S'pore Navy unveils new firepower to fight terror at sea

Featured in joint exercise with US Navy, anti-missile missiles and quick-firing guns boost ability to tackle fast-boat threats

By David Boey

THE Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) will unveil new capabilities for destroying fast-moving boats at a joint exercise with the United States Navy.

These will include Barak anti-missile missiles and a remote-control weapon system called Typhoon, which mounts a quick-firing 25mm Bush-master gun.

The RSN said yesterday these capabilities boost its firepower against threats from small boats in 'unconventional war situations'. Such situations may involve fast boats steered by terrorists on suicide missions.

The live firings will take place during an 11-day maritime warfare exercise between the RSN and US Navy called Carat, which stands for Cooperation Afloat Readiness And Training. The exercise was launched yesterday at Changi Naval Base.

Another highlight of the manoeuvres is the use of a US Navy command, control and communications system aboard an RSN warship.

US Navy Rear-Admiral Kevin Quinn, Commander Logistics Group Western Pacific, said yesterday this ensures naval commanders can communicate securely, and view a common picture of the battle scenario.

'In a real world contingency, this capability would make a difference between success and failure,' said Rear-Adm Quinn.

Colonel James Soon, RSN Fleet Commander, said the navy's Barak anti-missile missile will be used for the first time against a simulated ship target.

The RSN's six missile corvettes, a missile-armed warship class, were each armed with 16 Barak anti-missile missiles in 1996. The ships also carry eight Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

The 2.2m-long Barak anti-missile missiles have a range of 10km and can travel at more than twice the speed of sound. They were designed to destroy enemy missiles and aircraft but were recently adapted for use against ships as well.

Of the Typhoon weapon system, Col Soon said: 'We are quite sure this weapon will provide greater effectiveness to our ships against small boat threats at sea.'

Now in its 10th year, the annual Carat exercise has grown in scope, complexity and scale. This year's manoeuvres will involve some 1,500 personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces, US Navy and US Coast Guard.

The war games will involve 12 warships, a submarine, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,254077,00.html?

Theres a large USN amphibious group in town, 4 ships including the USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Juneau (LPD 10), USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) as of June 1st

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/.www/status.html

on which ships are the typhoon guns mounted on?

Originally posted by sgFish:

on which ships are the typhoon guns mounted on?

At IMDEX 2003 I saw it on a PV, while RSS Endurance carried a couple during her stint in the Mid-East. The one on the PV was mounted in lieu of the rear Mistral/SINBAD launcher, while I believe that one the Endurance was also mounted in place of the Mistral/SINBAD.

I think mount on the Formiable class frigate will be the best!

Typhoon sounds like a CIWS. Cool..

Originally posted by Viper52:

At IMDEX 2003 I saw it on a PV, while RSS Endurance carried a couple during her stint in the Mid-East. The one on the PV was mounted in lieu of the rear Mistral/SINBAD launcher, while I believe that one the Endurance was also mounted in place of the Mistral/SINBAD.

only the Endurance? can the typhoon engage SSMs too?

out of point la..but can a mistral shoot down SSMs?

Originally posted by zenden9:

I think mount on the Formiable class frigate will be the best!

I would prefer something else....Mounting a Typhoon system with Bushmaster gun is not really the best option. I think a gun with a higher rate of fire would be more suitable. If I remember correctly, there is a thread on the suitability of the Bushmaster in the USN somewhere here.....

