수상전투함 건조를 시작한 캐나다의 리버급 구축함

[위종민]

6월 28일 캐나다 해군이 발주한 리버급 구축함 건조가 시작됐습니다. 일단 확정주문된 3척의 함명은 HMCS 프레이저, HMCS 생로랑, HMCS 메켄지 로로 명명될 예정이고, 2030년대에야 1번함이 취역될 예정입니다. 이미 퇴역한 이로쿼이즈급 구축함과 핼리팩스급 호위함 12척을 대체해 15척을 조달 예정인데, 프로그램상 예정된 15척이 모두 취역한다면 마지막 함정은 2050년대에야 취역할 수도 있다고 하네요. 

영국의 26형 호위함을 기본 설계로 채택했지만 CAMM / 시 셉터를 삭제하고 RIM-116 RAM을 장착하고, 레이더를 포함한 전투 시스템은 SPY-7을 중심으로 한 이지스 전투 시스템을 선택했습니다.SPY-7을 채택해 NORAD의 통합방공망 시스템에 통합될 수 있고, CEC 능력을 갖춰 캐나다 해군이 염원했지만 갖추지 못했던 미해군과의 통합작전 능력을 확보할 수 있게 됐다고 하네요. 

대공미사일 역시 SM-2 블록IIIC를 선택했고, 현재 핼리팩스급에서 운용중인 ESSM도 장착 가능하네요. 대함미사일은 NSM을 채택했습니다. 견인소나는 캐나다의 울트라 일렉트로닉스제, 함수소나는 26형과 동일한 S2150이고, 주포는 Mk.45 Mod4 대신 오토 멜라라제 불카노 127mm를 채택했고, 팰렁스 CIWS를 삭제하고 레오나르도의 라이온피스 30/X 30mm 기관포 2문을 장착합니다. 

https://www.navylookout.com/a-guide-to-the-future-canadian-surface-combatant-the-river-class-destroyers/

JULY 5, 2024

TECHNICAL BRIEFINGA guide to the future Canadian Surface Combatant – the River-class destroyers

On 28th June, the Canadian Navy formally announced the start of construction work on its River-class destroyers. Here we look at how this design has been developed from the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigate.

The programme

The Type 26 was selected as the baseline design for the Canadian Surface Ship (CSC) project back in 2018. The programme is intended to deliver up to 15 ships to replace the 4 already-retired Iroquois-class destroyers and the 12 Halifax-class frigates. Now nearly six years after Type 26 was chosen, first steel has been cut for a Production Test Module (PMT) at the Irving Shipbuilding yard in Halifax. Following the same pathway used by BAE Systems Maritime Australia for the Hunter class, the PMT allows the shipyard to develop its manufacturing processes ahead of cutting steel for the first ship next year.

The CSC will be known as the River-class and classified as guided missile, helicopter-capable destroyers (formal NATO classification DDGH). The RN ASW-focussed Type 26 a classified as frigates (FF), while despite major modifications to provide additional area air defence capability, the Hunters are also classed as frigates. At around 8,000 tonnes full load, these ships are closer to light cruiser-sized warships of the past. The first batch of 3 Candian destroyers will be named HMCS Fraser, HMCS Saint-Laurent and HMCS Mackenzie. The land-based test facility, HMCS Assiniboine, will also be named after a river.

The RCN will not commit to a specific year that HMCS Fraser will enter service, other than “sometime in the 2030s”. If all 15 ships are built, the last one will not be commissioned until the 2050s. Officially the CSC project is budgeted at CAD $56-60 billion but an assessment by the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates the cost to be CAD $84 billion. Canada’s defence budget is just 1.25% of GDP and is widely accepted as being completely inadequate to support the large number of recapitalisation projects that are needed across its forces.

Canada and Australia have made major changes to the Type 26 baseline design. In broad terms both navies selected the best high-end ASW frigate available as the right solution to their primary requirement. As well as selecting mostly different weapons and combat systems, they both decided to add much greater air defence capability into the platform. The multiple modifications may eventually deliver very fine combatants but inevitably have driven up costs and caused delays. In both nations, armchair critics have tried to blame the rising price tag on the selection of Type 26 and suggested that choosing one of the (smaller) alternatives could have produced a different result.

Design development

In the 5 years or so since the Type 26 was selected for the CSC, there has been considerable work done to refine the design beyond the placeholder design illustrations issued by BAE Systems at the time. Externally the most noticeable differences are the selection of a new medium calibre gun, a different radar mounted on a taller and much-developed main mast together with the repositioning of the Naval Strike Missile launchers. The secondary communication masts have been removed entirely and with their clean look and new gun turret, the River class are arguably the most aesthetically pleasing of the 3 variants.

