Blue Spear : Is Singapore Ditching The Harpoon?

Harpoon Block II. Image : Boeing

On 15th July 2020 Singapore Technologies Engineering ( STE ) announced that its Land Systems division has signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries ( IAI ) to set up a joint venture in Singapore, with each having a 50 percent share. The joint venture, named Proteus Advanced Systems, will leverage the strengths and track record of its parent companies to market and sell advanced naval missile systems, including a next generation anti-ship missile ( AShM ) system.

Under its Land Systems arm, STE manufactures an entire range of NATO-standard ammunition from the humble 5.56mm ball M193 round to 155mm artillery shells but anti-ship missiles are definitely not its forte. IAI on the other hand can be considered the pioneer in anti-ship missiles having developed the very successful and war-proven Gabriel missile since 1970.

As revealed by STE to Defense News, it appears that the two defense giants have been collaborating to develop a new generation AShM known as Blue Spear for a few years. Also known as 5G SSM ( 5th generation surface-to-surface missile ), Blue Spear " is an anti-ship missile system that introduces an advanced and novel approach which addresses the challenges of the modern naval arena for years to come ".

STE's role in the development of Blue Spear includes the design, development and production of major subsystems like the booster motor and warhead. It claimed that the development of Blue Spear and the joint venture was a commercially driven initiative by both companies and is " not driven by any ongoing customer requirement". Or is it? Which of STE or IAI's customers could have a requirement for and could afford an advanced AShM system? What is the best way to market a new weapon system to international customers?

The parent companies of Proteus Advanced Systems are either completely state-owned ( IAI ) or government-linked ( STE ). Although STE is a publicly listed company on the Singapore Stock Exchange, its most substantial shareholder is Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government, whom as of 1 Apr 2020 has a 52.13% share through direct and deemed interests. STE's most loyal and important customer of course is none other than the Ministry of Defense of Singapore. Similarly, 20% of IAI's sales goes to the Israeli defense ministry and the State of Israel is by no doubt IAI's most important customer.

With regards to the development of Blue Spear, it is probably of no coincidence that both the Israeli Navy and the Singapore Navy are equipped with the ageing Harpoon AShM and will soon have to decide if they should be upgraded to the latest standards or to field a completely new design. The joint venture suggests that the latter is more likely the case.

 

Stealth frigate RSS Intrepid fires Harpoon during Ex Pacific Griffin 2019
Photo : Mindef

The Harpoon In The RSN

The Harpoon is an all-weather, sub-sonic, sea-skimming, over-the-horizon, fire-and-forget anti-ship missile developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas ( now Boeing ). It can be considered one of the most commercially successful AShM in history with over 7500 units produced since it came into service with the US Navy in 1977. It has been sold to 31 countries apart from the United States.

The versatility of the Harpoon missile is such that it can be surface-launched, submarine-launched or air-launched, with the variants designated RGM-84, UGM-84 and AGM-84 respectively.

Many factors contributed to the Harpoon's success of which I will mention two. Focusing on the surface-launched version alone, in the early years, it out-ranged its contemporaries with its over-the-horizon capability with a published range of 70nm ( 126km ). Its relative compactness means that it can be launched from canisters bolted to the upper deck of almost any surface combatant from fast attack crafts to battleships.




RSS Victory in its original configuration with Harpoon, torpedo tubes,
variable depth sonar and angled auxiliary mast. Photo : Lurssen

Indeed one of the reasons why the Republic of Singapore Navy ( RSN ) acquired its Victory-class missile corvettes ( MCV ) which are equipped with the Harpoon AShM in the late 1980s was because it found itself having to keep Singapore's sea lines of communication open out to at least a thousand kilometers but its existing Sea Wolf - class missile gunboats ( MGB ) with Gabriel AShM out-ranged by its neighbours. It would later upgrade the MGB to carry a mix of 2 Gabriel and 2 to 4 Harpoon AShM. With a full load displacement of 254 tons and a length of 45 meters, the Sea Wolf - class MGB was probably one of the smallest platform to ever accommodate the Harpoon missile.




Upgraded Sea Wolf class MGB with Harpoon and Gabriel. Photo : Mindef

With the Harpoon AShM, the RSN acquired the beyond-the-horizon capability in anti-surface warfare ( ASuW ) for the first time and for a while it gave the RSN the upper hand when it came to the range of the various AShM among the regional navies. This technological edge however gradually became eroded with the passage of time with the emergence of newer and more advanced AShM in the inventories of its regional peers.

The MGBs were eventually decommissioned in 2008 and were replaced by the Formidable-class stealth frigates which were also armed with the Harpoon missile as their primary ASuW strike weapon. The Harpoon variant on these advanced frigates are sometimes stated as the RGM-84C ( Block 1B ) which are really ancient but are likely to be the marginally more advanced RGM-84D ( Block 1C ) as shown in the photo from MINDEF below. If indeed this were to be true, then the RSN would very soon need to either upgrade these old Harpoons to the latest Block II+ ER standard or risk facing obsolescence.



RSS Stalwart executing a designated time-on-target
Harpoon firing during Ex Pacific Griffin 2017.
RSS Supreme fired the other Harpoon. Photo : Mindef



Enlarged from photo above : RGM-84D-3

It is worth noting that more than a decade had passed since the commissioning of the stealth frigates and they will soon approach the mid-point of their life-cycle, the perfect time to have them acquire new capabilities via some service life extension program ( SLEP ). It has been planned as such even before the frigates have been commissioned ( see image below ).

Excerpt from keynote address by Mr Peter Ho, Permanent Secretary ( Defense )
at the Naval Platform Technology Seminar 2003.
Source : National Archives of Singapore.

After serving in the RSN for thirty years, the Victory-class MCVs are themselves due for retirement by 2025, to be replaced by a new class of locally designed and constructed vessels known as the Multi-Role Combat Vessel ( MRCV ) and these will need to be equipped with modern AShM as well.

So to regain the technological edge it used to have against its regional near-peer rivals the RSN clearly has a need for an advanced surface strike weapon for its frigates and its next-generation corvette replacements in the next 5 to 10 years. For that the RSN has several broad options : upgrade its existing stock of old Harpoons to the latest standard, buy a new missile system off-the-shelf, or opt for an indigenous design customized for itself. Each option has its own merits and risks.

 

RGM-84N Block II Harpoon skimming the waves.
Image : Boeing

Upgrading the Harpoon

Having been designed in the mid-sixties and first deployed in the late seventies, the Harpoon missile might be getting old but it has an undeniable strength - reliability. It simply works as advertised, each time and every time.

During RIMPAC 2018, six Harpoon missiles had been fired against two decommissioned USN ships from various platforms including air, surface and sub-surface assets from several participating nations. All six missiles hit their targets as intended. Especially interesting was the UGM-84 encapsulated harpoon launched by the nuclear attack submarine USS Olympia ( SSN-717 ). The UGM-84 had been taken off the regular armament of USN attack submarines for the past twenty years in favour of the Mk 48 Advanced Capability ( ADCAP ) heavyweight torpedo as the boat's preferred anti-ship weapon. Even after two decades of storage, the Sub-Harpoon scored a hit against the landing ship tank USS Racine. An AGM-84 air-launched Harpoon fired from an Australian P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft also struck the LST hulk.

Simultaneous time-on-target Harpoon firing, RSS Tenacious
RIMPAC 2018. Photo : MINDEF

Notably, the RSN's stealth frigate RSS Tenacious carried out a simultaneous time-on-target Harpoon firing with two missiles aimed at the ex-USS McKlusky, an Oliver Hazard Perry - class frigate. Both missiles happened to hit the hulk at the waterline which was rather unusual for the Harpoon missile. As a result the hulk sank much faster than anticipated and several other naval combatants were deprived of their chance to participate in the sink exercise ( SINKEX ). Through inference the remaining two missiles would have come from a participating USN P-8A.

As a result of this positive demonstration of the Harpoon's reliability, even the USN is showing renewed interest in upgrading the Harpoon missiles in its inventory and the UGM-84 might once again be part of the SSN's offensive weaponry.

