Singapore Navy's New Submarines - HDW Type 218SG

*** Please read the latest on the Type 218SG here. ***

RSN's Silent Service

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) had been operating conventional diesel-electric submarines since 1995. Initially, as it was a completely new capability for a small navy, the RSN opted to purchase 5 decommissioned / used submarines from Sweden. These were the A-11 Sjöormen class submarines first commissioned in the late 1960s. Four of these boats were re-commissioned as the Challenger class and the fifth was to be salvaged for parts. They were extensively refurbished and upgraded by Kockums for use in tropical climate and came with personnel training agreements with the Royal Swedish Navy. They form the 171 Squadron based at Changi Naval Base.

The Challenger class submarines enabled the RSN to learn the trade of undersea warfare in an accelerated timeframe but they had one glaring shortcoming - they were not equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP). AIP is simply an advanced underwater propulsion system in a non-nuclear submarine that did not involve access to atmospheric oxygen, eliminating the periodic need to surface or snorkel to recharge the batteries. ( see my previous blog AIP submarines for RSN )

In 2005 an opportunity to buy another 2 decommissioned submarines from Sweden came in the form of  two A-17 Vastergotland class boats. These were a generation newer than the Challenger class boats, having been launched in 1986 and 1987. They were extensively modified  and had their hulls sliced and lengthened to accommodate a proprietary Stirling AIP engine. They were eventually commissioned as the RSS Archer and RSS Swordsman.


 

RSS Archer during her launching ceremony in Sweden in June 2009. Source : Peter Nilsson Kockums AB.

 

 

The Stirling Conversion : From Vastergotland to Archer. Kockums picture

 

Submarine Shopping

Now that the submariners have honed their skills with AIP, it is time for the RSN to consider buying more potent and newer platforms. On 2nd Dec 2013 MINDEF made public the acquisition of 2 customized AIP capable submarines from ThyssenKrupp Marine System GmBH (TKMS). From the MINDEF press release " These submarines, together with the Archer class submarines, will replace the ageing Challenger class submarines. The Challenger class submarines were built in the 1960s and will be progressively retired from service. The replacement submarines will have significantly improved capabilities and be equipped with Air Independent Propulsion systems." With some background information, it would not be of too much a surprise that this time it would no longer be a Swedish design.

Boat Supplying Nations

There are not many countries that have the capability to design and build submarines. The United States have not looked back on conventional diesel-electrics ever since they commissioned the world's first operational nuclear submarine the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) in 1954. The Royal Navy similarly disposed off their Upholder class SSKs and are and all-nuclear force. What's left will be Germany, with their U-209s and U-214s, probably the largest exporter of conventional submarines in the free world, France, the supplier of Scorpenes, Spain, exporting their S-80 Scorpene variant, Sweden, with their ill-fated Collins-class project but enjoying better domestic success and in exporting to Singapore, and finally Russia, with the Project 636 improved Kilo class. Japan is just beginning to come online as a potential supplier, after ditching their post WWII pacifist Constitution. South Korea builds U-209s and U-214s under licence and exported a couple to Indonesia, and China builds but hardly exports. All said, if you are buying U-boats ( presumably non-nuclear ), your options are somewhat limited. If you are sourcing for nuke boats then your choice is simple, go to Uncle Putin, but be warned, you can get badly mauled like India did with its yet to be delivered INS Vikramaditya ( ex-Admiral Gorshkov ) carrier.

The Boote Yards

Kockums AB's Karlskrona shipyard has been producing first rate submarines for Sweden since the 1912. Apart from the A-11 Sjöormen class and the A-17 Vastergotland class SSKs already mentioned above, they also constructed three A-19 Gotland class submarines with air-independent propulsion for the Swedish Navy in 1990. Their next generation offering is the A-26 submarine, originally scheduled to replace the Vastergotlands as they are retired in 2020.

In a series of miscalculations by the Swedish government, the fortunes of Kockums began to change around the turn of the century (1999 to be precise) where, in a complicated web of industrial merger and acquisition, Celsius AB sold its subsidiary Kockums AB to German ship builder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmBH (HDW) in an all-share swap for 25% of HDW, with an option to exit the business with a lump sum. The following year, SAAB bought over most of Celsius AB and opted to be paid and exited. And so Kockums become a part of HDW and then HDW was itself acquired by ThyssenKrupp Marine System GmBH (TKMS) in 2005.

HDW is of course most famous for submarines - their U-205, U-206 and U-209 series conventional diesel-electric submarines are in active service in many navies all around the globe, not to mention the Dolphin Class variant for the Israeli Navy. Their latest offering is the U-212A and its export version the U-214.

TKMS is a huge German conglomerate and in addition to Kockums which it acquired through HDW, owns several other shipyards in Germany and Greece. It now has two competing lines of submarines to sell in a limited post-cold war global market and the number of submarine exports are just not enough to keep the yards busy. It does not help when many customers also insist on local construction and technology transfer. It just not possible to maintain both the German HDW and Swedish Kockums to compete against its rivals like DCNS of France and Rubin Design Bureau of Russia. Understandably TKMS would favour its German shipyards over the other foreign ones.

So when the time came for Singapore to replace her Challenger class submarines, Kockums, the exclusive supplier of submarines to the Republic of Singapore Navy for the past 18 years saw its monopoly broken and was prevented from submitting a bid by its parent company. Instead, TKMS offered HDW's U-218SG, to be built in its Kiel shipyard in northern Germany.

On a separate note, TKMS had also successfully stalled Kockum's next-gen A-26 AIP offering to the Swedish government which industrial insiders believe is delayed by contract negotiations between Kockums and Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration. The two parties simply cannot come to a price agreement.

Fortunately, this impasse may be about to change as Singapore's HDW purchase had finally whipped the Swedes into action to ( forcefully? ) buy back Kockums and regain control of their submarine building capability and put the A-26 acquisition back on tract. In what has come a full circle, on 29th Jun 2014 SAAB announced that it will buy Kockums back from ThyssenKrupp for SEK 340 million ( about USD 50.5 million) in a deal that is probably subsidized by the Swedish government. Still, the U-218SG purchase is a done deal and the A-26, severely undermined by ThyssenKrupp, will never be ready by 2020 even for its domestic client, the RSwN.