Originally posted by Viper52:

Theres a large USN amphibious group in town, 4 ships including the USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Juneau (LPD 10), USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) as of June 1st

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/.www/status.html

rumsfeld is visiting CNB

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aUsEiB38VQhA&refer=asia

NOTAMS

FOR REASONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY, THE AIRSPACE OVER SINGAPORE IS
DECLARED TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AIRSPACE. ALL FLT MUST COMPLY WITH
THE FLW RESTRICTIONS:
1) ALL PLN MUST BE SUBMITTED AT LEAST 1 HR PRIOR TO THE PLANNED
DEP TIMINGS.
2) ALL ARR TFC INTO SINGAPORE ARE REQUIRED TO REDUCE SPEED TO 250
KNOTS IAS OR SLOWER WI 30NM RADIUS OF VTK DVOR/DME. THIS SPEED
CONTROL RESTRICTION TEMPORARILY SUPERSEDES THOSE PUBLISHED IN
AIP SINGAPORE PAGE ENR 1.1-14 PARA 5.18.2.
3) ALL ARR INTO SINGAPORE CHANGI AP
-SHALL BE RESTRICTED TO RWY 02 ONLY UNLESS UNABLE TO ACCEPT
TAIL WIND COMPONENT. TFC REQUIRING TO LAND ON OR DEP FM RWY 20
CAN EXP DELAY OF AT LEAST 15 MIN.
-SHALL BE SEPARATED WITH AN IN-TRAIL SPACING OF AT LEAST 10NM.
-SHALL BE VECTORED TO ESTABLISH ON RWY 02 LLZ COURSE BY 10DME.
THEREAFTER, ACFT MUST NOT DEVIATE FM THE LLZ COURSE WITHOUT
ATC CLR.

Originally posted by Viper52:

At IMDEX 2003 I saw it on a PV, while RSS Endurance carried a couple during her stint in the Mid-East. The one on the PV was mounted in lieu of the rear Mistral/SINBAD launcher, while I believe that one the Endurance was also mounted in place of the Mistral/SINBAD.

If the Typhoons are set at the Mistral/SINBAD launcher, that means they are rather high up in the superstructure.........good idea?

Hope the slew rate is fast enough but the drives will wear and tear faster too.

Anything on the Barak on board the Endurance?

Hear they are going back 'there' again later this year.

But you get better line of sight too........

Either that or the Endurance don't roll.......

how is the Barak guided? Is it a "beam-rider" like the Sea Sparrow, Sea wolf etc etc....

If it is, then is is a matter of just tweaking the Fire control system to 'track' the boats instead of an on-coming missle.

The proximity fuse on the missile should be able to distinguish between the sea and the missile/boat already and should have been pre program. Tracking a motorboat would be must more easy compared to tracking a AS missile.

So converting Sea Sparrow and Sea wolf to have a "close-in" Anti-boat role should not be too difficult right since they all work on the same concept.

Surprise the USN didn't try to convert the Sea Sparrow. It would make their CVNs safer when they have a 3x8 missile battery protecting them against sucide boats.

Originally posted by warspite:

I would prefer something else....Mounting a Typhoon system with Bushmaster gun is not really the best option. I think a gun with a higher rate of fire would be more suitable. If I remember correctly, there is a thread on the suitability of the Bushmaster in the USN somewhere here.....

Is not optimized for naval role - barrels will rust easily under high salinity

Next up in plan should be to go for Mk44 which USMC/USN are pushing for their 30/40 concepts for onboard weapons and on the up and coming tripleAV - is marinized for the purpose so more suitable

Originally posted by panzerjager:

Is not optimized for naval role - barrels will rust easily under high salinity

Next up in plan should be to go for Mk44 which USMC/USN are pushing for their 30/40 concepts for onboard weapons and on the up and coming tripleAV - is marinized for the purpose so more suitable

how do u know it wasnt modified by our SAF?

Originally posted by |-|05|:

how do u know it wasnt modified by our SAF?

This will require defence industry involvement - meaning at
a more commercial level, even though is with local content or not.

STM does not have local base of support for medium cal weapons,
so the logical partner would be STK. However, officially STK supports up to 25 mm level under agreement with Boeing that supplied Bushmasters to local land based military

Un-officially, though, is another matter. Will be revealed in due time. Hint : recall exhibit by STK during IMDEX 03/04

Typhoon is no where within the same class of weapon. Only pending market demand for what was shown, then Typhoon will be obsolete

Originally posted by spencer99:

how is the Barak guided? Is it a "beam-rider" like the Sea Sparrow, Sea wolf etc etc....