The USN has not procured new Harpoon missiles for many years and all its latest Block II Plus Extended Range Harpoons are upgraded from its existing pool of RGM-84D ( Block 1C ) missiles. Each conversion kit from Boeing Defense and Aerospace would cost the US government perhaps $268000, a paltry sum compared to the cost of manufacturing a brand new Block II+ ER missile which is probably in the region of several million. For example Finland's 2018 request for 100 RGM-84Q-4 ( Block II+ ER ), 12 RGM-84L ( Block II ), 12 Block II+ ER upgrade kits, 4 RTM-84Q and 4 RTM-84L together with all the necessary spares, repair equipment, training and support was estimated to cost US$622 million.

Compared with the older Harpoon versions, the most advanced II+ER has a lighter but more lethal warhead and a more fuel efficient turbojet engine that together almost doubled its range. It also inherited the low cost inertial measurement unit from the JDAM program and the GPS guidance kit of the SLAM-ER missile. A net-enabled data-link enables the missile to receive in-flight targeting updates and there is also enhanced resistance against electronic countermeasures. So not only is its range increased, its connectivity and survivability has also been improved significantly.

Should the RSN choose to upgrade its RGM-84D Harpoons to the latest Block II+ ER standard, there will be considerable cost savings since it has a ready pool of Block 1C Harpoons to work on with all the necessary maintenance, repair, training and support infrastructures. But how many new tricks can you teach an old dog? One of the negative attributes of the Harpoon not amendable through the usual upgrades is its sub-sonic speed in this modern era of super-sonic AShMs. Being slower means giving the enemy combatants more reaction time to deploy countermeasures and initiate effective evasive maneuvers. It is also less stealthy compared to more recently introduced AShMs like the AGM-158C LRASM and can be detected more easily, reducing its chance of hitting its target. The need for a proprietary launcher for the Harpoon missile alone which cannot be loaded with other shipboard missile types means less flexibility in deployment and dedicated instead of shared resources and that can also work against the upgrade-harpoon option.

IAI Gabriel V AShM. Image : Finnish Navy

Off-The-Shelf Solutions

After half a century of evolution, there is currently no shortage of modern AShMs that can give the ageing Harpoon missile a run for its money. In fact many do out perform the Harpoon in one way or other. The Norwegian Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile and the IAI's Gabriel V AShM are two such examples contemporary sub-sonic anti-ship missiles. Examples of supersonic AShMs include Taiwan's Hsiung Feng III and the vertical launched Brahmos which is of Indian and Russian origin.

Buying mature anti-ship missile systems that have already completed their development cycles offers the lowest exposure to product development risks. It may result in rapid system integration and mitigation of any existing capability gap. However such ready solutions may not always be an exact match for the sometimes unique operational needs of the host country.

Singapore for instance has the great fortune of being strategically located along an important maritime route linking the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean where an estimated 5.3 trillion dollars of trade transit annually. It is the world's second busiest container port and is surrounded by shallow seas and numerous islands. Access to the Port of Singapore is via the narrow and busy deep water passage known as the Straits of Singapore where an estimated 2000 vessels of all types transit daily. Together with the equally busy Straits of Malacca to its north-west, these are major maritime choke points where the risk of piracy and the risk of collision between vessels are high. To conduct maritime interdiction operations in such congested littoral environments would be understandably challenging. Yet the RSN also has to be equally proficient in open-ocean operations in deep water environments such as the South China Sea, since its raison d'etre is to keep Singapore's sea lines of communications open. To find an anti-ship missile that can excel in both littoral and open-ocean domains may not be easy and since the RSN has such unique requirements, it might have decided to develop its own next-generation AShM rather than source for a ready made system.

 

 

Extreme congestion in Singapore Strait. Image : Marine Traffic

USS John S McCain damaged below the waterline after collision with
oil tanker in Singapore territorial waters near Pedra Branca 21 Aug 2017.
 Note the deck mounted Mk 141 quad Harpoon launchers. USN Photo. 

5G SSM



To have local defense engineers research and co-develop the next generation advanced anti-ship missile for Singapore probably made the most sense for the reasons mentioned above. Apart from ensuring complete customization for its operational requirements, designing and producing an indigenous AShM can also benefit the local state-linked defense industry by diversifying its product portfolio and allowing it to nurture new talents and acquire new design and manufacturing capabilities.

The setup of a joint venture between the Israeli and Singapore defense giants to market the 5G SSM and the tacit admission that the collaboration had been ongoing for a few years probably means that the missile is already in an advance stage of product development. As usual it is a matter of selecting the best time to make the official announcement so as to avoid alarming Singapore's regional peers least it triggers an arms race which is likely inevitable in the long run. Even then, the announcement was extremely low key appearing only on the webpages of IAI and STE and in a short article in the Straits Times of Singapore. So far almost nothing is known about the Blue Spear missile except it has advanced features to overcome the challenges of modern naval warfare. Here are some characteristics that the 5G SSM could possibly have.


Range - likely to be significantly greater than that of the current RGM-84D in the RSN's inventory to keep pace with the NSM, MM-40 Block 3, Otomat Mk2 and even the supersonic Yakhont, in service with regional navies. 200 to 250km is a reasonable estimate.

Speed - Likely to remain high sub-sonic rather than super-sonic considering that the RSN's area of operation included congested littoral environment.

Survivability - Must include low observability features with reduced radar cross section and infra-red signatures to decrease the detection rate and have enhanced electronic counter countermeasures to defeat the enemy ship's soft-kill and hard-kill capabilities.

Connectivity - Secure 2-way data-link to enable mid-flight course correction and to receive targeting updates from a variety of sources including surface combatants, maritime patrol aircrafts and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Accuracy - Possibly an AI selectable hybrid terminal guidance combining active and passive modes

Lethality - Advanced warhead design effective against both ship hulls and hardened land installations.

Versatility - Equally adept in littoral and open-ocean environments with secondary land attack capabilities.

Deployability - Preferably adaptable for both large and small vessels, compatible with both vertical launch systems and canister launchers.


Whatever its final form takes, the Blue Spear has to be far superior to the Harpoon Block 1C that it will presumably replace, by virtue of its adoption of the latest technologies which was not available to the designers of the Harpoon four decades ago. It should also have better performance compared to the most advanced Harpoon Block II+ER. With this rationale the RSN will probably be better off developing a cutting edge new generation AShM rather than upgrading its old Harpoons.

Having the Singapore and Israeli Navies adopt the 5G SSM can potentially make it easier to market the missile to other international customers. Endorsement of the weapon by two of the world's highly regarded navies is the best advertisement for this new missile system. While the Harpoon missile has served the RSN well for the past three decades, without an upgrade, its remaining days might be numbered. It might quietly fade into history in the next five to ten years as the Victory-class MCV gets decommissioned and the Formidable-class frigates get put through their SLEP, swapping the Harpoon for the Blue Spear.

Proteus Advanced Systems

Incidentally, in Greek mythology, Proteus is the oracular god of the sea who can predict the future, but will only do so when held captive. He is elusive and will constantly change his shape in order to avoid being captured. He is the herdsman of the sea beasts, one of several deities whom Homer refers to as " Old Man Of The Sea ". From the capability of Proteus to assume many different forms comes the adjective protean, meaning able to change frequently or easily, with the connotation of versatility, adaptability and flexibility. By naming their joint venture Proteus Advanced Systems what might IAI and STE be hinting at, if any?

 

Update 10th Sep 2020

I have received information that the scheduled retirement of the Victory-class missile corvettes have been pushed back by a good 5 years, from the original 2025 to 2030. This will be the final and maximum extension of service. The MLU carried out around 2010 was supposed to extend the service life of the MCV by 20 years at the most.

Presumably the MRCV project will also be delayed by 5 years since they are meant to replace the MCV.

So it would seem that the Harpoon missile will continue to reign in the RSN for another decade .... but highly unlikely beyond that.

Blimey! That Be Yer Last Harpoon, Sire.

