Post by futurenz on Jun 15, 2015 22:29:28 GMT 12
Most of the bigger frigates I could find are around 5400-6000 tonnes. These are quite serious vessels with 48 to 64 missile silos, so NZ MoD should be taking a hard look at which of the features of the different ones would add value to what the Navy does. For example, being able to launch "CB90"-style fast assault craft, anti-ship missiles, longer range air defence missiles, or interchangeable mission payloads are all available on some of the designs. I think the FREMM and Type 125 seem to be less versatile ships and designed for the ESSM and Harpoon missiles so perhaps the big radar masts are overkill for our requirements.
I saw somewhere that NZ has rejected the Type-26 as a potential replacement due to not meeting our requirements. I am assuming the main problem was cost, which raises the question of whether BAE refused to licence a foreign ship builder (in South Korea for example) to build them. Apparently they were ready to licence a shipyard in India. Or did MoD just want a Phased Array radar? We certainly dont want to risk of getting stuff built in Oz or UK for crazy prices in the hope that they will eventually be built sometime this century...
I do think that in a high intensity conflict, it would be asking for trouble to deploy a single frigate on its own. To be able to deploy 2 frigates (possibly with different capabilities/mission modules)and escort logistics ships etc we would need minimum 4 frigates. I cant see NZDF being taken seriously unless we can deliver the goods. We had a few years of very low defence spending, so even if the current 1.6% of GDP was judged to be enough we are still playing catch up from those years when NZDF was being run into the ground. We should really be aiming for a gradual increase in defence budget to 1.8% of GDP, meaning that we could afford to maintain and crew a higher level of capability and not just frigates.
A real amphibious "landing ship dock" and more than just 2 or 3 littoral support ship (again with interchangeable mission modules) would make sense if there was enough voter support, although I guess thats wishful thinking.
I saw somewhere that NZ has rejected the Type-26 as a potential replacement due to not meeting our requirements. I am assuming the main problem was cost, which raises the question of whether BAE refused to licence a foreign ship builder (in South Korea for example) to build them. Apparently they were ready to licence a shipyard in India. Or did MoD just want a Phased Array radar? We certainly dont want to risk of getting stuff built in Oz or UK for crazy prices in the hope that they will eventually be built sometime this century...
I do think that in a high intensity conflict, it would be asking for trouble to deploy a single frigate on its own. To be able to deploy 2 frigates (possibly with different capabilities/mission modules)and escort logistics ships etc we would need minimum 4 frigates. I cant see NZDF being taken seriously unless we can deliver the goods. We had a few years of very low defence spending, so even if the current 1.6% of GDP was judged to be enough we are still playing catch up from those years when NZDF was being run into the ground. We should really be aiming for a gradual increase in defence budget to 1.8% of GDP, meaning that we could afford to maintain and crew a higher level of capability and not just frigates.
A real amphibious "landing ship dock" and more than just 2 or 3 littoral support ship (again with interchangeable mission modules) would make sense if there was enough voter support, although I guess thats wishful thinking.