidly reconfigured for military and non-military roles and duties
ranging from benign and constabulary to Task Group command and Land
Attack/ASW functions. The platform has been optimised to allow
sustained global operations with high endurance, and has the
ability both to undertake a wide range of tasks unsupported, and to
command task group operations.
Global Corvette
In an attempt to save the original FSC programme, the MoD issued a
Request for Information (RFI) in early 2004 for a smaller class of
ship known as the Global Corvette. Low running costs and the
ability to operate forward in shallow, coastal areas where larger
ships cannot, were both important.
BAE Systems
, VT Group, Thales and Rolls-Royce
responded in Autumn 2004 with concepts ranging from a well equipped
Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) of 1,500 tonnes to an advanced and
very capable "corvette" of 3,000 tonnes, along the lines of the
USN's Littoral Combat Ship
programme (LCS).
With the inclusion of minesweepers and patrol ships in the FSC C3
requirement, it now looks like the "junior" member of the FSC
family will be a low cost vessel that emphasises flexibility. VT
have proposed a 3,000 tonne version of their Project Khareef OPV,
with room for two 20'
ISO containers
that would host a variety of "mission packs" for minesweeping,
special forces, disaster relief and so on.
See also
The Royal Navy in the
21st Century
Notes and references
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