OPV GOWIND L'adroit, 27 juillet 2011

Fer de lance de l’ambition de DCNS sur les marchés des navires militaires de petits et moyens tonnages, l’OPV Gowind L’Adroit a débuté le mercredi 27 juillet ses premiers essais en mer. Durant cette opération, les équipes DCNS vérifient les qualités nautiques du navire.

Quatorze mois après le début de sa construction, l’OPV Gowind L’Adroit a entamé sa phase d’essais en mer. Ce très innovant patrouilleur hauturier destiné à des missions de sauvegarde maritime est donc entré dans une nouvelle phase de sa réalisation, en conformité avec le planning de production.

« Cette première sortie à la mer constitue un symbole, fruit d’un remarquable travail entre les équipes DCNS, les investisseurs et coréalisateurs du projet et l’équipage de conduite du navire », souligne Marc Maynard, directeur du programme OPV Gowind. « Grâce à l’implication et aux savoir-faire de chacun, les ambitieux jalons industriels du programme se franchissent les uns après les autres avec succès », rappelle-t-il.

Au cours de cette période en mer, l’équipe à bord, composé d’une cinquantaine de techniciens, enchaîne les tests de façon intense pour s’assurer des bonnes performances nautiques du navire. Après avoir procédé aux essais des systèmes de sécurité – lutte contre les sinistres tels les incendies ou voie d’eau – les équipes ont vérifié le bon fonctionnement de la propulsion et la bonne manœuvrabilité du navire. En complément de ce programme seront également essayés les systèmes de navigation (calculs de vitesse, position, cap), les centrales inertielles (pour le positionnement du navire) ainsi que d’autres systèmes de la plateforme propulsée. Le bon déroulement de ces essais est facilité par l’étroite collaboration entre les membres du bord et l’équipage de conduite. Ce dernier, civil, est composé de 14 collaborateurs de la société VNavy, à qui DCNS a confié la charge de piloter le navire.

De retour à quai, l’aménagement des derniers locaux et les travaux de peinture va se poursuivre. Les équipes DCNS achèveront la construction du navire à la fin de l’année 2011.

Au-delà de cette première sortie en mer, cet événement constitue une nouvelle démonstration de la capacité de DCNS à relever le défi de concevoir et réaliser un navire particulièrement innovant dans un délai inférieur à 24 mois en respectant scrupuleusement le budget alloué.

Construit sur fonds propres et demeurant propriété de DCNS, l’OPV Gowind L’Adroit sera mis à disposition de la Marine nationale pendant 3 ans. L’objectif est d’obtenir pour ce produit une qualification « sea proven » (éprouvé à la mer), ce qui conférera au Groupe un atout sans équivalent pour la promotion de Gowind à l’international.

La Marine nationale pourra démontrer en haute mer la pertinence et la valeur opérationnelle de ce patrouilleur hauturier Gowind pour des missions actuelles et émergentes : surveillance de zone, lutte contre la piraterie et le terrorisme, police des pêches, lutte contre les trafics de drogue, préservation de l’environnement, aide humanitaire, recherche et sauvetage en mer, sécurité maritime.

Mesurant 87 mètres, le patrouilleur hauturier Gowind L’Adroit a une autonomie de 8 000 milles nautiques. Il peut rester plus de 3 semaines en haute mer, atteindre une vitesse de 21 nœuds et accueillir un hélicoptère et des drones. Il ne requiert qu’un équipage réduit de 30 personnes et peut transporter en plus une trentaine de passagers.

Les bâtiments de la famille Gowind présentent d’importantes innovations au service des marines, des commandos et des gardes-côtes : la visibilité sur 360° depuis la passerelle, une mâture unique pour une couverture radar à 360°, la mise en œuvre discrète et en sécurité en moins de 5 minutes d’embarcations rapides, l’exploitation de drones aériens et de surface… Cette gamme de navires Gowind bénéficie également de l’expertise de DCNS dans les systèmes d’information et de commandement. Les bâtiments de la gamme Gowind permettent ainsi une surveillance étendue de l’espace maritime et la détection automatique de comportements suspects. Celle-ci est réalisée grâce à la mise en réseau des communications entre les navires présents sur la zone et les centres à terre.