The Harpoon is a sea-skimming anti-ship missile seen here being fired
from the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer DDG-56
USS John S McCain. Photo : USN

HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy fires its Harpoon missile
 in an undated photo. Source : RN



Running Out Of Missiles

In November 2016, the Royal Navy ( RN ) made it to the news headlines for the wrong reason - its frigates and destroyers will soon be running out of anti-ship missiles ( AShM ), all because of lack of funds complicated by poor planning, and perhaps as a consequence of having feeble-willed Sea Lords at the helm. The fleet is scheduled to have its helicopter-launched Sea Skua AShM going out of service in March 2017 AND have its Harpoon ship-to-ship missile withdrawn from service at the end of 2018 without any planned replacement. The untimely retirement of the Harpoon and the Sea Skua will cause the RN to have a capability gap in over-the-horizon anti-ship warfare between 2018 and 2020. The warships will regain some form of long range strike capability only in late 2020 with the planned introduction of the Anglo-French Sea Venom / ANL lightweight AShM on the Wildcat HMA.2 helicopters.

Now wait a minute. Did anyone mention THE Royal Navy? I would have very much wanted to believe that it was an April Fool's joke of some sort, only it ain't April. Nobody would have been surprised if this debacle had involved a third rate navy of some Banana Republic. But it had to be the RN, of all navies? This piece of news might have been incredible and shocking initially because we had come to know the RN as one of the most powerful navies in modern history. However, look more closely and anyone would have realized that the once mighty RN had been in constant decline for the past century, yes, century, not decade. The writing had already been on the wall for a long time. That the RN would soon be running out of missiles for its workhorse frigates and destroyers could mark the beginning of a terminal demise, a race to the bottom from which it might never ever fully recover.

Read on to discover how the RN got itself into this latest mess which by the way is not its first and unlikely to be its last.



A Brief History Of The Royal Navy



The Royal Navy could trace its lineage of more than a thousand years back to the reign of King Alfred the Great ( AD 871 - 899 ) and earlier, although in those early beginnings it was not an organized force with dedicated fighting ships and men. More likely the flotilla was made up of a ragtag of requisitioned merchant vessels whenever the need arose, such as when the Danes invaded or raided the Anglo-Saxon lands. The ships carried militiamen, farmers and peasants called into military service by law and much of the naval battles were ramming attempts followed by savage hand-to-hand fighting when the soldiers board the enemy ship. King Alfred was credited for reorganizing the military and restructuring the taxation system which would ultimately devote funds for ship building, thereby creating a small standing fleet of longships that plied the rivers, estuaries and the coastal waters of Englaland. From such humble beginnings the RN gradually transformed itself into a professional maritime fighting force, built upon centuries old traditions and technological innovations.

The Battle of Trafalgar depicted by English marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield.
 Admiral Lord Nelson won a most decisive victory against the combined
Franco-Spanish armada, destroying 22 enemy ships without losing a single
 vessel himself. He unfortunately died during the encounter, shot by
a French musketeer. Source : Wikipedia

 

Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, by Lemuel Francis Abbott.
Nelson would no doubt have flipped in his grave had he learnt
about the current state of affairs of the Royal Navy. Image : Wikipedia

It was the world's most powerful navy for much of the past 200 years, from the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 to the Battle of Jutland in 1916. It was said that for a hundred years after the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy maintained a presence in every ocean in the world and its dominance ensured freedom of navigation and trade. A powerful navy was a necessity during the colonial era as Britain depended heavily on maritime trade for much of its prosperity and even survival. Its supreme dominance helped shape the British Empire and its colonies and only came to an end during World War Two, overtaken by the United States Navy (USN).

Even to this day, the RN is still the second largest navy of the NATO alliance, complete with aircraft carriers ( under construction ), helicopter carriers, amphibious landing ships, nuclear-powered attack submarines, ballistic missile submarines and the works. The price to pay for maintaining its nuclear deterrence force and aircraft carriers was that its destroyer and frigate force had shrunken to a historical low. The RN could only count six modern but problem plagued Type 45 air defense destroyers and thirteen ageing Type 23 ASW frigates at its disposal.

Logo of the Royal Navy. Source : Wikipedia

Why Missiles Matter

Unless you are stuck in a time warp somewhere in the first half of the twentieth century, you would have realized that guided missiles have long since replaced large caliber guns as the primary long range strike weapon of choice for warships. In that bygone era, the main guns of battleships had barrel diameters of 14 inch, 16 inch and ultimately 18.1 inch ( 460mm ). The larger the caliber, the longer the range of the gun. The biggest guns could fire projectiles that weigh more than a ton out to a maximum range of 42km, though the effective range is a little less at 25km.

It was the reach of the big naval guns that determined which opponent would fire the first salvos during a surface encounter. And you would have a better chance of victory if you could achieve that way before you in turn come into the range of your enemy's guns.

However, the caliber of naval guns could not defy the laws of physics and keep increasing forever. Bigger caliber shells generate higher over-pressures when detonated which in turn would require a thicker barrel to withstand that pressure. Gun barrels are made of steel and steel has a high density, meaning it is heavy, in fact very heavy. Heavy barrels would require even heavier gun mounts which needed even bigger ships and bigger shipyards for their construction. And then there would be the cost factor.

Each gun mount of the Japanese battleship Yamato with triple 18.1 inch barrels was said to weigh 2510 tons, about the same weight as an entire destroyer of that era. And the Yamato, a 72000 ton monster of a battleship, sported three such gun mounts.

Clearly, naval architects would have to look elsewhere other than cannons and guns if they wanted to increase the strike range of their warships. That breakthrough arrived in the form of jet propulsion and rocket propulsion technologies that came of age during World War II. Though not exactly new especially with gunpowder having been invented by the Chinese in the 9th century and presumably used as a rocket propellant subsequently, the emerging sensor and guidance technology of WWII saw application in the earliest generation of guided missiles and rockets like Nazi Germany's V-1 cruise missile and V-2 rocket.

By the sixties, fueled by the Cold War, missile technology had rapidly matured permeated every branch of the military including the navies of many nations. With their superior range, accuracy and lethal payload, they quickly rendered the big guns obsolete in anti-surface warfare ( ASuW ). The effectiveness of anti-ship missiles as ship-killers was first demonstrated in 1967 when the Egyptian Navy Komar-class missile gunboats sunk their much bigger opponent the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat with three Soviet made SS-N-2 Styx AShM.

Ever since that first operational success, the role of guided missiles as the premier long range precision anti-ship weapon of choice was further affirmed during the Falklands War in 1982 when a single Argentinian air-launched AM-39 Exocet AShM sunk the Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer the HMS Sheffield.

Today, while warships of many types are still equipped with guns, these weapons have seen their prominence diminished and their caliber much reduced. The largest guns found on modern day man-of-war generally do not exceed 5 inches in caliber ( 127mm ). They still have limited use especially against low value targets that are not worth expending a missile on, for shore bombardment in support of an amphibious landing and some rapid firing types may also have anti-aircraft capabilities. Of course they can also be used to fire ceremonial rounds and the occasional warning shot across the bow against rogue elements if necessary.

The Type 23 Duke-class Frigates

The main class of warship affected by the RN's missile fiasco is the Type 23 frigate, also known as the Duke-class frigate as, you guessed it, the entire class is largely named after British dukes. Frigates form the backbone of the navy as they are the multi-role platform that are involved in anything from submarine hunting to patrolling and escorting duties and even in providing limited area air defense against hostile aircrafts and missiles. In recent years, many were also increasing tasked to conduct peace-keeping and maritime security operations as well.

The Type 23 was conceptualized at the height of the Cold War in the late seventies as a light anti-submarine frigate against the Soviet nuclear submarines operating in the North Atlantic. They were intended to replace the ageing Leander-class and the newer Type 21 frigates to be the new guardians of the famed GIUK Gap, the strategic underwater choke point for any Soviet Northern Fleet submarine trying to breakout into the Atlantic Ocean from their home bases around Severomorsk.

The Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap. Source : Wikipedia

In its original configuration, the Type 23 was to have a towed array sonar and carry an ASW helicopter to attack enemy submarines that it had detected. It would not be mounting any defensive armaments and was supposed to instead rely on the Sea Wolf missile system from its replenishment oiler for protection! In addition, it was intended that the Type 23 frigate would only have refueling and rearming capabilities for its helicopter and had to rely on the same oiler to provide servicing facilities.

