The US Navy reorganized the missile frigate FFG (X)

The US Navy reorganized the missile frigate FFG (X)

The US Navy awarded fixed-price contracts to five shipbuilding companies, including Lockheed Martin, Aosta USA, Huntington Inges, Italian shipbuilding finance group Marinete Maritime Company and General Dynamics Bath Steel Plant, for the conceptual design of the future missile frigate FFG(X). Americans always pay great attention to the development of new equipment, and FFG(X) is no exception. As a traditional equipment that has been vacant for many years in the battle sequence, the outside world has speculated whether it will be another "future warship". But judging from the information disclosed by all parties, we may think too much. FFG(X) is not only not science fiction, but also very traditional.

The disappearing Perry

As the cloud of the Cold War dissipated, the "red navy" that once dominated the ocean withdrew from the historical stage. The United States has no rivals in the depths of the ocean, but no one can play a good card. This kind of loneliness may be difficult for ordinary countries to understand. Just when the US Navy was at its wit's end, it was hit by an ancient mine in the Gulf War, a small boat hit by suicided in the Gulf of Aden and a series of other incidents, which made the US Navy initially realize that the former big American ship was unable to cope with the new threat.

If these scattered incidents were not enough to attract attention, then the subsequent collapse of the World Trade Center dealt a heavy blow to the comfortable nerves of Americans and set a goal for the US military that has been looking for terrorists for many years. The terrorists are not in the air or at sea, but in the jungle of Shan Ye. More importantly, a data has aroused great concern of the US Navy: 150 countries in the world have coastlines, accounting for nearly 80%. It is no exaggeration to say that controlling the coast controls the world.

Under the influence of multiple factors, the US Navy gradually realized that "today's battlefield is offshore, at the land-sea junction of five continents", and a strategic transformation called "from sea to land" began. As the name implies, "from sea to land" is to change the navy from focusing on offshore operations to attacking deep targets on land from coastal waters.

The 155mm caliber main gun on the "zumwalt" class guided missile destroyer is one of the landmark equipment for the transformation of the US Navy from sea to land.

Strategic transformation leads to the change of weapons and equipment system. If the navy wants to go ashore, it must rely on the strong attack firepower of the other side, and at the same time require the ship to have good maneuverability in the shallow waters near the shore. However, at that time, the equipment system of the US Navy was aimed at "decisive battle against deep blue" with the Soviet Union. The battle platforms are all behemoths, and the weapons and ammunition are all aimed at warships. As a result, we saw that the huge "sea wolf" was replaced by the flexible "Virginia", and only the poor "harpoon" was left in the anti-ship missile, and the muzzle of the next generation destroyer became extremely huge.

Among all these changes, the biggest one is also the one that impressed the outside world the most, that is, replacing Perry-class frigates with maverick littoral combat ships. 2065438+On September 29th, 2005, the last Perry-class frigate "Kaufman" (FFG-59) retired from active service. Since then, missile frigates have completely disappeared from the battle sequence of the US Navy.

Kaufman (FFG-59) is the last Perry-class frigate to be retired. Since then, the US Navy has started a career without frigates.

From "brown" to "blue"

As we all know, a strong navy is the cornerstone of American global hegemony. No matter how many aircraft carrier battle groups cruise in the depths of the ocean, they can respond to emergencies in any region at the first time. The expeditionary battle group with amphibious assault ship as the core is enough to deter the navies and air forces of most countries. It is precisely because of the escort of these steel giants around the world that the national strategic interests of the United States continue to expand.

With the recovery of Russia and the rise of China, the Chinese and Russian navies are marching into the deep sea more and more firmly, especially the high-speed and high-quality reloading of the China Navy, which makes the US Navy, which has enjoyed the "natural sea control right" for more than 30 years, feel extremely uneasy. The US military, full of cold war mentality, believes that if it still lingers in coastal waters and does not return to the ocean immediately, I am afraid its hegemony will be hard to protect.

In addition, the background of American national defense strategy is also constantly focusing on competition with big countries. Obama's strategy of "returning to the Asia-Pacific" and his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan have indicated that the United States has begun to shift its strategic attention to deal with the possible conflicts of interest brought about by the rise of China and the Russian recovery. After Trump took office, he thoroughly implemented the concept of "American priority".

In the State of the Union address on 20 18, Trump said that "China and Russia are competitors". The recently released US national defense strategy clearly points out that "great power competition" has replaced "anti-terrorism" and become the primary concern of US national security. In response to media questions, US Secretary of Defense Matisse said: "We will not give up anti-terrorism, but competition among major powers will be the focus of future national defense policies."

The major adjustment of strategy determines that the equipment system established by the US military in recent ten years to deal with the Taliban and other stragglers must be changed. In this change, the navy needs to complete the transition from "brown" to "blue" again. Therefore, the role of missile frigates has become a necessity.