The Kockums next generation submarine the A-26 AIP that the RSN
was never meant to have in a computer generated image showing
 special forces deploy through the Multi-Mission Portal. Source : SAAB Kockums

 

 

The Mysterious U-218SG

All that we know about this submarine is that it is a customized design for Singapore. It is a conventional diesel-electric hunter-killer submarine with air-independent propulsion based on HDW's current designs, due for delivery in 2020. No other information is available in the public domain about this new boat. Unless you have insider information, right now everything is speculation.

Still, there is nothing to stop anyone from making an intelligent guess as to what this new submarine would turn out to be. A good start will be to understand Singapore's operational requirements and the currently available HDW U-boats designs.

The U-218SG will likely be involved in the following :

Anti-surface and anti-submarine operations

Special forces deployment

Unmanned vehicle deployment ( UUV and UAV )

Land attack missions with cruise missiles

Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance ( ISTAR )

Carrier battle group ( CVBG ) escort - future Endurance-160 type large helicopter / F-35B carrier

Singapore's existing Challenger and Archer class SSKs are in the 1200 to 1400 ton range and are really too small to cope with all of the above functions. Even the existing HDW options, the Type 212A built for the Deutsche Marine ( German Navy ) and the Marina Militare ( Italian Navy ), as well as the export version the Type 214 are all in the 1500 to 1700 ton range.

Unlike European navies who operate in the relatively smaller and shallower Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, those in the Indo-Pacific region including Japan, South Korea, India and Australia would probably require bigger submarines with much longer range. The main role of the U-218SG will surely not be to play cat and mouse with the RMN in the narrow Straits of Malacca. It might have a bigger role in maintaining the SLOC open in the South China Sea and beyond, given the aggressive behavior of China in recent years. So it has to be bigger with a longer range and endurance. It also has to be faster, at least as fast as the carrier task group that it is supposed to protect. A bigger submarine will also have more space for more comfortable crew accommodation.

Fortunately HDW has exactly such a design concept in the form of the Type 216 AIP weighing in at 4000 ton. This is a double hulled two decked ocean-going monster was designed to fulfill the requirements for the Australian SEA 1000 Collins replacement project. However, it would be too big for the RSN if the design is adopted at face value. It would never safely transit the congested waters of the Straits of Singapore without being observed ( or bumped into )! So perhaps 2500 to 3000 tons would be a good compromise. A scaled down U-216 while retaining all the original bells and whistles. There is precedence in the Project Delta frigates - the Formidable class being an improved but smaller version of the La Fayette class stealth frigate.






The HDW U-216 SSK Source : ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems

 

 

This is the original U-216 technical specifications :

Length : approximately 90m

Pressure Hull Diameter : approximately 8.1m

Surface Displacement : about 4000 tons

HDW Fuel-cell Air-Independent Propulsion System

Lithium-Ion Polymer Battery Technology

HABETaS rescue system for personal rescue / free ascent at 300m

Endurance : 80 days at sea. 4 weeks without surfacing.

Range : 10000 nautical miles

Compliment : 33 officers and ratings. Extra capacity for divers and attached personnel

IDAS fibre-optic guided missile system for defense and attack against aerial targets ( ASW helos included )

Weapon Tubes : 6 x 533mm ( torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, mines, UUV? )

Vertical Launch System : Vertical Multi-Purpose Lock for launching cruise missiles

Torpedo Countermeasure System

Special Forces Swimmer Delivery Vehicle ( SDV )

In other words - the works. All that anybody could ask for in a submarine short of SLBM launch capability.

The innovative Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines (IDAS) is a

lightweight fibre-optic guided missile for submarines against aerial threats.
Photo : ThyssenKrupp Marine Syatems

                                

 

 

The MdCN ( Missile de Croisiere Naval ) or naval cruise missile can be

launched from the torpedo tubes of a submarine. Source : MBDA

 

 

The MdCN, aka naval SCALP, can also be launched from the
A70 Sylver vertical launch system of France's FREMM frigates. Source : MBDA

 

Whatever the final specs are, it will be a huge step forward for the RSN. Retirement of the Challenger class submarines will transform RSN's silent service into an all-AIP force, just like the Swedes and the Germans. No ship lasts forever. If all goes well, tranche one will be followed with a subsequent order to eventually replace the Archer class possibly by the year 2025 - 2028. This article may be updated as more information is forthcoming.

JMMS - Singapore's ( and South East Asia's* ) first Aircraft Carrier?

The Joint Multi-Mission Ship ( JMMS )

 

 

 

ST Marine Endurance-160 JMMS. Source : ST Marine

 

In his pre-SAF Day media interview 3 days ago, Singapore's Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen mentioned about the possibility of the RSN ( Republic of Singapore Navy ) acquiring a new class of large helicopter carrying support ship that could provide better aid during major humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations (HADR).

"While the Landing Ships Tank have served us (well), we are seriously considering a larger Joint Multi-Mission Ship (JMMS) that would have greater capacity and greater range to respond."
"When we responded to Typhoon Haiyan...the typhoon was so devastating that communications were knocked out."
"There was no centralised ability for command and control of the airspace. In that context, a ship like the JMMS would have been very useful."

The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan
destroyed entire towns as this scene in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture
( 大船渡市, 岩手県 ) shows.
 Pretty nothing much is left standing after the double whammy
of earthquake and tidal wave. US Navy Photo.

So what exactly is a JMMS? To understand this ship, one has to go back to its precursor - the Endurance Class Landing Ship Tank.