It was with great fortune that the Falklands War broke out in 1982 before the plans for the Type 23 were finalized. The RN would have otherwise ended up with an entire class of lame ASW frigates that cannot operate independently even in low threat environments. Lessons learnt from that conflict included among other things the deadliness of aerial attacks even with unguided iron bombs, the astonishing ship-killing capabilities of modern guided anti-ship missiles and the need for an effective point defense system for self-protection. It was back to the drawing boards ( literally, since computer aided design technology was not available then ) and the future frigate grew in size, complexity as well as cost.

The Type 23 frigates were to eventually have new technology incorporated into their design like the radar cross section reducing stealth technology, extensive automation to reduce manpower requirements and enhanced damage control capabilities. Instead of relying on their oiler to provide an air defense umbrella, they would have their very own Sea Wolf surface-to-air missiles, a total of 32 missiles packed in a new vertical launch system ( VLS ) at the forecastle just aft of the main gun. That was in conjunction with additional tracking capabilities against low flying aircraft and sea-skimming AShM. A single 4.5 inch ( 127mm ) medium caliber main gun would be mounted to provide naval gunfire support. Smaller caliber guns like the 30mm autocannons and general purpose machine guns would also be mounted in greater numbers for self defense against small boats and aircraft. A set of Harpoon AShM in two quadruple launchers mounted just aft of the Sea Wolf VLS would provide long range strike capabilities against surface targets. A combined diesel-electric and gas ( CODLAG ) propulsion system would provide for very quite running during ASW operations and yet have the economy of an extended range and the power for a high speed dash whenever the need arose. The frigate would also have a flight deck and an enclosed hangar that was self-contained. The embarked Lynx or Merlin ASW helicopter would be armed with the Sea Skua AShM or torpedoes.

Originally projected to cost GBP75million each in 1980, the evolved Type 23 frigate would cost the British tax-payer GBP135million for the first of class HMS Norfolk and that did not include the cost of the organic ASW helicopter. Subsequent ships would cost slightly less. Eventually, a total of 16 Type 23 frigates were constructed and the RN got itself a very capable general purpose frigate that had at least a good chance of surviving the modern naval battle. ( Note : three Type 23 frigates had been paid-off and were sold to Chile due again to cost-cutting measures implemented by the MOD leaving the RN with the current remaining fleet of thirteen Type 23 frigates )




Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll underway at speed. Source : Royal Navy



HMS Argyll executing a hard-a-starboard. Notice the V-shaped quad Harpoon
launchers just behind the rather squarish looking VLS
 at the forecastle. Source : Royal Navy


In May 2015 the RN made the decision to replace the GWS 26 Mod 1 Sea Wolf surface-to-air missile of the Type 23 frigates with the naval variant of the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile ( CAMM ), also known as the Sea Ceptor. The Sea Ceptor has a range of more than 25km which is almost thrice that of the Sea Wolf. It could be packed four to the space occupied by one Sea Wolf missile in the VLS. The missile system utilizes much of the existing infrastructure of the Sea Wolf system but a much more powerful Type 997 Artisan 3D radar is required. HMS Argyll was the first frigate to be upgraded in late 2015.

Ultimately, these tired workhorses of the RN which have been in service for almost three decades now will be replaced by eight Type 26 ASW frigates a.k.a. Global Combat Ship some time after 2021 and perhaps by the lighter and cheaper Type 31 General Purpose Frigate in the far future.

You can watch videos of the Sea Ceptor by MBDA and the Type 26 Global Combat Ship by BAE Systems below :



The Type 45 Daring-class Destroyer

This is the other class of warship which are equipped with the Harpoon missile in the RN. There are six of these Anti-Air Warfare ( AAW ) destroyers serving in the RN whose primary role is to provide area defense for the fleet against hostile aircrafts and AShM. They were meant to replace the fourteen ( twelve, if not including HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry which were sunk during the Falklands War ) Type 42 Sheffield-class destroyers. The first in class HMS Daring was commissioned in 2009 while the last ship of the class HMS Duncan was commissioned in 2013 just as the last of the Type 42 was being decommissioned.

Central to the Type 45 AAW destroyer is the PAAMS ( Principal Anti Air Missile System ) or Sea Viper air-defence system which utilizes the SAMPSON active electronically scanned array ( AESA ) multifunction radar and the S1850M long range radar. They are armed with Aster-15 and Aster-30 surface-to-air missiles in a 48-cell Sylver Vertical Launch System. The Aster missile is essentially an anti-missile missile capable of intercepting inbound super-sonic anti-ship missiles as well as precision guided munitions.

The Type 45s are each equipped with a 127mm main gun, two Oerlikon 30mm guns, two Phalanx CIWS, two Miniguns and six general purpose machine guns. They have a large flight deck and an enclosed hangar and can carry up to two AgustaWestland AW-159 Wildcat or one Westland Merlin helicopter. The Wildcat can be armed with four Sea Skua AShM or two torpedoes while the Merlin carries no Sea Skua but four torpedoes.

As they are primarily air-defence destroyers, the Type 45s were originally not meant to be armed with any AShM. However, plans had been formulated to have the Harpoon anti-ship missile system retrofitted onto four out of the six Type 45 destroyers and the integration process had already been completed on three ships so far ( HMS Daring, HMS Diamond and HMS Duncan ).

Type 45 AAW destroyer HMS Diamond with Mk7 Sea King
from 857 NAS. Source RN

Type-45 DDG HMS Defender. Source : RN

To understand why only four ( maybe just three from now on ) of the six Type 45 Daring-class AAW destroyers were planned to be equipped with Harpoons, we need to go further back in history to look at a previous class of ASW frigate that had long since retired, the Type 22 Broadsword-class.

The RN's fourteen Type 22s were procured in three separate batches over a period spanning eleven years between 1974 and 1985. Each succession batch was an improvement over the previous one. The first ten Batch 1 and Batch 2 ships were ordered before the Falklands War and were equipped with the Exocet AShM. The last four Batch 3 frigates were ordered after the conflict and incorporated the more advanced Harpoon AShM.

The Type 22 Batch 3 frigates were all decommissioned in 2011, just shortly after the commissioning of the first Type 45 destroyer in 2009. It seemed that some admiralty brass retrospectively decided to salvage the Harpoon missile system from the decommissioned frigates and mount them on the Type 45 for added anti-surface warfare ( ASuW ) capabilities.

While I have generally do not have an issue with the reuse and recycling of old equipment especially if they are still in good functioning order, to install an obsolete AShM system on a brand new destroyer for the mission critical purpose of taking out the surface fleet of your enemy at stand-off range may not be the smartest move. The development of the Harpoon missile started as long ago as the mid sixties and was at the cutting edge of technology when it was first deployed in the eighties. However, after more than three decades and no matter how many improvements had been made to each successive variant including the latest Block II Harpoon, the entire family is facing obsolescence with the emergence of whole new generations of long range super-sonic anti-ship cruise missiles from Russia, India and China.

We shall now take a closer look at the RN's Harpoons and Sea Skua missiles.

The Royal Navy's Anti-Ship Missiles

The RN has only two types of AShM in its inventory - the Boeing Harpoon missile and the MBDA Sea Skua missile, both of which are ageing and obsolete.

The Harpoon Missile

The Harpoon is an all-weather, beyond-the-horizon, anti-ship missile that was developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas ( now Boeing ). It was first introduced into service in 1977. To date, there are several versions that could be launched from different platforms such as aircrafts, warships, submarines and costal batteries.

Both the Type 23 frigates and three out of the six Type 45 destroyer are equipped with the GWS60 Harpoon AShM, essentially a Boeing RGM-84D Block 1C Harpoon ship-to-ship missile. The Block 1C Harpoon is an early version that was introduced in 1985 and equipped the US military and its allies. It is hopelessly outdated by today even by the USN's own standards, superseded by newer variants like the littoral warfare capable RGM-84L Harpoon Block II. It would fair even poorer when compared with foreign modern AShM like the ramjet powered supersonic BrahMos ( 290km range ) or the future hypersonic BrahMos II.




