Fridtjof Nansen class frigate
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Fridtjof Nansen class of frigates, for the Royal Norwegian Navy, are a derivative of the Spanish Alvaro de Bazán class of AEGIS-equipped air defense frigates. Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy are conducting final systems integration. They will enter service between 2005 and 2010. Total project cost is $3 billion.
The lead ship (and thus, the entire class) is named after Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer and humanitarian.
The new frigates will prove a great improvement over their predecessors, the Oslo class frigates, both in size, personnel, capabilities and equipment. Compared to the old Oslo-class vessels, the new ships will be 35 meters longer, nine meters taller and two meters deeper below water. They will also be five meters broader and have three times the water displacement of the old ships. This will go a great way to solving one of the problems with the Oslo-class: lack of space and much discomfort for the crew.
The Fridtjof Nansen-class will be doing extensive service with NATO's permanent Atlantic forces as of 2008, and one of the frigates will be permanently sailing as part of the command as of that year. Until then Norway will, as in the past, continue to contribute to this force, but is unable to retain a permanent presence.
Specifications
- Sensors: SPY-1F air search radar, MRS2000 hull-mounted sonar, CAPTAS Mark 2 towed sonar array, 2 × Mark 82 fire-control radar, CS-3701 electronic warfare suite
- Armament: VLS ESSM, NSM SSMs, 12.75" torpedo tubes for Stingray torpedoes, 76mm OTO Melara gun, 12.7mm machine gun
- Crew: 146 (50 officers, 32 enlisted, 10 apprentices, 28 conscripts and 26 as spare)
- Displacement: 5,121 tonnes
- Length (overall): 133.25 m
- Beam: 16.80 m
- Max height above water: 32.25 m
- Design Draft Baseline: 4.90 m
- Propulsion: Two BAZAN BRAVO 12V 4.5 MW diesel engines for cruising, one GE LM2500 21.5 MW gas turbine for high speed running, two shafts
- Bow Thruster Retractable (Electric)1 MW Brunvoll
- Diesel Generators 4 × MTU 396 Serie 12V 1250 KVA
- Speed: 26+ knots (max), 18 (cruising)
- Range: 4500 nm
- Aviation compliment: Helicopter deck and hangar for one NH90
- Weapon System Integrator: Lockheed Martin
- Combat Management System: AEGIS CMS from LM with ASW and ASuW segments from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
- Yard: IZAR, Ferrol, Spain
List of ships
- Fridtjof Nansen (F310). Ordered 23 June 2000. Laid down 9 April 2003 at Navantia, Ferrol, Spain. Launched June 3, 2004. Commissioning scheduled for late 2005.
- Roald Amundsen (F311). Named after Roald Amundsen. |Ordered 23 June 2000. Laid down 3 June 2004 at Navantia, Ferrol, Spain. Launched 25 May 2005. Commissioning scheduled for 2006.
- Otto Sverdrup (F312). Named after Otto Sverdrup. Expected commissioning 2007.
- Helge Ingstad (F313). Named after Helge Ingstad. Expected commissioning 2008.
- Thor Heyerdahl (F314). Named after Thor Heyerdahl. Expected commissioning 2009.
External links
- Andrew Toppan's Haze Gray and Underway page for the Norwegian Navy (http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/europe/norway.htm#surf)no:Fridtjof Nansen-klassen