The Endurance Class LST

RSS Persistence ( L-209 ) of the Republic of Singapore Navy. Photo : Wikipaedia

RSS Resolution ( LPDM 208 ) and USS Denver ( LPD 9 ) during
Ex Cobra Gold 2011. USN Photo

 

 

The ST Marine Endurance class Landing Ship Tank (LST) as the SAF calls it is actually not an LST! It should more accurately be described as an LPD - Landing Platform Dock in naval parlance. An LST is an amphibious transport ship that can beach itself and discharge its cargo of men and vehicles directly onto the beach head via a bow ramp. In contrast, an LPD has an internal well deck that can be flooded so that troops and vehicles can be transferred to the shore by landing crafts carried internally. It does not and cannot beach itself like an LST. Interestingly, ST Marine correctly labeled the Endurance Class as LPDs on their website. The following pictures shows how the well deck looks like and how crafts, vehicles and materials can be loaded and unloaded.

This is how a typical well deck looks like when dry. Japan Self Defense Force
vehicles line the well deck of the amphibious landing ship dock USS Tortuga ( LSD-46 )
16th Mar 2011 during relief operations in Northern Honshu. USN Photo

 

This is how it looks like from inside the well deck. A landing Craft Utility ( LCU )
enters the flooded well deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship
USS Essex ( LHD-2 ). USN Photo

 

 

This is how the flooded well deck looks like from outside the ship.
The amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall ( LSD-44 ) transits
during wet well operations as part of landing craft utility ( LCU ) training and maintenance,
11th Apr 2014, Gulf of Oman. USN Photo.

 

 

Hovercrafts do not require a flooded well deck for entering an amphibious ship.
Landing craft Air Cushion ( LCAC ) 71 prepares to enter the well deck of the
San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde ( LPD-19 )
23rd Mar 2014 in the Arabian Sea. USN Photo.
 

 

Here's another way of loading at sea without flooding.
Towed artillery being transferred from a landing craft utility ( LCU )
 into the lower vehicle area of the Austin-class amphibious transport dock ship
USS Denver ( LPD 9 ) in Okinawa, Japan 3rd Feb 2014. USN Photo.

 

The RSN used to operate 5 World War Two era ( think D-Day Normandy or Iwo Jima landings ) ex-US Navy County class LST since the 1970s. For more than 20 years they served as transports and training platforms especially for midshipmen ( naval officer cadets ). However, they had become harder and uneconomical to maintain with the passage of time and were eventually replaced by the indigenously designed and built Endurance class LPDs.

USS Holmes County ( LST 836 ), commissioned in 1944 and served
 in the Pacific Theatre during WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and
was loaned to Singapore in 1971 and finally sold to Singapore outright in 1975.
 She was renamed RSS Endurance ( L-201 ),
 the first ship to bear that name in the RSN. Photo : Navsource.org

 

The Endurance Class - Specs and Capabilities

The Endurance class ships have a displacement of about 7600 tons, a length of 141m, a breath of 21m and a draft of 5m. They are capable of making 17 knots and have a maximum range of 5500 nautical miles. The aft helicopter deck can operate 2 medium-lift helicopters like the AS-332M Super-Puma simultaneously or 1 heavy-lift helicopter like the Boeing CH-47D Chinook. The internal well dock can hold 4 LCM / LCVP type landing crafts. The compliment is officially stated as 120 crew and 15 aircrew and each ship can carry in excess of 300 troops. They are armed with a 76mm OTO MELARA super rapid main gun, two 25mm M242 Bushmaster autocannons and 4 CIS 12.7mm heavy machine guns. Air defense is provided by Mistral missiles fired from two Simbad twin launchers.

RSS Resolution underway. Note the 76mm Oto Melara main gun. RSN Photo

 

 

RSS Endeavour during the Royal Australian Navy's International Fleet Review 2013
in Sydney. Note the bow doors. Wikicommons

RSS Endeavour entering Sydney Harbour during the
Royal Australian Navy's International Fleet Review 2013. Wikicommons
 

 

ST Marine has so far build 5 ships of this class, the first four, RSS Endurance, RSS Resolution, RSS Persistence and RSS Endeavour were commissioned between the years 2000 and 2001 for the RSN. The last ship HTMS Angthong was commissioned in 2012 for the Royal Thai Navy for a sum of SGD 200 million.

Royal Thai Navy's LPD 791 HTMS Angthong during
Cobra Gold 2016. Wikicommons

These LPD have since been actively involved with anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and HADR missions in Aceh ( 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami ) and the Philippines ( Typhoon Haiyan ). They have proven themselves to be potent and capable platforms. Value-wise they also compare favourably with similar classed vessels from foreign navies like the LPD-17 San Antonio class which cost ten times as much to build ( to be fair these are 25000 ton vessels , 3 times bigger ) and yet still suffer from poor workmanship and many teething problems!





Anti-piracy duty : The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush ( CVN 77 )
is underway with Singapore Navy tank landing ship
RSS Endeavour ( L210 ) in the Gulf of Aden 15th Nov 2011. USN Photo

The Endurance Family

ST Marine's website touts 3 different configurations for the Endurance type support ship. The Endurance-120, the Endurance-140 and finally the Endurance-160 based on the length of the ship. So the RSS Endurance which measures 141m belongs to the Endurance-140 sub-type and as far as anyone is aware this is the only type that has been built by ST Marine. The 120 and 160 are simply options for export or future consideration.

The Endurance-class LPD brochure from ST Marine

The Endurance 120, 140 and 160. Image : ST Marine

 

Apart from the length, the main difference between the Endurance-120 and the Endurance-140 is the load capacity. So the 120 is a miniature version of the 140 that carries only one medium-lift helicopter and less landing crafts and less troops.

The Endurance-160 however, is a different kettle of fish. It is only 20m longer but is twice as big as the Endurance-140 in terms of tonnage - in the 14500 ton range. It has a through flight deck that can accommodate five helicopters and an island superstructure that immediately screams "Helicopter Carrier". The top speed is increased to 22 knots and its range listed as 7000 nautical miles. It has a well deck and carries landing crafts just like her smaller siblings. Since 2010, ST Marine has been showcasing scaled models of this ship at major defense exhibitions like the Singapore Airshow but there has been no foreign or domestic sales so far. The equivalent USN designation would be Landing Helicopter Dock ( LHD) and a good example would be USS Wasp ( LHD-1 ) class amphibious assault carriers, though these are 40000 ton monsters.