Harpoons Away! Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg
( CG-64 ) fires a Harpoon missile at the ex-USNS Saturn
during a SINKEX in the Atlantic Ocean 27th Oct 2010. Photo : USN   

The Block 1C Harpoon has a maximum range of 130km and carries a 220kg high explosive - fragmentation warhead, considered a heavyweight in anti-ship missiles, enough to sink a frigate-sized warship. It has a long cylindrical body that measures 4.63m in length and 0.343m in diameter with a wingspan of 0.9m. It weighs 690kg and is propelled by a solid fuel rocket booster during launch and then followed by the Teledyne J402-CA-400 turbojet that enables it to cruise at the sub-sonic speed of Mach 0.9 at wave-top level. The missile depends on inertial navigation to reach its pre-designated target area and then switch to active radar homing for terminal guidance. Block 1C upgrade brought with it an increase in the missile's range and allows the operator to have programmable waypoints, selectable terminal flight profile ( whether to pop up from sea skimming during the final part of the flight path ) and improved electronic counter-countermeasures ( ECCM ).

The Mk 141 quad-packed Harpoon Guided Missile Launching System.
 Photo : Wikicommons 

The Harpoon missiles are packed in sealed canisters and stacked 2 x 2 in a quad-pack rack-mounted launcher known as the Mk 141 Guided Missile Launching System. Each ship usually has 2 quad launchers angled at about 45 degrees skywards and facing two opposing directions. In older and less stealthy ships like the Type 23 frigates, these canister launchers would be placed on the upper deck areas anywhere from the forecastle ( Type 23 ) to midship to the quarterdeck ( Ticonderoga-class CG ) areas. In modern stealth designs like the Formidable-class frigate of the Singapore Navy, the Harpoons are usually mounted midship out of sight behind high panels that shield the angular and protruding shape of the launcher from radar detection.




HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy fires its Harpoon missile
 in an undated photo. Source : RN

The active radar homing terminal guidance of the Harpoon missile meant that it is best used against warships in the open ocean far from any surrounding land masses that could lead to the interference of radar clutter. It would not perform well in a littoral environment nor would it be effective around busy sea lanes with lots of innocent maritime traffic as the seeker could home in on the wrong target.

It is important to remember that imperfect and obsolete as it is, the Harpoon missile still packs a greater punch and has a further reach than Sea Skua missile and the 5 inch gun of the Type 23 and Type 45 warships. However, repeated cuts in defense budget of the United Kingdom in the past decade have ensured that there wasn't a Harpoon replacement program in sight even as the Harpoons were slowing rotting away. Apparently the decision to abandon the Harpoon missile has been made by the Ministry of Defense as far back as 2010. Its eventual replacement may only come a decade later in the form of a future vertically launched heavy-weight AShM onboard the Type 26 Global Combat Ship.

Rather than facing a ten year capability gap in long range anti-surface strike, the RN could have elected to continue the maintenance and usage of the Harpoon missile until such time its replacement is available. This would probably be the cheapest option. Other options include upgrading to newer variants of the Harpoon like the extended range Harpoon Block II+ ER or some other advanced AShMs like the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile. These upgrades can then be transferred to the Type 26 when the Type 23 frigates are decommissioned.

The Sea Skua Missile

The Sea Skua is a British light-weight, all-weather, short range, sub-sonic sea-skimming AShM that is primarily launched by the Westland Lynx helicopter although variants could be launched from warships and coastal batteries. It was developed by the British Aircraft Corporation in 1972 and entered service with the RN in 1982, just in time to participate in the Falklands Conflict where it performed well, scoring seven hits out of nine missiles fired. Two Argentinian patrol crafts the Alferez Sobral and Rio Iguazuwere severely damaged with loss of lives and an abandoned cargo ship the Rio Carcarana was sunk. During the 1991 Gulf War, all the Sea Skuas that were fired hit their Iraqi targets and were credited to have disabled or sunk a total of fifteen patrol vessels and landing crafts.

The Sea Skua missile weighs 145kg at launch and carries a 28kg blast-fragmentation warhead or a 9kg semi-armour piercing warhead. A total of four Sea Skua missiles could be carried by each Lynx naval helicopter. It has an officially acknowledged range of 25km though it is widely believed to have a much further effective range. The guidance system is semi-active radar homing. When launched, the missile could be programmed to fly, depending on the sea state, at four pre-determined altitudes above the waves with the assistance of a radar altimeter. As it races towards its target at a high sub-sonic speed of Mach 0.8, it performs a pop-up maneuver to acquire the target which would be illuminated by the Lynx helicopter's Ferranti Seaspray radar.





A Royal Malaysia Navy Super Lynx 300 with Sea Skua missiles circa 2004.
 Photo : Andrew Simpson / JetPhotos.Net

An inert Sea Skua missile on the deck of a Kuwaiti warship
at a joint firing exercise with coalition forces during
Operation Enduring Freedom 12th Mar 2002. USN Photo. 

Although the Sea Skua had an impressive operational history, its Achilles' heel was its relatively short range and its small warhead. As the range of modern ship-borne anti-air missiles increased over the years, so has the stand-off range for any naval helicopter to launch its AShM without getting itself into harm's way, meaning the range of its AShM has to be correspondingly increased. The Sea Skua is already obsolete in that sense. Its feather-weight warhead also meant that it could only be effectively used against warships of low tonnage or else multiple direct hits have to be scored to disable a bigger vessel. Therefore after an illustrious service of close to 35 years with the RN, the admiralty had decided to retire the Sea Skua missile by March 2017.

The unfortunate thing is that the Sea Skua's successor, the MBDA Sea Venom / ANL missile system is still in its final development and will not see service until at least sometime in late 2020, that is if things happened on schedule which is rarely the case.

MBDA Sea Venom, previously known as the FASGW(H)
 - Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon ( Heavy ) or the
Anti-Navire Léger (ANL) missile on the RN
AugustaWestland AW159 Wildcat HMA2 helicopter.
Image : MBDA

The Sea Venom or in this case the Anti-Navire Léger (ANL) missile
fired from what looks like a French Navy AS565 Panther helicopter.
 Image : MBDA

The Immediate Future of the Royal Navy

Looking at what is currently happening to the once proud Royal Navy, without any fleet carriers, may not have F-35Bs to populate the carriers even when they are commissioned in the future, with frigate and destroyer numbers at an all time low, and with them about to lose all of their long range anti-surface strike capabilities, one cannot help but wonder what are the possible consequences that could arise out of this almost criminal neglect of the navy.

It is precisely because the RN is in such a poor state that social media campaign groups
like Savetheroyalnavy.org existed. 

 

To start off with, the RN may not be able to fulfill its obligations to NATO as the guardian of the GIUK Gap to contain the Russian navy in the North Atlantic. Without long range heavy-weight AShM, the frigates and destroyers will simply be sitting ducks that can be taken out by their Russian counterparts from stand-off distances without having a chance to strike back. No doubt the newly installed Sea Ceptor anti-air missiles might protect the ships but they are purely defensive in nature and the enemy only has to be lucky for once and you are dead. And nobody could win a war by purely defensive moves!

The other issue with a weakened RN is its capability to uphold the United Kingdom's sovereign claim on the Falkland Islands. As we all know, the Argentinian government had never given up its claim on the Falkland Islands even after narrowing losing the Falklands War in 1982. Had they been able to sink one of the aircraft carriers or the Fearless-class amphibious assault ships instead of the Type 42 destroyers and Type 21 frigates, the war would have had a very different outcome.

Today, with the light carriers decommissioned and their Sea Harriers retired, Vulcan bombers long gone, and the shrunken surface fleet that will soon be stripped of their AShM, the UK will not be able to mount a similar expeditionary force to the South Atlantic should the Argentinians decide to cause trouble. All these cost cutting moves taken by the British MOD in the past decades could only be viewed as a lack of resolve to enforce Crown sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, just as the decision to decommission the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and the planned withdrawal of the Antarctic Survey Ship HMS Endurance from the South Atlantic did in the early eighties. Also, as the United States become increasingly inward looking with the new Trump Presidency, the UK may not necessarily get all the assistance they enjoyed previously from their once staunchest ally during the Falklands War, like the intense diplomatic brokering, the massive support within the Security Council of the United Nations, timely military intelligence and emergency ordnance resupply using borrowed NATO stockpiles.

If the lack of funds was the reason why the Harpoon and the Sea Skua systems are to be removed from service prematurely, I would suggest the UK MOD not to upgrade the Sea Wolf system of the Type 23 frigates and instead use the GBP 253 million or so that they have spent on the Sea Ceptor to maintain the older missile systems for another few years, until a suitable replacement can be put into service.