Reproduit depuis le site internet DCNS

L’Adroit, an OPV built by DCNS

The Gowind offshore patrol boat L’Adroit began its first sea trials on Wednesday 27 July for DCNS to validate the seakeeping and other nautical qualities of the vessel.

These initial sea trials mark the beginning of the next phase of the ambitious Gowind OPV programme, which spearheads DCNS’s efforts to win a larger share of the markets for small- and medium-displacement surface ships. The sea trials are beginning in line with the contract schedule, just 14 months after construction started on the Gowind L’Adroit, an innovative offshore patrol boat designed for maritime safety & security missions.

“The start of these first sea trials is a symbolic milestone that testifies to the remarkable teamwork between DCNS, the project’s investors and co-contractors, and the trial crews,” said Gowind OPV programme manager Marc Maynard. “Everybody has brought their knowledge and expertise to the table, and their unflagging commitment has made it possible to consistently meet the programme’s ambitious industrial milestones.”

During the sea trials, more than 50 technicians on board the vessel are conducting an intensive test campaign to validate its seakeeping and other nautical qualities. After testing the ship’s fire-fighting, flood control and other safety systems, the onboard team will be running trials with the propulsion system and checking vessel manoeuvrability. Alongside these sea trials, tests will also be conducted on the ship’s navigation systems (log, position, heading), inertial platforms (positioning) and other systems.

When the vessel returns to dock, outfitting of the last equipment compartments and painting work will continue. Construction is scheduled for completion by DCNS at the end of 2011.

The start of sea trials with the Gowind OPV L’Adroit again demonstrates DCNS’s ability to design and build a highly innovative ship in less than 24 months and in strict compliance with budget commitments.

OPV L’Adroit is being built under a DCNS-funded programme and will be made available to the French Navy for three years on completion. The three-year loan period will enable the Navy to qualify the OPV as ‘sea proven’, giving DCNS an exceptionally strong argument when promoting the Gowind family on the international market.

The Navy will demonstrate the Gowind’s relevance and operational value for current and emerging missions on the high seas, from area surveillance to anti-piracy, counter-terrorism, fisheries policing, drug interdiction, environmental protection, humanitarian aid, search & rescue and maritime safety & security.

OPV L’Adroit has a length of 87 metres, an at-sea endurance of 3 weeks and a range of 8,000 nautical miles. With a top speed of 21 knots, the vessel has a helicopter flight deck and can accommodate UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) operations. It is designed for reduced crewing, with a complement of 30 and space for 30 passengers.

The ship features a number of major innovations for navies, commandos and coastguards: 360° panoramic visibility from the bridge, a single integrated mast for 360° radar coverage, covert deployment of fast commando boats in less than 5 minutes and provision for UAVs and USVs (unmanned surface vehicles). The Gowind family also benefits from DCNS’s extensive experience in IT and command information systems. Vessels in the Gowind family can be readily tailored for extended area surveillance and, when working in conjunction with shore-based control centres and other networked ships, for the automatic detection of suspicious behaviour by ships and other craft.

Picked-up from Defense-Aerospace web site

France’s sale of sophisticated warships to Russia has inspired reams of commentary speculating on what threat this might pose to NATO members or other Western allies, in particular Georgia. (Most recently, Vlad Socor wrote last week in the Eurasia Daily Monitor that the sale was motivated by « mercantilism… bypassing NATO and trumping basic notions of allied strategy and solidarity. »)

Now, a U.S. Navy officer has published his master’s thesis (pdf) on the purchase, which Dmitry Gorenburg says « may be the definitive work on the subject. » The officer, Lieutenant Commander Patrick Thomas Baker, argues that Russia wants the ship not for any particular combat capability, but as the linchpin of a larger naval modernization strategy:

[T]he Mistral sale is driven by Russia‘s need to acquire modern command and control and shipbuilding technologies, rather than increase its amphibious assault capabilities per se.

