The northernmost state of the European Union, a country of fjords, mountains and glaciers. One of the main contenders for the natural resources of the Arctic. Meet the beautiful Norway. Since you and I are not ordinary tourists, but lovers of naval stories, I invite readers today to make a short overview of the modern Royal Norwegian Navy (Kongelige Norske Marine).
An old but unkind acquaintance
There is no naval officer in the North who does not know who "Marjata" is. The sailors jokingly include "Mashka" in the combat strength of the Northern Fleet, because she spends more time at the training grounds in the Barents Sea than our ships.
Rarely going out to perform combat training tasks is complete without meeting this lady. "Maryata" often enters closed areas and interferes with combat exercises, measures the fields and parameters of our stations, intercepts radio signals and monitors the testing of new systems.
So, F / S "Marjata" specialized electronic reconnaissance ship, third generation. During the Cold War, they were positioned exclusively as peaceful research ships. The modern "Maryata" is on the balance sheet of E-tjenesten - Norwegian military intelligence, year of entry into service - 1995.
The ship's length at design waterline is 72 meters, the maximum width is 40 meters. The total displacement reaches 7560 tons. Speed - 15 knots. Crew - 45 people: 14 people control the ship, the rest are technical personnel and liaison officers. According to the data provided by E-tjenesten, the crew of the "Maryata" consists only of American specialists.
As you have already noticed, the hull of "Maryata" has an unusual shape, made in the form of an "iron" (Ramform-type ship design). "Maryata" was created specifically for the solution of reconnaissance tasks - for the stable operation of the reconnaissance equipment it was necessary to ensure the high stability of the ship. In order not to interfere with the recording of measurements, great attention is paid to reducing the noise level and vibration of the ship's mechanisms. "Maryata" is equipped with everything necessary for long-term operation in the harsh conditions of the Arctic, all radio-electronic systems on the deck are protected by heat-insulating casings. There is no information about the reconnaissance "stuffing" of the ship.
Despite its American crew and carrying out combat missions in the interests of NATO, the "Maryata" was built by the Norwegians and is based in Kirkenes (8 km from the Russian-Norwegian border). She flies the flag of the Norwegian Navy and often pretends to be a research vessel.
Recently, the main area of activity of "Maryata" is located between 34 - 36 degrees east longitude, in an area located in the immediate vicinity of the border of the territorial waters of Russia. For example, in the period from March to May 2007, the Norwegian "iron with eggs" made 10 reconnaissance trips here! Our sailors have established that the equipment of "Maryaty" makes it possible to conduct radio interception at a distance of up to 500 km, in other words, the "iron" fully controls the situation in the Barents Sea.
In 2010, Norwegian intelligence began talking about building the fourth generation of the Marjata ships. Severomors, be three times more alert!
New conquerors of the Arctic
By the end of the twentieth century, the fleet of the great Viking seafarers was a sad sight. The richest country in the world, with the highest living standards of the population, did not have a single modern warship. Oslo-class frigates, created back in the 60s, despite their powerful and varied weapons, regular modernization and competent maintenance, could no longer fully meet modern requirements. And the Royal Norwegian Navy had nothing more serious at the turn of the 2000s. Small missile boats (14 units), patrol ships and several minesweepers with a fiberglass hull could be effectively used only to protect the coastal zone. The situation was partly saved by 6 Ula-class diesel submarines built in Germany in the late 1980s.
The Norwegians began looking for a suitable replacement for their ancient frigates. The Orly Burke-class Aegis destroyer looked very attractive, especially since the Americans did not object to the transfer of Aegis technology to their NATO partners. But, through a thorough analysis of the geopolitical situation, possible options for the use of the Navy and the tactical and technical characteristics of various foreign structures, the sailors came to the conclusion that Orly Burke does not meet the interests of the Norwegian Navy: it is too large, excessively powerful, and therefore expensive. The most advantageous was the option of creating your own frigate with the Aegis system on the basis of Spanish warships of the Alvaro de Bazan type - small copies of the Orly Berkov. It was decided to cooperate with Spain.
Within a few years, a technical project was ready, and in the period from 2006 to 2011, five new frigates of the "Fridtjof Nansen" type entered the Norwegian Navy. All five warships are named after the great Norwegian travelers: Nansen, Amundsen, Sverdrup, Ingstad and Thor Heyerdahl.
Technically, they are all "budget versions" of Spanish frigates. The combined diesel-gas turbine power plant of the CODAG type allows the ships to develop 26 knots. The cruising range is 4500 nautical miles. Quite decent performance for frigates with a total displacement of 5300 tons.