Sir Michael Fallon should seriously ask himself this before he retires the Harpoon and the Sea Skua : Would the Junta view the year 2019 or 2020 as the best time for another Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands? Does the UK wish the Falklands to be renamed the Islas MALVINAS, again, ever? Or never again? Tough choices indeed. God save the Queen ... and the Royal Navy.







Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft : Japan's Brand New Submarine Hunter

 

 

The Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.
 JMSDF Photo.

Introduction

From the same folks who brought you the legendary Kawasaki Z-1 in 1972 that revolutionalised the motorcycle industry comes a spanking new submarine hunter? It's not surprising since Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries ( KHI ) is a huge industrial conglomerate made up of multiple divisions and disciplines. KHI's product portfolio includes anything from the Soryu class Submarine, bulk carriers, LNG carriers, the T-4 Advanced Jet Trainer, Boeing 787 ( Joint Production ), helicopters, space rockets and space station components, motorcycles and ATV, jet skis, high speed rail, industrial robots .... the list goes on and on. KHI is known as 川崎重工業 or Kawasaki Jukogyo in Japanese.




A legend was born : The 1972 Kawasaki Z-1, air-cooled,
4 stroke, 4 cylinders, 903cc DOHC super bike.
This was what catapulted Kawasaki into the global lime light. Photo : KHI

Maritime Patrol Aircraft : A Brief History

A maritime patrol aircraft ( MPA ) is a fixed-wing surveillance aircraft that is designed to operate over open water for extended duration in sea patrol duties, in particular anti-submarine, anti-ship and search and rescue roles. Its history can be traced as far back as World War I, when bombers and floatplanes were converted into patrol aircrafts to counter the German U-boat menace. These early generation MPAs were frequently armed with machine guns, bombs and depth charges.

The requirement for high endurance aircrafts to patrol vast expanses of oceans meant that by WWII, many MPAs were converted from long range bombers ( Consolidated B-24 Liberator ) or airliners ( Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor ). Some like the Consolidated PBY Catalina amphibious plane were purpose-built. The emergence of air to surface vessel radars during that era was one of the most significant technological advancement that would change the nature of naval warfare. MPAs armed with high resolution centimetric radars like the ASV III can easily detect small objects like the periscope or snorkel of a submerged submarine making them highly effective in anti-submarine warfare ( ASW ).

The immediate post-WWII period ushered in the jet era, and MPAs continued to evolve in operational capabilities with new technologies like sonobuoys and the magnetic anomaly detector ( MAD ), though due to their unique operational requirement of high loiter time at low speed and low altitude, they remained largely piston engine or turboprop driven. The Lockheed P-2V Neptune from which the Japanese variant the P-2J was based on was a typical example from that time. And yes, the P-2J was license-produced by Kawasaki.

During the Cold War, the emerging threat of ballistic missile carrying submarines raining death and destruction onto large population centres with their multiple nuclear warheads from thousands of miles away meant that MPAs continue to be relevant and in demand. Many of the MPAs currently in service throughout the world like the Lockheed P-3C Orion, the Tupolev Tu-142 Bear and the Ilyushin Il-38 May are products of that era. It was also during that time jet-powered MPAs began to appear, the first to enter service being the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR1.

Today, most MPAs continue the tradition of having airframes derived from proven civilian platforms, especially jetliners. The Boeing P-8A Poseidon based on the venerable 737-800 is a typical example. In the future we would undoubtedly have MPAs in the form of unmanned aerial vehicles like the soon to be operational Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton developed under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance programme.

Japan's MPA Fleet

When Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force ( JMSDF ) was formed in 1954, it operated obsolete WWII aircraft donated by the United States which included 17 Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon patrol bombers and 20 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers.

From 1956, 60 Lockheed P-2V7 Neptune MPA were added to the fleet, and starting from 1957, 60 Grumman S-2F Tracker ASW aircraft. The Japanese loved the P-2V7 so much that when the time came to have them replaced by the more advanced but expensive Lockheed P-3A Orion, they opted instead to develop an improved version, the P-2V7 Kai ( 改 - kai in Japanese means upgrade or to improve ), later licence produced and designated P-2J. A total of 83 P-2J were produced and they were operational between 1971 to 1994.

The P-2J was eventually replaced by the P-3C, 98 of which was licence produced between 1978 and 1997. Five P-3C had been converted to the OP-3C reconnaissance version and the remaining 93 P-3C are currently the backbone of the JMSDF MPA fleet. Add to that number another 5 EP-3, 1 UP-3C and 3 UP-3D, the grand total is 107 making Japan the largest P-3 operator after the United States.  They will ultimately be replaced by the P-1 of which 70 aircrafts have been planned. The JMSDF classifies the P-3C and the P-1 as Fixed Wing Patrol Aircraft (  固定翼哨戒機 Koteiyoku Shokaiki )



A Kawasaki P-3C Orion based at Atsugi Air Base, Kanagawa Prefecture
flies overland with Mount Fuji in the background.
The JMSDF currently has 93 P-3C in its inventory. Photo : JMSDF 




The UP-3D of the 91st Fleet Air Sqn is an ESM-trainer aircraft
 for the ships of the JMSDF. Its mission is similar to the EP-3J of the USN.
 This particular aircraft with serial number 9163 is the last P-3 ever produced.
Notice the lack of a MAD boom. Photo JMSDF 

The Future MPA P-X Programme

Shortly after the last P-3C ( actually a UP-3D variant, see photo above ) was delivered to the JMSDF by KHI on 1st Feb 2000, marking the end of a production run that lasted for 38 years, the Japanese were already planning for its successor. The Cold War had ended and in the United States, Lockheed's next generation MPA programme, the P-7 Long Range Air ASW Capable Aircraft ( LRAACA ), failed to materialise due to budgetary problems and after incurring huge cost overruns. Existing European alternatives like the United Kingdom's Nimrod MR2 did not meet Japanese requirements. Eventually the Japanese decided that they would have to develop their own MPA.

The P-X future MPA programme was thus initiated in 2001 by the Japanese Ministry of Defence concurrently with the next generation transport aircraft C-X programme to replace the C-130 Hercules and the C-1. These two developments were to be managed as a single project and Kawasaki was appointed the main contractor. The P-X and C-X shared structural components and sub-systems and utilized commercial off the shelf products to save on development and production costs.

First flight for the P-X prototype, by then re-designated the XP-1, took place on 28th Sep 2007. By March 2010 four XP-1 had been delivered to the MOD for testing and trials. They were introduced into service in 2013 as the Kawasaki P-1 to gradually replace JMSDF's ageing P-3C Orion. They were supposed to have attained full operational capability by Sep 2015.




The XP-1 Prototype in Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI)
 colours at Atsugi Air Base, April 2011. Photo : Wikipaedia

The Kawasaki P1

The Kawasaki P-1 at RIAT 2015, RAF Fairford. Photo : Wikipaedia

The P-1 is unique among all the various modern maritime patrol aircraft as it one of a few that is completely designed from the ground up and not adapted from some bomber or commercial airliner. That means every single part is purpose designed and purpose built. Also, it was originally created for just one customer, the JMSDF, since the post-war Constitution of Japan forbade the export of weapons and weapon systems until very recently. As such, throughout its development and even as it is being deployed in active service, very few outside the defense circles have heard about this mysterious Japanese multi-mission maritime aircraft.

General Characteristics

The P-1 has the appearance and size of a 90 - 100 seat regional jet. It has a length of 38m, height of 12m and a wingspan of 35.4m making it significantly bigger than the P-3C and only marginally smaller than the P-8A which it is frequently compared with. The full complement comprises of 2 flight crew and 11 mission crew. Its maximum take-off weight is 79700kg or 176000lbs. Maximum speed is said to be 996km/h ( 538 knots ) while the cruising speed is 833 km/h ( 450 knots ). The P-1's maximum range is 8000km ( 4320 nm ) and the maximum operational ceiling is 13520m ( 44200 ft ).