USS Bonhomme Richard ( LHD 6 ), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship transits
the East China Sea 22nd Apr 2014. Sailors and Marines onboard conducted
SAR operations at the Korean ferry disaster site near Jindo Island. USN Photo

 

 

 

The Multi-Role Assault Carrier

 

 

So what value can an amphibious assault carrier add to a small navy like the RSN? After all you cannot possibly be assaulting your neighbour's beach all the time, can you? Though I must say the temptation would certainly be there especially if your neighbour is intent on reclaiming land and creating new beach heads near your maritime boundary all the time. 

 

First, let's get the records straight. An amphibious assault ship is an offensive weapon system and is not used for defense. Its main role is that of force projection over the seas and across the surf zones to land an amphibious force onto a beach head as efficiently as possible. Depending on the aviation assets embarked ( AH-64D Apache gunship ), it may even provide fire support for the landing force.

It can be a platform for airborne mine countermeasures missions, again if there are helicopters like the MH-53E Sea Dragon embarked.

 

Last but not least, it can also potentially be a potent anti-submarine platform as long as the appropriate mix of ASW helicopters are carried.

 

At the same time, the very characteristics that enable an amphibious assault ship to provide good support to an amphibious landing on a hostile beach also makes it an ideal platform for a HADR mission. The large capacity for cargo means more relief supplies can be carried. Heavy vehicles and mechanized equipment can be embarked and disembarked with relative ease. A large warship also tends to have more advanced communications suite and can be used as a command and communications centre for the relief mission. Its medical and surgical facilities can provide treatment to those in need. Most importantly its fleet of medium and heavy-lift helicopters can provide sustained airlift capabilities when roads and airfields are completely destroyed in major disasters.

 

However, HADR missions, although they are becoming increasing common for the Singapore Armed Forces, can never be the main justification for acquiring a new capability as major as an assault carrier. You will be silly to spend several hundred million dollars on a ship just to play the Good Samaritan and be in the good books of your neighbours! So the real motive or rationale for having a helicopter carrier is still not immediately obvious to the public but perhaps one could speculate? Could this be a respond to the increasingly aggressive and belligerent behavior of China in the South China Sea?

 

 

The South China Cauldron

 

The South China Sea is a hugely volatile area with many Pacific Rim nations having claims on its numerous shoals and island groups. The Spratly Islands for example, is simultaneously claimed by China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei. Until not so long ago, regional powers have largely played by the rules and avoided serious armed confrontations. The rise of China as an economic and military power in recent years have changed the status quo. Having utterly modernized its airforce and navy and with the commissioning of a brand new aircraft carrier the Liaoning, China has upped the ante by unilaterally declaring an air defense identification zone ( ADIZ ) over the East China Sea and have been seen engaging in thuggish behavior like fire control radar locking on a Japanese ship, ramming a Vietnamese patrol boat, spraying water cannons on fishing vessels, blockading Pilipino resupply ships from relieving an island outpost, buzzing Japanese aircrafts and intrusions into Japanese airspace to test their scrambling response etc. Although Singapore does not have any territorial disputes with any country in the South China Sea ( not counting Pedra Branca as the dispute has been settled in the ICJ in Singapore's favour ), any escalation of tension in the region will still disrupt trade and communications, thus potentially threatening its independence and survival.  

 

How To Tame A Dragon

 

So what could be done about China who is blatantly disregarding international norms and law? What if China claims the entire South China Sea as its own and restrict passage? Even the combined forces of all ten ASEAN nations is probably no match for China. And please do not put too much hope with the new Japanese not so pacifist Constitution as it does not really change anything. The US is not too keen to get involved in anybody's business nowadays and would be more than happy to lead from behind. Obama took more than a year before reaffirming that the US would come to Japanese aid should her territories be violated. Further afield nothing was done when Crimea was taken from Ukraine except sanctions and more useless sanctions. All this means that you can't really depend on others to protect you when shit hits the ceiling ( and why should they? ). At the end of the day, it still pays to be self-sufficient, whether in defense, resources or other things.

 

Endurance-200?

 

How about a light aircraft carrier capable of carrying half a squadron of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters? That surely would be a game changer. Dr Ng was referring to an Endurance-160 type helicopter carrier in his pre-SAF Day speech and he did mention that SAF is still in the preliminary feasibility stages and the design has not been finalized. Now it would not need too much imagination to think that what if an Endurance-180 or better still an Endurance-200 type hull be acquired and you can have instead a light aircraft carrier like the Giuseppe Garibaldi shown below?
 

 

Italian light aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi with AV-8 Harrier
STOVL jets and helicopters on the flight deck. Wikipaedia

 

 

The short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) designated the F-35B needs 168m of real estate for take-off. Less if a ramp is available. So a 25000 ton Endurance-200 could well be constructed to be able to embark more than just five helicopters and a ramp could be included in the design for fixed-wing operations. A large hangar bay would have to be included in the design, together with bigger aircraft elevators and most importantly, a jet blast proofed flight deck. Nobody would want a repeat of what the brand new USS America is going through - 40 weeks of additional yard time for modifications to the flight deck because it could not withstand the heat from the F-35B, an aircraft it was originally designed to operate! Of course the F-35B is currently not quite yet ready for mass production but it would hopefully be ready when the Endurance-200 is commissioned.  

A F-35B Lightning II lands aboard the amphibious assault ship
USS Wasp ( LHD 1 ) during the second at-sea F-35
developmental test event, Atlantic Ocean, 14th Aug 2013. USN Photo.

 

F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft BF-3 with inert AIM-9X sidewinder missiles
over the Atlantic test range Sep 2012. The F-35B variant is designed
for the US Marine Corps as well international partners including the UK and Italy
and is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings to enable
air power projection from amphibious ships, ski-jump aircraft carriers
and expeditionary airfields. USN Photo

F-35B of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-23 during the
first ever ski jump launch of the JSF at NAS Patuxent River
19th Jun 2015. Wikicommons

The U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6)
conducts flight operations off the coast of Southern California (USA)
during the ship's recertification of the flight deck after
completing a 10-month Post Shakedown Availability (PSA). USN Photo.