If it is, then is is a matter of just tweaking the Fire control system to 'track' the boats instead of an on-coming missle.

The proximity fuse on the missile should be able to distinguish between the sea and the missile/boat already and should have been pre program. Tracking a motorboat would be must more easy compared to tracking a AS missile.

So converting Sea Sparrow and Sea wolf to have a "close-in" Anti-boat role should not be too difficult right since they all work on the same concept.

Surprise the USN didn't try to convert the Sea Sparrow. It would make their CVNs safer when they have a 3x8 missile battery protecting them against sucide boats.

One drawback of using such missiles against small boats is that they are not designed for such a role, even though their guidance systems could be modified so.

The high acceleration of the incoming missile on a small boat would mean that the missile will punch right through a thin-skinned vessel, probably by the angle of attack might even pass through the boat's keel and go sub-surface

Next, the designed fixed stand-off for the arming/priming of the missile's (usually proximity) fuse renders that in the event engagement has to be made with a slow speed target, the warhead could detonate prematurely for a prescribed engagement sequence (since the missile electronics does not differentiate between incoming high speed missiles or slow speed boats - they are just targets, and such missiles are optimized against high speed)

Even though the intended targets being bomb-laden speedboats may be slower than incoming missiles, they still can take evasive action upon observing anti-missile being launched. The high speed, fixed output rocket motors of the anti-missile, coupled with sensitive guidance control actuators, would over-react to such miniscule course changes in the target (when it is not an oncoming missile). The over-reaction results in oversteering/over-shooting the control envelope of the missile track, and cause the missile itself to just veer off-course and eventually miss the target

CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Singapore (NNS) -- The 10th edition of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise series got under way following a June 1 ceremony here that reflected on the past and highlighted the future.

CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually throughout Southeast Asia that began in 1995, by combining a number of existing exercises to be conducted sequentially by a single U.S. Navy task group.

“An entire generation of Republic of Singapore Navy senior leadership, officers and sailors have grown up on a healthy diet of CARAT exercises,” said Col. James Soon, the Republic of Singapore Navy’s (RSN) fleet commander. Soon addressed a crowd of more than 100 U.S. and RSN sailors and officers in the base’s fleet command building auditorium during the opening ceremony.

“Friendship ties now are investments for future generations of leaders and an important fabric of military and even international diplomacy,” said Soon.

During CARAT Singapore, more than 1,500 personnel from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and the Singapore Armed Forces, along with 12 ships and a variety of aircraft, will take part in an assortment of exercise events ranging from at-sea gun and missile shoots to in-port force protection drills.

“The Singapore phase of CARAT was the very first in the history of the exercise series, and I think it is fitting that in this year, the 10th, the Singapore phase is again the initial phase for our CARAT task group,” said Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of Task Force 712 and the U.S. Navy’s executive agent for CARAT. “Technology and our mutual commitment to developing our navy-to-navy relationship have brought us very, very far.”

This year’s exercise includes a number of firsts that Quinn said, “…when viewed in the aggregate, paint a telling picture of just how much CARAT Singapore has matured.”

“Planning staff from both navies will share operational and tactical information in a seamless manner for the first time,” Soon said. “I know that this effort will act as the springboard for further integration of information between the United States Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy. It is a necessary ingredient for close collaboration especially in the current maritime security environment.”

The first time deployment of the mobile command, control, communications, computer and intelligence (C4I) system PAC3T in an RSN ship will allow this information exchange and sharing of a “common operational picture,” when a combined USN/RSN command staff leads the underway portion of the exercise from RSS Resolution - also a CARAT first. Additionally, the installation and use of the Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange (CENTRIX) system in Resolution will provide USN and RSN ships email and "chat" communications capabilities. This will be the first use of CENTRIX during CARAT.

“These two systems will increase the headquarters staff’s situational awareness and our mutual interoperability,” Quinn said. “In a real world contingency, this capability could make a difference between success and failure. And in 1995, this capability would have been only a dream.”