Compare and contrast : the Boeing P-8A and the Kawasaki P-1 side by side at
Naval Air Facility Atsugi. USN Photo

Fuselage and Wings

The P-1 has an aerodynamic profile most suited for low speed and low altitude flight. It has a relatively long wing span with the leading edge swept back at 25 degrees but an almost straight trailing edge. A large wing area of  170m² generates more lift, decreases stall speed and increases agility.

Part of the fuselage is made of light weight composite material like carbon fiber.  KHI is responsible for fabricating the horizontal stabilisers, Fuji Heavy Industries the main wings and the vertical stabilisers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries the mid and rear portions of the fuselage and Sumitomo Precision Products the landing gears.

Power Plant

Unlike its turboprop powered predecessor, the P-1 is powered by four IHI F7-10 high bypass turbofan engines. Japan's IHI Corporation developed the F-7-10 specifically for the P-1, using metal alloys that are corrosion resistant in salt environments. Sound absorbing panels are also used to lower the acoustic signature of the engines, achieving a sound level 5 to 10 dB below the P-3C's Allison T-56-A-14 turboprops. The F7-10 turbofan has a bypass ratio of 8.2:1 and each delivers a maximum thrust of 60kN or 13500lbs. The jet engines enables the P-1 to achieve a greater maximum speed, a higher operating ceiling, a longer range and carry a heavier load compared with the P-3C.


Having four engines instead of two is advantageous for MPAs as they frequently fly over open bodies of water at remote locations where airfields may not be readily available for emergency landings in case of engine failure. In addition, MPAs often have to execute their combat missions at low altitudes where bird strikes can be common. A single engine failure in a twin engine MPA like the P-8A would probably have necessitated a turn around whereas an MPA with four engines could still continue its mission with one engine shutdown. If fact, P-3C jockeys are known to deliberately shut down one or two of the Orion's four turboprop engines when on-station to reduce fuel consumption and increase on-station time. The P-1 with four turbofans could supposedly do the same but it would be suicidal to try that on a P-8A.





The IHI F7-10 Turbofan on the P-1 aircraft number 5506 taken at
 Iwakuni Air Base on 14th Sep 2014. Photo : Wikipedia

Postero-lateral view of the IHI F7-10 on the same aircraft as above. Photo : Wikipaedia 

Frontal view of the IHI F7-10 on the same aircraft as above. Photo : Wikipaedia

In addition, the P-1 has a Honeywell 131-9 Auxiliary Power Unit ( APU ) installed in the fuselage forward of the horizontal stabilizer to avoid interference with the MAD apparatus in the rear.

Avionics

Unlike the mostly analogue instruments of the P-3C, the P-1 has, in common with the Kawasaki C-2 transport, a modern digital " glass cockpit " with 6 large LCD multifunction displays and 2 sets of Head-Up Displays ( HUD ). The cockpit also features huge glass windows reflecting the Japanese emphasis on low altitude visual searches.

The cockpit windows are huge. Seen also are two HUDs and
the multi-function LCD displays. Image : Mainichi Shimbun




External view of the P-1's large windows. Image : Mainichi Shimbun

Flight Control

You have heard of fly-by-wire where flight control of an inherently aerodynamically unstable design is achieved by onboard computers continuously micro-adjusting the control surfaces. The P-1 is a generation ahead, being the first production aircraft to feature " fly-by-light " ( FBL ) where flight control commands are transmitted via optical fibre to the actuators. This decreases the risk of electromagnetic interference with the multitude of electronic sensors onboard. FBL also has the advantage of reducing the weight of the installed wiring and reduce power consumption. The technology had been extensively tested on the UP-3C before being implemented on the P-1.

Radar

The P-1 is equipped with the HPS-106 X-Band Active Electronically Scanned Array ( AESA ) radar system jointly developed by Toshiba and the Technical Research and Development Institute ( TRDI ) of the Japanese Defence Ministry. Consisting of 4 arrays, one mounted in the nose, two side-looking panels below the cockpit area and another in the tail, the HPS-106 has a constant 360 degree coverage. It can be used in multiple modes including surface search, air search, navigational and meteorological, synthetic aperture and inverse synthetic aperture. An inverse synthetic aperture radar ( ISAR ) utilizes the motion of the target to create a high resolution 2D image that can allow for threat identification.

The HPS-106 side-looking array is housed beneath this panel just below the cockpit. Wikipaedia Photo

Electro-Optical / Infrared

The P-1 features the Fujitsu HAQ-2 EO/IR suite mounted on a ball-like turret aft of the nose cone for tracking and examining surface targets. It consists of a Forward Looking Infrared ( FLIR ) device for thermal imaging, night vision and navigation, as well as cameras for capturing images in the visible light and near-infrared spectrum.

The Electro-Optical / FLIR Turret which can be retracted and
stowed within the fuselage when not in use. JMSDF Photo

Magnetic Anomaly Detector

The HSQ-102 magnetic anomaly detector housed in the sting-like MAD boom at the rear of the P-1 is a licence produced version of the Canadian CAE AN/ASQ-508(v) by Mitsubishi Electric. CAE is the world leader in the design, manufacture and integration of MAD systems. They have been designing MAD systems for more than 40 years and had delivered more than 2000 MAD systems to the military worldwide. The AN/ASQ-508(v) is also known as the Advanced Integrated MAD System ( AIMS ) and consists of a highly sensitive magnetometer with associated electronics mounted in the tail area of an aircraft to minimize magnetic interference. It detects the variations in the earth's magnetic field caused by the presence of metallic objects in the vicinity like a submerged submarine. The detection range is in the region of 1200m, meaning the MAD will work best with the aircraft flying at low altitudes and at low speeds, both of which the P-1 excels in. One of the key differences between the P-1 and the P-8 is that the P-8 does not have a MAD system.

Close-up view of the P-1's MAD boom which houses the HSQ-102 MAD system. Photo : Wikipaedia 

The " stinger " or MAD boom places the magnetometer as far away
from the aircraft as possible to minimize self interference.
Photo : Sunburn1979 via Creativecommons

Acoustic System and Sonobuoys

The P-1 can carry 30 pre-loaded sonobuoys and another 60 in racks in the cabin for reloading. The Acoustic Processor HQA-7 is manufactured by NEC. Other components of the acoustic system includes the  HRQ-1 Sonobuoy Receiver, HQH-106 Acoustic Data Recorder and the HAS-107 Sonobuoy Controller.




Sonobuoy launcher can be seen in the under-fuselage in this photo of the P-1 at RIAT 2015.
Wikipaedia Photo.

Sonobuoy Launcher Close-up. Image : Mainichi Shimbun

Sonobuoy rack with capacity for 96 sonobuoys. Image : Mainichi Shimbun

Rotary sonobuoy launcher. Image : Mainichi Shimbun

Acoustic workstation. Image : Mainichi Shimbun

Command and Control

The P-1 has a Combat Command System designated the HYQ-3 by Toshiba which is basically an onboard combat information processor, some sort of artificial intelligence that can assist the mission commander in planning for the best respond to an encountered threat, like delivering the optimal firing solution on an enemy submarine based on the combined information collected by all the plane's sensors and sensors from other friendly platforms nearby.

 

Communications

The P-1 is fitted with the HRC-124 UHF/VHF Radio and the HRC-123 satellite communications equipment made by Mitsubishi Electric.

Tactical Data Link

Equipped with Link 16 compatible MIDS-LVT terminal, the P-1 can share targeting and any other information with similarly equipped aircrafts like the F-15J, P-3C, E-767 AWACS, E-2C AEW, MH-60 naval helicopters, F-35 JSF, and surface vessels like the JMSDF's Aegis destroyers.

IFF

The HPX-105 Identification Friend or Foe system is installed with the two sets of four N-AT-347 IFF antennae mounted in front of the cockpit wind screen and at the under-fuselage area.

4 IFF antennae clearly seen above nose cone. Image : Mainichi Shimbun

Armaments

The P-1 has a total of 8 hard points under its wings which can be used to carry air to surface missiles like the AGM-84 Harpoon, the AGM-65 Maverick and the indigenously developed ASM-1C. These pylons, also known as the BRU-47/A Bomb Release Unit are rated to carry up to 2000lbs of ordnance each.

