DEFENSE NEWS

ABU DHABI — The French Navy is ready to share with gulf countries their submarine “know-how” if called upon, a senior naval commander said.

Amid recent heightened interest from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) navies regarding submarine acquisition, Rear Adm. Eric Chaperon, commander of French Navy Task Force 473 Strike Group, said, “The French Navy has a lot of expertise from their long history in the matter of submarines.

“This expertise and know-how can of course be shared, but I cannot give you more details about the interactions we have had with other parties in the region,” he added.

Saudi Arabia was reportedly interested in acquiring five German-made Type 209 submarines at a cost of $3.4 billion, according to the German newspaper Bild in November. Last year, UAE Naval Commander Rear Adm. Ibrahim Al Musharrakh said that the UAE Navy is looking to acquire submarines to combat threats in the gulf’s littoral waters.

“There are many different options for combating the threat of submarines in the region, for building the capacity and the capability to acquire submarines is something that is still under process and will take a long time,” Al Musharrakh said at the Gulf Naval Commanders Conference in Abu Dhabi last November.

The French strike group is in the region to secure the strategic maritime sea lanes of the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea as well as enhance cooperation and interoperability with navies in the region, according to Chaperon.

The strike group, which is made up of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, two destroyers, a supply vessel and a nuclear attack submarine, made port calls in Saudi Arabia last month and in Qatar earlier in January before docking Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.

“France is ready to assume its responsibilities throughout the world, as she demonstrated in Libya, in Mali and more recently, in Central Africa,” Chaperon said.

“France considers that the stability of the Middle East is one of her priorities; it is a region which is at the heart of her strategic interests and which is affected today by multiple crises such as piracy and terrorism.

“Her commitment to the countries of the region is shown in the will to respond to their needs as a long-term strategic partner; this is at the heart of the defense agreement that was signed by France and the United Arab Emirates in 2009,” he added.

The strike group carried out exercises with the Saudi and Qatari navies and is due to conduct a joint exercise, dubbed Big Fox, with the UAE Armed Forces at the end of January and with the US Navy in February in the Indian Ocean.

Visiting the Charles de Gaulle was UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who was briefed about the strike group and its mission.

On board the carrier were 10 F-3 Rafale fighters, the most advanced fighters to enter service in the French Air Force.

The ship also carries two E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, two EC725 Caracal and AS532 Cougar helicopters for combat search and rescue.

He added that the visit to Abu Dhabi would provide France the opportunity to further bolster its already strong ties with the UAE, particularly in sharing expertise and ideas and developing better methods of training and operational capabilities.

Via Patrick H.

The on-going efforts of MBDA to expand the capabilities of its anti-ship missiles could reach an important milestone in the coming months through a potential partnership in the Middle East.

During the European consortium's 2012 results conference in Rome on 22 March, Antonio Perfetti, managing director of the MBDA's Italian branch and executive group director sales and business development, revealed that a Middle Eastern country is interested in the joint development of a Marte ER (extended range) version.

"The growth potential of [the] Marte anti-ship missile family has attracted the interest of a Arabian Gulf industrial partner, looking to jointly develop the new extended-range version of the family," said Perfetti.

While he declined to provide further detail, Flightglobal understands that the United Arab Emirates is the nation interested in a joint development of the new version, and that subsidiaries of state-owned investment company Tawazun Holding are to be involved in the programme.

Tawazun Precision Industries entered into an agreement with MBDA during the 2011 IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi to manufacture various components for the Marte family. The company produces the newly developed canister for the Mk2/N ship-launched version of the missile. This is part of the equipment of the UAE naval forces' Ghannatha fast boat, the first of which was recently delivered.

Tawazun Precision Industries also inked a supply agreement with Selex ES at the 2013 IDEX exhibition in February to manufacture various components for the Finmeccanica subsidiary's RF seekers, a key component in the MBDA Italy Marte/Otomat anti-ship missile family.

The Marte ER is planned to operate at ranges in excess of 100km (54nm) and be capable of being carried by medium-to-heavy helicopters. But it should also be possible to launch the equipment from fixed-wing combat and maritime patrol aircraft, have comparable life cycle costs to the current version and offer growth potential, including a man-in-the-loop and land attack strike with a heavier warhead.

MBDA Italy has already completed ground fitting-out trials of a Marte ER maquette with the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Aside from the extended range and naval (Mk2/N) versions, the Marte missile family includes the helicopter-based (Mk2/S) and aircraft-launched (Mk2/A) models. A dummy version of the latter has previously been dropped from an Airbus Military C295 maritime patrol aircraft.

Via Patrick H.

Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), the Arabian Gulf’s only specialized naval warship builder today announced the Kuwait Navy has selected the company for their future Landing Craft programs.
The announcement by ADSB, one of Mubadala’s defense-related companies, took place during the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) 2013 which takes place 17th - 21st February.

Ian Pike, Chief Executive Officer of ADSB, said, “Abu Dhabi Ship Building has been working hard on this program requirement for some time. We also thank the Kuwait Ministry of Defence and the Kuwait Naval Force for their kind cooperation and confidence in our work.”
The program involves the supply of two 64m Landing Craft, one 42m Landing Craft and five 16m Composite Fast Landing Craft. All vessels will be constructed at ADSB’s world class facility in Abu Dhabi.
After several delegation visits to ADSB, the Kuwait Naval Commander Brigadier General Jassim Al Ansari said, “We are extremely pleased to advise of our co-operative discussions with ADSB for our new program requirement. We recognize ADSB as a highly professional company and will look forward to concluding our discussions positively in the very near future.”
The total contract program is approximately 24 months, and construction is anticipated to start in mid-2013.

Via Patrick H.