Capt. Buzz Little, commander, Destroyer Squadron 1 and the CARAT Task Group, along with his staff, will embark Resolution and work side-by-side with his RSN counterpart, Col. Ng Chee Peng, commander of the RSN’s 1st Flotilla and its CARAT task group during the exercise. “This is a ground breaking development,” Quinn said.

Leaders recognized other new initiatives, including the inclusion of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Russell (DDG 59) and USS McCampbell (DDG 85).

“The DDGs are a CARAT first, and their participation symbolizes the U.S. Navy’s commitment to this exercise, Singapore and this region of the world,” Quinn added.

Besides Singapore, CARAT participants this year include Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

While each country phase differs based on the desires of CARAT partners, the general focus is on interoperability of sea services in areas such as operational planning, command and control, tactics, logistics support and maritime law. A variety of seminars in areas ranging from damage control to public affairs are also scheduled, as are community service projects and social events that provide exercise participants a chance to develop personal relationships so critical to combined operations.

“You will find that these personal relationships you develop will be the great facilitator when we operate as a team. So I encourage each of you to make the most of these opportunities to get to know one another. You will find that we are all far more similar than different,” Quinn said.

The U.S. CARAT Task Group, under the leadership of Little, is made up of U.S. Coast Guard high endurance cutter Mellon (WHEC 717), dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), guided-missile destroyers USS Russell (DDG 59) and USS McCampbell (DDG 85), and rescue and salvage ship USS Salvor (ARS 52). Other elements, including P-3C Orion and SH-60 Seahawk aircraft, are also taking part in the Singapore phase of CARAT.

Little's staff is based in San Diego, as is McCampbell. The cutter Mellon is homeported in Seattle. Russell and Salvor are homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Fort McHenry is part of the U.S. 7th Fleet's forward deployed naval force operating from Sasebo, Japan.

For more information on CARAT, visit www.clwp.navy.mil/carat2004.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (C) poses for a photo with a group of Marines onboard USS Essex, during a troop visit at Changi Naval Base in Singapore, June 4, 2004. Rumsfeld said on Friday he regretted the surprise resignation of CIA director George Tenet, calling him "an enormously talented public servant". Tenet, who presided over intelligence lapses involving the September 11, 2001, attacks and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, will leave in July, the Bush administration announced on Thursday. REUTERS/Gerald Hebert/Pool

SINGAPORE (NNS) -- The Republic of Singapore Navy’s (RSN) RSS Resolution (LST 208 ) was home to a first-time combined RSN-U.S. Navy (USN) command staff during the at-sea phase of exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) in the South China Sea June 6-9.

In the ultimate test of interoperability, Capt. Buzz Little, commander of Destroyer Squadron 1 and the U.S. CARAT Task Group, along with members of his staff and enlisted telecommunications specialists, embarked Resolution for three days to work side-by-side with his RSN counterpart, Col. Ng Chee Peng, commander of the RSN’s 1st Flotilla and its CARAT task group during the exercise.

“I was honored to have the opportunity to work together with Col. Ng Chee Peng aboard the RSS Resolution," said Little. "Our staffs demonstrated the highest level of professionalism and mutual respect for one another. The combined command was a success on many levels and has laid the groundwork for future exercise opportunities during CARAT Singapore."

To communicate with other ships in the CARAT Task Group, the combined staff had at their fingertips two real-time computer systems, the Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange system (CENTRIX), and the Portable Allied Command, Control, Communications Terminal (PAC3T). The systems were installed in Resolution prior to getting under way, and were intended to give USN and RSN ships secure communications capabilities while sharing a common operational picture of ship locations. This was the first time CENTRIX was used during CARAT and the first time the PAC3T system was installed in a CARAT ship.

“When CENTRIX was up and operating, it was fantastic because it was our lifeline to the USN ships,” said Lt. Kevin Borden, Destroyer Squadron 1’s combat systems officer, who was embarked in Resolution.