It also has an internal bomb bay with an additional 8 hard points which can be loaded with bombs, mines, depth charges and light weight torpedoes including the Mk46, the Japanese Type 97 ( G-RX4 ) and the latest Type 12 ( G-RX5 ). Up to 9000kg or 20000lbs of ordnance could be carried.

Weapon pylons ( BRU-47/A bomb release unit ) under the port wing
 and the internal bomb bay whose outline you can see just aft of the front landing gear
( with 3 red-tipped N-AS-331 and 1 yellow-tipped N-AS-330 antennae for the HRQ-1 sonobuoy receiver ).
 Wikipaedia photo.

XP-1 prototype fires AGM-65 Maverick missile in 2012. Photo : TRDI

The Type 97 ( G-RX4 ) 324mm light weight torpedo. Inert version displayed. Photo : Wikipaedia

 

Self-Protection System 

The P-1 is equipped with the Mitsubishi Electric HLQ-9 self-protection suite which includes the missile approach warning system ( MAWS ) and the radar warning receiver ( RWR ), accompanied by the usual dispensers for flare and chaff.

P-1 dispensing flares against heat seeking missiles 18th Oct 2015. Japanese MOD photo.

An Electronic Support Measures ( ESM ) suite, the Mitsubishi Electric HLR-109B is installed. You can see the ESM flaring which is the prominent bulge on top of the fuselage slightly behind the cockpit. The ESM suite detects and classifies enemy radar emissions and gives the P-1 a secondary role as an  Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance ( ISR ) platform.

Close-up of the ESM flaring just above and behind the cockpit windows. Photo : Wikipaedia

Air-to-Air Refueling

All indications seem to point towards the fact that unlike the Boeing P-8A or the Kawasaki C-2 with which it shares some common components, the P-1 does not have a probe or receptacle for accepting fuel transfers midair. It is highly unlikely that the meticulous Japanese designers would have overlooked this feature. Most probably it was intentionally omitted as a cost saving move. Further more, with a range of 8000km, perhaps the JMSDF chose to live without air-to-air refueling.

P-1 Variants

Just like its predecessor the P-3C Orion which had spawned many variants to serve different combat missions, the P-1 can potentially be similarly modified into different hardware configurations :

UP-1 : Utility / multi-purpose aircraft that can be used as a test bed for systems and equipment or in a supportive role as a training platform.

EP-1 : Signals Intelligence ( SIGINT ), Electronic Intelligence ( ELINT ) platform.

OP-1 : Observation / Visual Imaging platform.

AEW :  To replace the ageing E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft. But the US had just approved the sale of four E-2D to Japan last year, so AEW conversion is currently less urgent or likely.

AIRBOSS : As an Advanced InfraRed Ballistic Missile Observation Sensor System platform. Obviously with Dear Leader as one's neighbour, the capability to detect ICBM / IRBM / SLBM launches in a timely manner can be a matter of utmost importance.

In Jun 2015, the first XP-1 prototype number 5501 had been converted to the UP-1 configuration with the aircraft number correspondingly reassigned 9501.




A UP-3C and a P-1 flying in formation. JMSDF Photo

 

Numbers Ordered

Based on Japanese Defence Ministry annual budget reports of the past few years, these are the current number of P-1 ordered and on order.

FY2008  4   units  ¥ 67.9billion
FY2010  1   unit    ¥ 21.1billion
FY2011  3   units  ¥ 54.4billion
FY2013  2   units  ¥ 40.9billion
FY2014  3   units  ¥ 59.4billion
FY2015  20 units  ¥ 350.4billion

Total P-1 ordered so far is 33 aircrafts, excluding the four XP-1 prototypes. The first 13 units from FY2008 to FY2014 are probably the low rate initial production ( LRIP ) tranches. Mass production really starts with FY2015's 20 unit order. All operational P-1s are deployed at Atsugi Air Base in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Exporting the P-1

Japanese weapon systems have traditionally been expensive due to the fact that they cannot be exported and so production runs are relatively small and cater to only the local defense agencies. Economy of scale can hardly be achieved with a such a small captive market. That has changed since last year when Prime Minister Abe tweaked the Constitution, paving the way for future weapon exports. And Kawasaki has been hard at work trying to sell the P-1 overseas.

Among the potential clients was the United Kingdom, a maritime nation whom in 2010 foolishly retired its Nimrod MR2 MPAs and then abruptly cancelled its replacement, the MRA.4 who's development was by then almost near completion, leaving them with absolutely no MPAs. In July 2015, the P-1 made its first overseas public appearance at the Royal International Air Tattoo ( RIAT ) at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, England, in an attempt to generate British interest in the aircraft. If successful, the deal could advance defence co-operation between the two countries and could be worth up to one billion dollars. Two aircrafts flew over to Fairford, number 5504 and 5507, one for static display and one for flight demonstration. You can watch and hear the flight demo here. After the airshow the P-1 went on to Djibouti to carry out hot weather tests before returning to Atsugi Air Base. The P-1's appearance at RIAT was well received and brought the exposure and generated the awareness it needed to compete successfully on the international stage. Hopefully we can begin to see the P-1 at more international airshows in the near future. Unfortunately for the Japanese, on 23rd Nov 2015 the UK announced their intention to buy nine P-8A Poseidon as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, without going through any tender or competition.

Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii 7th Feb 2015. Private visit, private flight :
then COMPACFLT Adm Harry B. Harris Jr. walks with JMSDF Cmdr. Kazutaka Sugimoto
 following a flight on a Kawasaki P-1. USN Photo

However, apart from the UK, there are many other navies worldwide that operate the ageing P-3C Orion and they would soon need a replacement. So Kawasaki should in theory have no shortage of potential clients. The main competition would be the Boeing P-8A as they both have very similar capabilities, not surprising as they were intended to be replacements for the same aircraft. Already, Australia, a major P-3C ( AP-3C ) operator has selected the P-8A as its next generation MPA at a cost of A$4 billion for a total of 8 planes with support facilities. So has India, which will operate the P-8I. Still, at an estimated US$250 million per plane, the P-8A is significantly more expensive than the P-1 which costs half as much at $150 million ( based on Japanese MOD figures, FY 2015 acquisition of 20 P-1 at ¥350.4billion ). This would make the P-1 a value buy for current P-3C operators as well as any MPA operator looking to renew their fleet.

P-1 for Singapore?

Why not? The Republic of Singapore Air Force ( RSAF ) currently operates a fleet of 5 Fokker F-50 Enforcer II MPAs. These aircrafts have been in service since 1994 and are close to their end-of-life. Upgrading these MPAs would be challenging as the maker, Dutch aviation company Fokker had gone into receivership in 1996 and is now defunct. RSAF had apparently requested to inspect ex-USN P-3Cs in storage in Dec 2010 which meant it was considering the refurbished Orion as replacement for the F-50. Now, five years on, the P-1 has completed its development and has emerged a viable option since it is technically more advanced than the venerable P-3C and is a whole lot cheaper than the P-8A whose capability it mostly matches.

The Fokker F-50 Enforcer II MPA of RSAF's 121 Squadron. Photo credit on pic.

How much cheaper is it to restore a mothballed P-3C to active duty with modernized avionics and 15000 hours of life extension compared to buying a new build P-1 is anybody's guess, but I'll pick the a P-1 over the P-3 anytime.

P-1 and the State of the Japanese Defence Industry

For the past 70 years, the Japanese defence industry had lead a frustrating existence where restricted by the Constitution, their quality products were procured in anaemic quantities only for the domestic market. This dated, self-imposed restriction had finally been lifted paving the way for major arms export. Already, we are seeing Japanese defence companies participating in international trade shows for the first time.

The Kawasaki P-1 is a highly capable maritime patrol aircraft and a worthy successor to the P-3C. Its success in Japan had probably been guaranteed even before the maiden flight of the first prototype. Currently the planned procurement is for 70 aircrafts to replace 107 P-3C of all variants. Funding for the first 33 P-1 had already been disbursed / approved. The next logical milestone would be to secure export customers so that production volume can be ramped up further and unit cost can come down. Together with the AIP capable Soryu class submarine, and the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious search and rescue plane, the P-1 maritime patrol aircraft would spearhead the Japanese effort to break into the international arms market. There would hopefully be some successes soon.