 

HMS Invincible ( R-05 ) of the Royal Navy, now decommissioned,
with her Ski-jump ramp for STOVL fixed wing operations in 2005
during the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar celebrations. Wikipaedia

 

 

MV-22 Ospreys : Having a couple of these folding wing tilt-rotors
will be really NICE. The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer ( LHD 4 )
is underway during Ex Dawn Blitz 2013. USN Photo.

 

With her air bases easily within artillery range from her closest neighbors ( both Malaysia and Indonesia possess the Astros II multiple launch rocket system ), an added benefit of having a carrier for Singapore would be that of mitigating the effectiveness of a pre-emptive strike from taking out the entire air force.

 

CVBG - Carrier Battle Group

 

We are all aware that aircraft carriers are high value targets and they never operate alone. Therefore with the Endurance-200, more frigates, corvettes and submarines will be required to form its protection group. Oilers and supply ships will be needed too. Most of these assets the RSN already owns or is in the process of acquiring, like the Type 218SG hunter killer submarine with air-independent propulsion, scheduled for delivery in the year 2020.

 

When that happens, Singapore will be the first in the region to have an operational aircraft carrier battle group and the RSN will be transformed into a true Blue Water Navy, offering credible deterrence to any nation intent upon disrupting her sea lines of communications (SLOC). I suspect it would be named RSS Singapura or perhaps RSS Temasek, because, why would anyone want to name a capital vessel after some nondescript province or some peasant ward??!

* Not counting the Thai-tanic HTMS Chakri Naruebet which, in 1999, barely 2 years after commissioning, had only one serviceable Matador ( Harrier VTOL ) to play with, and none after 2006. 

 

 

 

Discount Frigates For Small People with Hare Brains : The KRI Usman-Harun Saga

KRI John Lie, sister ship of the KRI Usman-Harun, participating in a combined gunnery
exercise with the USN during CARAT Indonesia 2015. US Navy Photo

 

Brunei's KDB Nakhoda Ragam on the River Clyde on 14th Jul 2007.
It would ultimately be sold to Indonesia and renamed KRI John Lie. Wikicommons

A Cursed Class Of Warship?

Indonesia's recent purchase of 3 Yarrow F2000 class light frigates from Brunei and the subsequent decision to name the third of class the KRI Usman-Harun ( MMSI 525014076 ) triggered off an unfortunate and unnecessary diplomatic incident with neighbouring Singapore. The 3 frigates were constructed for Brunei but were rejected and never commissioned. They were sold to Indonesia after languishing at a British dock for several years. The 2 men whom the frigate was named after were navy marines who were ordered to infiltrate into Singapore to carry out bombings and sabotage against civilian targets during then President Sukarno's Confrontation with the newly formed Malaysia ( which Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak were also part of ). The duo carried out the bombing of the MacDonald House in Orchard Road which killed 3 civilians and injured 33 others on 10th Mar 1965. They were eventually apprehended and tried in court and sentenced to death by hanging. They were branded as terrorists in Singapore but were considered national heroes back home in Indonesia. Now that Indonesia has insisted it will not back down and rename the ship, Singapore has banned the ship from her territorial waters and from calling at her ports and naval bases. Singapore naval ships will also not sail with or participate in military exercises with this ship.

The Yarrow F2000 Frigate




Royal Malaysian Navy's light frigate KD Lekiu, a typical F2000 based warship
with the Bofors 57mm main gun, MM-40 Exocet SSM and
an aft helicopter deck. Source : Wikipedia

Some might classify this class of warship as a corvette, displacing about 2000 tons. They were designed by Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited of Glasgow, now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships. A rather popular choice for the navies of South East Asia I must say, Malaysia's KD Lekiu and KD Jebat launched in 1994 and 1995 respectively are based on the F2000 light frigate design. At around the same time in 1995, Brunei, an oil and gas rich tiny sultanate in northern Borneo also contracted YSL to build 3 large offshore patrol vessels (OPV) based on the F2000. They were to be known as the Nakhoda Ragam class OPV, named after a legendary Malay seafarer.

The Nakhoda Ragam Class OPV

These OPVs were a state of the art variant of the Yarrow F2000 frigate built to the Sultan of Brunei's specifications, highly automated to allow for a compliment of only 79 men to operated. Displacing 1940 tonnes, they were also specially tailored to cater for the shorter statue of Bruneian sailors ( relative to Europeans ). The first and second of class, the KDB Nakhoda Ragam and the KDB Bandahara Sakam, were launched in Jan and June 2001 while the last ship KDB Jarambak was launched in June the following year. When they were completed and ready for delivery in 2004, Brunei insisted that they were not built to specifications and rejected them, even refusing to pay. The matter was eventually brought to the International Court of Arbitration and the ruling was in favour of BAE Systems the shipbuilders. Ownership was ultimately transferred to Brunei in 2007 but the Royal Brunei Navy had absolutely no plans to commission them. Instead, they contracted the German shipbuilder Lurssen to build the replacement corvettes and to find a buyer for these orphaned ships. As they were custom made for tropical operations ( no heating system onboard ) and for smaller sized Asian sailors, the potential customer base would probably be limited to countries in South-East Asia and at best the Middle-East. Finally in Nov 2012, Indonesia acquired the 3 vessels from Brunei at  a bargain price of a fifth of the original cost ( reported to be 600 million pounds ). The ships would be reactivated and renamed the KRI Bung Tomo, KRI John Lie and KRI Usman Harun, in accordance with the Indonesian Navy's custom of naming their frigates after national heroes. They will be delivered to Indonesia in 2014.