Most significantly of all, the UK-designed CAMM / Sea Ceptor missile system has been deleted in favour of the more basic RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM). Sea Ceptor is a soft-launched missile that would have been housed in Mk 41 cells in separate silos, on the focsle and one behind the funnel. The Lockheed Martin 3-Cell Extensible Launching System (EXLS) would allow the quad-packing of CAMM in each of the 6 cells, giving a total of 48.

This downgrade is probably a cost-saving measure and the silo for 6 Mk 41 cells remains behind the funnel in the recent images issued by the RCN. ESSM has similar capabilities to CAMM making it hard to justify fitting both and it is simpler to go with a weapon family already in Canadian service. RAM is a good point defence weapon and fills the gap between the 30mm guns and ESSM.

(Top) BAE Systems rendering from 2018. (Bottom) the much-refined design – RCN rendering, June 2024.British platform, US combat system

The River-class share the British-designed hull form and propulsion of the Type 26 but almost entirely different weapons, sensors and combat system have been selected by the Canadians. At its heart, fighting capability is based on the US AEGIS Combat Management System. In 2021 the US approved a Foreign Military Sale to Canada of 4 AEGIS System shipsets, 4 x AN/SPY-7 radars, along with 4 shipsets of Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) hardware; and 3 Mk 41 VLS shipsets. These will equip the first 3 destroyers and the land-based test facility. There is no mention in official announcements of LM Canada’s CMS 330, previously slated to equip the CSC, presumably superseded by a purely AEGIS solution.

The SPY-7 is a cutting-edge radar design intended to support future Ballistic Missile Defence capability and is also being purchased by Japan and Spain. This is a sensible future-proof choice for the RCN. The fixed arrays are much lighter than the Australian CEFAR radar which has caused top weight issues with the Hunter, necessitating a 60cm increase in beam and reportedly up to 10% growth in lightship displacement. The selection of SPY-7 will allow the ships to integrate with the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) which coordinates continent-wide air surveillance. CEC will also provide seamless integration with USN operations – an important force multiplier that the RN has aspired to in the past but has been unable to fund.

The main missile armament will consist of the well-proven medium-range air defence missile – the Raytheon SM-2 Block IIIC (Canada is buying 100 missiles initially). The Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) Block II missiles are being acquired for the Halifax class frigates and will transition to the River class. The ships will also receive the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile which is rapidly becoming the standard light land attack and anti-ship weapon for many Western navies.

• Quarter
• Port
• Starboard
• Midships Silo
• Focsle silo
• 2018

• 

The Rivers will have a new towed array sonar developed by Ultra Electronics in Canada as well as the same S2150 bow-mounted sonar carried by the Type 26. Unlike the RN, the Canadians have selected to fit a Magazine Torpedo Launch System consisting of a twin launcher on each side of the ship, made by the Canadian subsidiary of British company, SEA. Often overlooked is the large the Flexible Mission Space amidships which can be outfitted with all kinds of off-board systems and add significant extra capability to the ship. The FMS is serviced by the overhead Mission Bay Handling System made by Rolls Royce Canada.

The RCN has selected the modern Leonardo 127mm Oto Melara Vulcano gun which is lighter that the Mk 45 Mod 4 carried by the Type 26 and Hunter, as well as having a good range of proven advanced ammunition types available. There is no Phalanx CIWS, but the two Leonardo Lionfish 30/X 30mm stabilised rapid-fire guns are arguably a better option with increased range and hitting power.

Commonality

There is some scepticism that the RCN will receive the planned total of 15 River-class ships that will still be in production in the 2050s. Either way, three navies have now bought into the Type 26 programme and it will likely become the most numerous major combatant type outside of China and the US. The Australian Hunter class has been reduced to 6 ships in favour of buying second-tier frigates ‘off the shelf’ to get cheaper warships to sea more rapidly. This reduction in RAN numbers could be offset as there is a realistic hope that the Norwegian Navy will order 5 largely unmodified Type 26s to be built in the UK.

Despite the very different combat systems, the participating navies will all benefit from a common platform. Pooling operating experience, spares and logistic support should also help reduce through-life costs through economies of scale. The estimated income to the UK economy is in the region of £200M for each Hunter or River class ship built overseas. Besides the design license and BAE Systems involvement, the wider UK supply chain is manufacturing engines, gearboxes, HVAC equipment and many other components common to the platform.

Running behind the UK Type 26 and Australian Hunter projects, the Rivers will benefit from some of the experience gained during their construction. This is especially true for the initial phases as the hull and propulsion systems are the areas with the least modifications between the 3 variants. If there are concerns about the River class programme they stem from the relative weakness of the Canadian warship building industry and the ship’s price tag within a very constrained defence budget.

Overall the River class appears to be a well-balanced design, offering best-in-class ASW performance while adding substantial area air defence capabilities. The platform’s large size and mission bay also allow plenty of scope for future modernisation and embarkation of modular payloads.