CENTRIX allowed the U.S. ships to electronically chat with the combined staff aboard Resolution, a method of communication that is common these days in the U.S. Navy. In this first use of CENTRIX during CARAT, the system shared an existing Resolution antenna that was also used for other shipboard business.

“If we would’ve had our own antenna, we would’ve had constant contact,” Borden said, when discussing the technical success of the initiative, along with the first time challenges.

“It’s rare to do cryptological training with another nation’s Navy. We have very similar capabilities, but our systems are generally not compatible,” said Information Systems Technician (IT) 1st Class Timothy Hess, a local area network administrator from USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43). Hess, along with ITs from Logistics Group Western Pacific in Singapore, embarked with the U.S. staff to set up and operate the CENTRIX and PAC3T systems. PAC3T includes a monitor display with maps that allows for the visual tracking of assets, such as ships.

When issues arose with CENTRIX or PAC3T, the ITs, along with their RSN counterparts were able to find solutions together.

“We were able to troubleshoot issues as a team. It was an excellent training opportunity to let them get on CENTRIX so they could see the advantages of having real-time chat with other navies for tracking and plotting,” Hess added.

During the under way phase of the exercise, the combined task group took part in a variety of operational events, including a missile exercise against a surface target by the RSN, and a combined gun and missile shoot against an air target, simulated by a BQM-74E drone launched from USS McCampbell (DDG 85). Other at-sea events included air defense, close air support, surface action group and tactical free play exercises.

While cutting-edge technologies and operations were the focal point for U.S. and Singaporean combined operations, it was the personal interactions, teamwork and exposure to operational and cultural differences that left the greatest impression on U.S. Sailors.

“A lot of the concepts onboard the Resolution were really radical, at least from our perspective," Hess said. “For instance, when you went to the mess decks, you served yourself. When you were finished, you washed your own plates and put them back in the cabinet you pulled them from. That meant not a lot of wasted food, and they didn’t have to have food service attendants because they policed themselves.”

With only 65 officers and crew aboard the largest class of ship in the Republic of Singapore Navy, the camaraderie and pride was evident in the crew's attitudes.

“There was a lot of camaraderie between the crew and the commanding officer. It seemed as if the commanding officer only had to breathe an idea and the crew was on it,” said Operations Specialist 1st Class Andrew Craft.

Craft embarked Resolution from Fort McHenry and added that it seemed the U.S. contingent built camaraderie with their counterparts. “They were really eager to help us out and work alongside,” he said.

The Singaporean navy counterparts agreed that the joint command exercise was a success on a personal and professional level.

“This has been an incredible exercise and experience,” said Col. Sim Tiong Kian. “There was very close cooperation between the ships of both navies in the planning phase ashore and execution at sea, as well as amongst members of the joint afloat Exercise Planning and Control Team in managing the battle rhythm. Through extensive interaction between exercise participants at the professional and social level of interoperability and mutual understanding was achieved, which puts both navies in good stead for further collaboration in future exercises and operations.”

The CARAT Task Group, under the leadership of Little, is made up of the U.S. Coast Guard high endurance cutter Mellon (WHEC 717), the dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), the guided-missile destroyers USS Russell (DDG 59) and USS McCampbell (DDG 85), and the rescue and salvage ship USS Salvor (ARS 52).

Originally posted by Viper52:

At IMDEX 2003 I saw it on a PV, while RSS Endurance carried a couple during her stint in the Mid-East. The one on the PV was mounted in lieu of the rear Mistral/SINBAD launcher, while I believe that one the Endurance was also mounted in place of the Mistral/SINBAD.

The Typhoon is onboard RSS Resilience.
The Typhoon is mounted instead of the SAM as the Typhoon can serves as Y-Gun where all other angles are covered with the A-Gun in front and the 2 CIS .50 MG on both port and starboard sides.

For the LST, I'm not sure... But there's hell lotsa place to mount the Typhoon instead and no need to remove the SIMBAD launcher...