The KDB Bandahara Sakam Photo : Clydesite.co.ok




The three Nakhoda Ragam class OPVs languishing at the port of
Burrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom in 2007 before they were sold to Indonesia.
The middle ship with pennant number 29, KDB Bandahara Sakam, would be
given a new pennant number 359 and renamed KRI Usman-Harun. Photo : Wikipaedia
 

 

 

Heroes and Terrorists

So who are these men Bung Tomo, John Lie and the two marines?

Sutomo or Bung Tomo ( Brother Tomo ) was an Indonesian military leader during the war of independence against the colonial powers. He played a central role in the Battle of Surabaya in Nov 1945 when the British forces attacked the city. Known for motivating the masses with his oratorical speeches before independence, he later became outspoken against corruption and abuses of power during the Suharto years. He died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Hajj Pilgrimage in 1981.

National Hero : Bung Tomo circa 1947. Wikipaedia

John Lie, a.k.a. John Lie Tjeng Tjoan and Jahja Daniel Dharma was a Chinese Indonesian who joined the militia during Indonesia's war for independence and was involved in smuggling goods to Singapore in exchange for money to finance the revolution and weapons to fight the Dutch colonists. After independence, he was called to service as a commander in the navy and retired as a rear admiral in 1966. He died in 1988 and was posthumously awarded the Bintang Mahaputera Utama by President Suharto in 1995. He was declared a national hero for his services and contributions to his country by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2009.

National Hero : Colonel John Lie circa 1960. Photo : Wikipaedia

In contrast, Second Sergeant Usman Bin Haji Mohammed Ali a.k.a. Usman Janatin and Lance Corporal Harun Thohir a.k.a. Harun Said Bin Muhammad Ali are Indonesian Marines sent to infiltrate Singapore in civilian attire at the height of the then president Sukarno's Confrontation ( or Konfrontasi in Bahasa Indonesia ) policy towards newly formed Malaysia in 1965. The bombing of MacDonald's House ( home to HSBC Bank, Australian Embassy and Japanese Consulate then ) killed 3 innocent civilians and wounded 33 more. They were captured at sea 4 days after the bombing when trying to flee Singapore. Charged with murder and sentenced to death, they were finally hanged in Oct 1968 despite a clemency plea from the new Indonesian strongman President Suharto. They were promptly declared national heroes and buried in the Heroes cemetery in Jakarta. Note that since war was not formally declared between Indonesia and Malaysia / Singapore, these captives cannot be considered as prisoner of war ( POW) and conferred POW rights under the Geneva Convention. Although they were soldiers by profession, and even if war had been declared, they infiltrated a sovereign country without their military uniforms and that at best made them spies. Spies are usually either executed when captured and proven guilty or used as bargaining chips for prisoner exchanges and the works. At the end of the day bombing civilian infrastructures and killing and maiming innocent civilians are just acts of terrorism and the 2 perpetrators are nothing more than f***ing TERRORISTS. Misguided as they were by the Sukarno Government, they had to face the Singapore judicial system and accept the consequences of their actions. As a direct result of their execution, the Singapore embassy in Jakarta was mobbed and bilateral relations soured. It was not until 1973 when the then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew visited their graves in Jakarta and sprinkled flowers over them that Singapore considered the chapter closed.

National Hero? Photo : Wikipaedia

Buying Cheap "New" Frigates

The Indonesians believed they had a good bargain, paying just US$300 million or about a fifth of the original cost of the 3 frigates. The politicians also dressed up the buy as new ships but we know better. These frigates are not exactly newly minted ships. They were constructed more than a decade ago and were left to rot at their berthing for many years. If fact they were originally out fitted with the Seawolf missile system for air defense but had to be retrofitted with the newer VL-MICA missiles as the missile manufacturer MBDA no longer sells the Seawolf missiles. All this will add to the original cost of the purchase.

Looking back, the tendency to shop for bargain goods seemed to be a national trait of Indonesia. In 1993, ex-president Habibie, then Science and Technology Minister, educated in Germany, bought the entire East German flotilla of floating junk - 15 year old corvettes, minesweepers, landing ships, gunboats, totaling 39 ships, at the "rock bottom" price of about $10 million to $12 million each without first consulting with the navy or finance ministry. It was subsequently found that to refurbish and retrofit those rusting kettles would cost Indonesia $1.1 billion, about a quarter of their annual defense budget. Despite this fiasco, Habibie went on to become Indonesia's vice president and then president, when Suharto was ousted during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997.

If only the politicians were less corrupt Indonesia could probably be able to have a bigger budget for ordering more modern warships with better equipment and in greater numbers, like the 6 Formidable class stealth frigates of the Republic of Singapore Navy, instead of a paltry 3 ex-OPVs built for people with small statue.

The Choice of Names for A Man-of-War

While naming your ship is nobody else's business, it would be glaringly obvious to anyone that you do not give a ship a name that could offend others, including your neighbour. Imagine how would China react if Japan suddenly decided to name her helicopter carrier the JDS Yasukuni or how Japan would feel if the USN decided to name one of her destroyers USS Hiroshima. I mean you simply do not choose provocative or inappropriate names for your ships as they carry your flag and are considered an extension of your country's sovereignty everywhere it goes. When docking in a foreign country, it is like a piece of your land floating into the port of call. It is like a foreign embassy in any country.

Unfortunately, the Indonesian politicians cannot understand simple diplomatic principles with their pea brains. Maybe they don't even have a brain! They have been asked repeatedly by their Singapore counterparts, the Minister for Defense and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, what point are they trying to prove by naming their frigate after 2 terrorists? Why try to revive painful memories after almost half a century when the case had long been considered closed and bilateral relationship have prospered? Why risk aggrieving your 4th largest trade partner and your immediate neighbour? The reaction from the Indonesian ministers are even more shocking. The Indonesian Foreign Minister thought it was not a big deal since " the ships have not even arrived "and claimed that the naming was not done with malice and chided Singapore for over reacting. Going along with his stupid logic, what then AFTER the ship has arrived?