As for the weapons of Fridtjof Nansen, the main "highlight" of the ship, no doubt, is the American-made Aegis combat information and control system. The main component is the AN / SPY-1 radar with a phased array antenna, which allows the formation of narrowly directed beams in an arbitrary direction without mechanical rotation of the antenna. The absence of moving mechanics and modern electronics make it possible to arbitrarily change the direction of the "sight" of the radar with an interval of several milliseconds.
The operating cycle of the AN / SPY-1 radar is as follows. Most of the time is spent searching, when the radar sequentially forms narrowly directed beams, uniformly filling the corresponding quadrant of space. The energy characteristics of the antenna make it possible to control the space within a radius of 200 miles from the ship (at this range, only targets in the upper atmosphere can be detected; below the radio horizon, the SPY-1 radar does not see anything, like all other radars). For each detected target, within a few seconds after detection, several additional beams are formed, which determine the speed (by the Doppler method) and the exact direction of the target movement.
For some purposes, the tracking mode can be set, in which the targets are irradiated by the radar at intervals of several seconds. Thus, the SPY-1 radar can automatically track hundreds of targets.
The computers of the Aegis combat information and control system make it possible to assess the situation and select targets in a matter of moments. By strictly following the program, Aegis can independently choose the appropriate type of weapon and open fire on the most threatening targets. In this case, of course, BIUS reports in detail its actions and the final word always remains with the person - the operator can press the "cancel" button at any time.
The "Fridtjof Nansen" type frigate's armament complex includes the Mark-41 vertical launcher - one module for 8 cells, each of which accommodates 4 RIM-162 ESSM anti-aircraft missiles, thus the total ammunition of the frigate is 32 missiles with an effective firing range of 50 kilometers … Purely defensive weapons. It is quite obvious that the Norwegians have saved a lot on weapons - the "Alvaro de Bazan" of the same size carries 6 modules of the Mark-41 launcher, i.e. 48 cells.
Another interesting Nansen missile system is the 8 Naval Strike Missle (NSM) anti-ship missiles - a purely Norwegian development from Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace. Of the features of NSM - it is made of radio-transparent materials, and, according to the developers, is able to independently set active interference. The rest is a conventional subsonic anti-ship missile with a launch range of about 200 km. Several types of warheads weighing 120 kilograms, programmable fuses. Compared with the promising Russian anti-ship missiles "Onyx" or "Caliber", the NSM seems tiny - less than 4 meters long (for the ZM-54 "Caliber" anti-ship missiles this figure is 8.2 meters), the mass of the Norwegian NSM in the transport and launch container 710 kg (starting weight ZM-54 "Caliber" - more than 2 tons). On the other hand, domestic anti-ship missiles move in the final section of the trajectory with three speeds of sound.
The artillery armament of the frigate "Fridtjof Nansen" is poorly developed. Initially, it was planned to equip the ship with a 127 mm universal naval cannon, but even during construction this idea was abandoned - as a result, the Nansen received a 76 mm OTO Melara 76 mm / 62 Super Rapid artillery mount. Rate of fire - 120 rounds / min. In principle, cheap and cheerful. Corresponds to the tasks of Norwegian seafarers.
The ship provides the ability to install rapid-fire artillery systems "Falanx", "Goalkeeper" or any other automatic cannon with a caliber of up to 40 mm. Alas, at the moment, none of the "Phalanxes" have been installed - the ships are armed with M151 Sea Protector systems, which allow them to fight only with pirates and saboteurs. The Norwegians save on matches, we remember how "greed ruined the frayer." The ship is deprived of any opportunity to fight off anti-ship missiles in the near zone. On the other hand, "Nansen" will hardly ever have to do this.
Things are much better with the frigate's anti-submarine capabilities. The ship is equipped with a helipad and a spacious aft hangar. The multipurpose Eurocopter NH-90 is based on the ship as a standard helicopter. For anti-submarine defense in the near zone, there is a 12, 75-inch (324 mm) torpedo tube for launching torpedoes "Sting Ray".
The Nansens are equipped with a funny non-lethal Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) weapon, essentially a noise cannon that can scare off pirates with an unbearably loud sound. And what, humane! Directly in the style of the European Union.
Considering all of the above, we can conclude that the newest Norwegian frigates of the "Fridtjof Nansen" type are modern warships with a high combat potential and are able to cope with a wide range of assigned tasks. Some of the weaknesses of the project are not due to technical miscalculations, but to financial constraints and the desire to make the optimal frigate for the needs of the Norwegian Navy. Fridtjof Nansen is a real European ship of the early 21st century.