Russia’s naval chief, Admiral Vladimir Vysotskiy — who is notorious for arguing that with the Mistral, Russia would have been able to defeat Georgia « in 40 minutes, not 26 hours » — was interested in the ship since before the Georgia war, which Baker says « suggests that a desire to acquire a new system preceded identifying a required capability and developing a system to fulfill that capability. »:

Admiral Vysotskiy probably saw the Mistral as a way to elevate the navy‘s profile within the country and Russia‘s defense establishment with a large capital warship, as well as proclaim the navy‘s dissatisfaction with the products it got from Russian shipyards. In July 2010, Admiral Vysotskiy participated in an interview on the Ekho Moskvy Military Council broadcast. In it he commented that as the Russian forces were moving away from a mobilization based system to one based on permanent units and forces, those new forces needed the ability to redeploy rapidly. The Mistral would definitely be able to aid in this manner. Vysotskiy made another comment, where he said that the French correctly call a Mistral a « force projection and command ship, » and indicated that Russia would treat its Mistrals the same way.

Baker also analyzes in detail what Russia could have done in the Georgia war had it had the Mistral. In short, it probably couldn’t have transported troops to Georgia much faster than it was able to with its current transport ships. It would have been able to deploy attack helicopters more quickly, as Russia’s helicopters weren’t able to cross the Caucacus Mountains because the altitude was too high. The Mistral, however, is a helicopter carrier so it would have solved that problem. After-action reviews also showed that Russia’s command-and-control systems performed poorly during the Georgia war, and that is also something that the Mistral excels at. However, Baker argues that none of those points would really be gamechangers in the Black Sea, and wouldn’t be reason in and of themselves to buy the Mistral.

Some analysts have postulated that the Mistral will be going to the Black Sea Fleet primarily to threaten Georgia again. Georgia is realistically the only country that Russia could threaten in the Black Sea. Turkey is far more of a naval power than Russia in that region, plus Turkey controls the Bosporus Straits and the Dardanelles for entry into the Black Sea. The Mistral does not fall under to the Montreux Convention, but Turkey could make it difficult for an aviation warship to pass in and out, so Russia may just well elect to keep a Mistral out of the Black Sea. The other countries in the Black Sea are also all NATO members. As Prime Minister Putin has bluntly said, Russia would not need the Mistral to invade Georgia again; Russia‘s army is perfectly capable of executing that task.

As there are already Russian bases in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, air support from the Mistral would likely not be needed. One comment was that the Mistral could rapidly reinforce Georgia in the winter months, when snow and ice would constrain supply movement through the Caucasus and Roki tunnel. Once again, other [transport ships] of the Black Sea Fleet could do this, or Russia could use its airlift capability. A point that Aleksandr Goltz brought up is that the Russians have left tanks and artillery pieces behind in occupied territories to diminish the reliance on moving equipment through the Roki Tunnel, which Georgia would surely try to close in a future conflict.

So it seems the importance of equipment movement may be minimized by planning ahead, however troop reinforcement could be done fastest by aircraft. The one significant benefit a Mistral would bring to the Black Sea fleet would be its command and control capability in a large-scale land operation in Georgia again. However, as Russia accomplished its goals in 2008, it seems unlikely that Russia would again resort to a large-scale invasion, one needing sophisticated command capabilities.

Anyway, the whole paper is well researched, authoritative and clearly written, and is really useful for those interested in this sale and Russia’s naval planning generally.

Grab from the Bug pit (Military an security in Eurasia blog) July 8, 2011 – 4:08pm, by Joshua Kucera

Première transat (sortie de Golfe quoi) pour le Petit Merlu gréé en caboteur. Premier tourteau sur casier mouillé à Taillefer !
Vraie météo Belle-iloise avec une dépression qui a du mal à s’évacuer. Tant qu’il ne pleut pas dans la Morgat sous la bâche de la Frégate…

Canicule 2011 à Belle-Ile

Ca me rappelle la météo 2008 … mais non le soleil revient samedi !

Attention au choc thermique, la température dans l'eau est identique