Just to illustrate how silly Indonesian politicians are, in 2013 when severe haze and smog from man-made forest fires in Indonesia's Riau Province blanketed large parts of Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand, protests from Singapore was ridiculed, with the Indonesian minister saying that Singapore should be thankful for all the oxygen ( generated from Indonesia's vast rainforests ) and stop grumbling about haze and air pollution that they had to endure for a few months every year during the dry season. Sadly he was just not intelligent enough to understand that by allowing his peat lands and rainforests to go up in flames, he accelerates global warming and in turn rising sea levels will result in inundation of several thousands of Indonesia's islands. A 0.5m rise in sea level will submerge 4 to 5 thousand of Indonesia's roughly 17000 islands, according to a newspaper report last week.

The Big Brother Syndrome

With a population of 237 million people, Indonesia is the 4th most populous nation on Earth and the most populous muslim country. It is also the biggest in terms of land mass among the South East Asian nations, rich in natural resources like oil and gas, timber and minerals. As a result, it always aspires to be the Big Brother of the region. Unfortunately, inept leaders, graft, poor infrastructure and many other factors prevented it from asserting its rightful influence on its neighbours.

Regional Map of South East Asia showing the geographical location and relative sizes of Indonesia Malaysia and Singapore. From Google Maps. 

 

Suharto probably felt snubbed by tiny Singapore when his clemency plea to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment was rejected. It would have given him a boost in status as the new President should he be successful in saving Indonesian lives abroad. So as a face saving measure, the marines were bestowed national hero status. Why should Suharto or anybody care about the death of two lowly marines otherwise? They were not even under his orders when the crime was committed.

It was a hard decision to proceed with the execution but Singapore could not be seen acceding to the wishes of bigger and more powerful nations just because they demanded and let's not forget that every other country is bigger than Singapore in the region! * Naturally, there were talks among Indonesian ultra-nationalist about invading Singapore but they never materialized. Although Singapore gained independence in Aug 1965, 2 months before the execution of the marines, the British forces were still stationed in Singapore and did not withdraw until 1971. By then the newly formed Singapore Armed Forces had already taken over the task of protecting the nation. * Even President Clinton was not successful in his plea not to cane American Michael Fay for his theft and graffiti offenses in 1994, only a reduction of 2 strokes, from 6 to 4.

Though bilateral ties had improved following the symbolic flower sprinkling on the graves by PM Lee Kuan Yew in 1973 and the subsequent formation of ASEAN in 1977, Indonesia had never shaken itself from this Big Brother mentality. After Suharto, President B.J. Habibie famously coined the phrase "Little Red Dot" when referring to Singapore during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, in relation to how Singapore appeared on the world map. He did not think highly of Singapore, all of then 3 million people, pitted against his 211 million, not as a friend, apparently. However, a few months after that remark was made, when the crisis deepened and the Indonesian rupiah lost its value against the dollar by 15% overnight, it was tiny tiny Singapore that offered to provide 15 billion dollars of loan to Indonesia. This loan offer was never taken up in the end, perhaps Habibie was just too proud to eat his words and rather prefer to impose the tough reforms dictated by IMF.

As of today, the Indonesian lawmakers have refused to back down and rename the vessel. Although as the Indonesians always claimed, they have a right to name their ship whatever name they wished, they failed to take into account the feelings of their neighbours and how this could harm bilateral relationships. Some openly criticize Singapore for being arrogant because of her strong armed forces, but we all know that that is not true. Were it not for a strong Singapore Armed Forces, Big Brother Indonesia would have gobbled up Singapore loooooooong ago. Just look at Dutch New Guinea which was annexed by Jakarta in 1969 under dubious circumstances. It was subsequently called Irian Jaya but is now split into 2 separate provinces Papua and West Papua.

Final Word

Singapore should really thank her lucky stars to have such a pea-brained neighbour. Because if they were to be any smarter, with their vast natural resources and population, they would have dwarfed and snuffed Singapore of her existence. The fact that Singapore continues to enjoy phenomenal growth and stability has a lot to do with lazy, corrupt and stupid neighbours. Singapore should just forget about this silly cheap old ship and move on. There is not much point to dwell in the past. Apart from banning KRI Usman-Harun from entering her territorial waters, naval bases and ports, Singapore should concentrate on diversifying her trade and diplomatic relationship with other countries and gradually reduce any real or perceived dependency on Indonesia. It is difficult to do business with a partner who does not understand anything about synergism and mutual benefits.

Of Missing Jet Engines ...

The Royal Malaysian Air Force ( RMAF )

The Royal Malaysian Air Farce umm... I mean Force, is also known as the Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia ( TUDM ). Recently, it made headlines yet again, all for the wrong reasons.

The Missing Jet Engine Scandal

In May 2008, it was reported that sometime earlier, two General Electric J-85 jet engines that powered the F-5E fighters of the RMAF had been missing from a warehouse in Kuala Lumpur. It was later established that the engines were stolen and exported to Uruguay by the combined efforts of greedy defence contractors and crooked RMAF personnel. These engines were procured by the Malaysian government in 1975 from the United States of America at the cost of a few million dollars. The criminals planned to strip the engines down to parts in South America and then sell it back to the RMAF. Before we go into the details of the scandal here's some background information of the jets and the engines.

The F-5E Tiger II Jet Fighter

A USAF F-5E with an aggressor paint scheme Nov 1981. Photo : USAF / Wikipedia

 

Old, But Not Obsolete! Unlike the TUMD's fighter, some surviving global F-5 fleets have been carefully maintained and received progressive upgrading to add new capabilities, like the Brazilian Air Force's F-5EM illustrated here, circa 2011. Wikipedia 

Like many third world air farces of the region, RMAF operated a squadron of the very popular F-5E and even the RF-5 Tigereye reconnaissance version. The F-5E could have its origins traced back to the 1950s, where Northrop developed a low cost, lightweight jet fighter that was meant to be sold to third world allies of the United States. It would be called the F-5A Freedom Fighter, with the F-5B being the two seat trainer version. Production started in 1962 and the F-5A/B was sold to a number of countries including Taiwan, the Philippines, and even saw limited combat action with the USAF in Vietnam in 1965. By 1970, the requirement for an improved export fighter with better performance against aircrafts such as the MiG-21 saw the F-5A evolving into the F-5E Tiger II, with the F-5F being the 2 seat trainer version. They would be fitted with a more powerful afterburning engine, the General Electric J-85-21A jet engine. This is the engine at the heart of the RMAF scandal.

Cutaway view of a GE J85-17A turbojet engine circa 1970 similar to the one used in F-5s Source : Wikipedia

 

This rather compact jet engine measures about 2.8m in length and has a diameter of 0.53m. It weighs approxmately 310kg. How something like this can disappear from an airbase and remain undetected and unaccounted for really defies logic. RMAF must have been extremely challenged at inventory management and book keeping ( which the Air Force later admitted to in court ). As usual, official accounts of how the incident took place can never be taken at face value.

The Unfolding Saga

The jet engines and their service and maintenance records were discovered missing on 22nd May 2008 and a police report was lodged only on 4th Aug, a two and a half month delay! They were surposed to have been shipped to Argentina and then Uruguay.

The contractor and RMAF personnel implicated could easily have been fall guys to take the blame for the misdeeds of higher ranking personnels. So far two ethnic Indians have been charged in court in connection with the theft and disposal of the engines. They are company director K. Rajandran Prasad  and RMAF Staff Sergeant N. Tharmendran.

By Jul 2012, more details have emerged. As prosecution witness, RMAF senior airman Corporal Mohamad Shukri Mohd Yusof, 29, admitted in court that he stole the 2 jet engines from the Sungai Besi Airbase in 2008 with another RMAF personnel known as Sergeant Fauzi after being asked to do so by Staff Sergeant Tharmendran. Fauzi was the lorry driver.

On 30th Apr 2008 Shukri and Fauzi both wore uniforms to avoid arousing suspicion when they took the engines out of  the Material Processing Shed Matra 1, RMAF base, Sungai Besi. He was then paid Malasian Ringgit RM 90000.00 ( USD 28116.00 ) in 3 instalments by Tharmendran. RM30000.00 was given to Fauzi and the rest was kept by Shukri who subsequently spent it on repaying his study loan (RM12000) , settle his car loan (RM8000), for investment (RM10000), honeymoon in Tioman Island (RM5000) and an undisclosed sum on shopping. When asked by the defendent's lawyer why he did not return the money to the police during investigations, the reply was " they did not ask for it " !!! Land of the Incompetent!!!!

He also disclosed that after the incident, 30 RMAF personnel were sacked but he was not one of them because he was needed by the military as a witness to testify against Tharmendran, prompting the defendent's lawyer to cry foul - the person who stole was not only not charged or sacked but walk into the court to testify against two others who are facing charges!

Another shocking admission was that it was not the first time he stole from the military. He had done it " four or five " times previously, and had stolen transmitters and aircraft spare parts, among other things. To retain a serial stealer in one's ranks is something so stupid that it is almost incomprehensible. Again, like I always say these Malaysian sagas can never be taken at face value. Someone higher up may have something more to hide by retaining this errant airman.

The court also heard from another witness, the Ex-Head of the 12th Squadron engineering division at the Butterworth Air Base, Abdul Rahim, that the process of removing a damaged F-5 engine from the base involves many processes, starting from the time the pilot files a report in the Integrated Computer Management System (SPKB). It is the responsibility of RMAF personnel to remove the engine from the aircraft but the containerising is done by a private maintenance contractor Airod Sdn Bhd. Many more steps are involved before the container can be moved to the godown Matra Tiga at Butterworth Airbase where it will eventually be sent to Kuala Lumpur Air Base, again after several more processes. That said, to have all these processes and checks bypassed should be no small feat, unless perhaps there are higher authorities involved? The Prime Minister Najib Razak who was Minister for Defense when the theft occured, swore that there would be no cover up. Malaysian government, as usual, said that no higher ranking officials were involved. Already, an Air Force General has been cleared and the small fry are held responsible.


Director Rajandran Prasad  pleaded not guilty to the charge of intentionally disposing off the engines at 49 Jalan TS 6/6, Taman Industri Subang on April 30, 2008. He was charged under Section 414 of the Penal Code which is punishable with a jail term of up to seven years and a fine upon conviction. He also pleaded not guilty to five money laundering charges involving RM437319.50 ( USD136619.00 ).

Staff Sergeant Tharmendran pleaded not guilty to conspiring with airman Mohamad Shukri Mohamad Yusop to stealing two J85-21A model of F5 jet engines from the Material Processing Shed MATRA 1, Sungai Besi RMAF Base, on April 30, 2008. He was charged under Section 380 of the Penal Code which is punishable with imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine upon conviction. He also earlier pleaded not guilty to a money laundering charge, involving RM62000 ( USD19369 ).

 

 

More Damning Information from Julian Assange

To make matters worse, leaked diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks also revealed that the Malaysian government had been tardy in notifying the United States government about the missing J-85 jet engines as required by Arms Export Control Act. It wasn't until 6th Jan 2010 that the US government was officially informed about the theft and the excuse given was that the investigations were ongoing at that time and not yet finalised so the notification was delayed. Naturally Uncle Sam is not too happy about the entire affair.


How would the Malaysian government be able to convice the US to sell them advanced weaponry if they cannot even account for entire jet engines and abide by their obligations of disclosure in the event of mishap? AIM-120 advance medium ranged air-to-air missile for the F/A-18 Hornets? They might just conviniently end up in Irkutsk or Novosibirsk ... Or maybe Teheran.

Now we finally understand why RMAF is buying so many MiGs and Sukhois, for the Russians do not give a hoot how the planes are used or used against anybody or how you maintain your engines, or whether you have an impeccable human rights record, ill treat your dog, elope with your neighbour's wife etc. As long as the palm oil and cash keep flowing into their coffers, you can have the LATEST and the BADDEST toy in Putin's playroom, like the AA-12 ( NATO Code Name Udder Adder ).

The incredulous saga continues .... Please keep watching this space for more insane and mind bloggling stuff.