Adapt, not lead.

The FFG(X) Mission Requirements published by the US Navy mentioned four basic tasks: First, "supporting the fleet in anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare in conflict"; The second is to "share the daily patrol tasks of a large number of overseas fleets"; The third is "high level of information warfare, integrated into the CES joint engagement system, and cooperated with drones to improve combat capability"; The fourth is to "share the regional air defense pressure of fleet destroyers and cruisers."

The new frigate has a mass of 4 000~6 000 tons, a minimum speed of not less than 28 knots and a cruising range of 3 000 nautical miles (16 knots). At the end of last year, the US Navy updated the second edition of FFG(X) Requirements, requiring that the mother ship design of FFG(X) must use the hull design that has been produced or completed the sea trial, and any mother ship design that is under development or fails the sea trial will not be adopted.

It is not difficult to find that FFG(X) is not as maverick as littoral combat ships or "zumwalt" class destroyers, but a conventional surface warship that pursues safety and achieves speed and armament balance. It can independently perform low-intensity combat missions, as well as anti-submarine anti-ship and supplementary air defense missions in naval formations. The purpose of the US Navy is simple, that is, to develop a frigate that can adapt to future naval battles rather than lead them.

FFG(X) was born with a golden key.

It is rare that the FFG(X) project is open to public bidding all over the world. European manufacturers, such as Britain and France, who are quite accomplished in frigate design and construction, seem to be a strong competitive force. However, due to the requirement of hull maturity, based on the modified design scheme of F- 125 frigate jointly provided by Atlas Company of the United States and ThyssenKrupp Systems Company of Germany, and the improved design scheme of 26 frigate planned by BAE Company of the United Kingdom, he was quickly sentenced to death. Even so, the solutions provided by the five companies that got the conceptual design contract are still excellent.

Lockheed Martin and Aosta respectively put forward the improvement schemes based on "Freedom" class and "Independent" class littoral combat ships. Based on the Italian version of FREMM frigate proposed by Marinete Maritime Company, this type of frigate has been recognized by the market. The design blueprint of Huntington ingels Company is the legendary national security patrol ship of the United States Coast Guard, which has been tested in actual combat for many years. General Dynamics Bath Steel Works cooperated with Spain's Navantia Company to provide a scheme based on F- 100 frigate. The original design of this frigate is excellent, and it is considered as one of the best frigates in the world today.

The FFG(X) bidding model exhibited by Lockheed Martin basically adopts the hull design of the "Freedom" class littoral combat ship.

After the completion of the concept development phase in the next 16 months, two of the above five alternatives will be eliminated. Although the design scheme based on the Italian version of FREMM and two littoral combat ships has the upper hand at present, the European design must be converted into "American standard" if it is to be adopted by the United States, and the workload is not small. The mission requirements of FFG(X) are deeply analyzed, and most of the functions of littoral combat ships are reserved, especially anti-submarine, anti-ship and attacking small targets with high speed at sea. In addition, the US Navy has been trying to build a new generation of frigates on the basis of Littoral Combat Ships. Under the background of Trump's "American priority" policy, the scheme based on Littoral Combat Ship is likely to be the final scheme. In any case, FFG(X) must have been born with a golden key.

The possibility of victory is still the littoral combat ship.

At the 20 18 annual meeting of the US Navy, Lockheed Martin Company and Osta Company respectively exhibited the scheme models of participating in the bidding for FFG(X), both of which were based on the improvement of littoral combat ships. Considering the outstanding advantages and disadvantages of trimaran, the requirements of the US Navy for FFG(X) are very stable, and Lockheed Martin's plan to improve the "Freedom" class littoral combat ship is more competitive.

In addition, since Marinete Maritime Company is also one of the manufacturers of Lockheed Martin's "Freedom" class littoral combat ships, Lockheed Martin's plan is likely to be the last choice for the US Navy. From the model published by Lockheed Martin, there are five outstanding features.

First, the superstructure is greatly simplified, and all kinds of electronic equipment and radar antennas are basically integrated, which is a bit like the integrated mast of the "zumwalt" class destroyer. Of course, there is still a gap in integrity, but it can also enhance the stealth of ships to a certain extent.

Second, install a new phased array radar. It is considered that a new type of active phased array radar should be adopted. Compared with the active shipborne phased array radar, it can see farther and save more electricity, and it can effectively maintain all-round airspace coverage with only three fronts.

The red circle in Lockheed Martin's scheme is the front double-sided array of the new active phased array radar (ESAR), and the other side is directly behind.

Third, installing a vertical launch system is almost an inevitable option. Ship-to-ship missile vertical launching system (SSMM) is used to attack small surface targets. Behind SSMM is the traditional MK4 1 vertical launch system. Although there is only 16 launch unit, it can provide certain regional air defense capability.

Fourth, install the directed energy weapon system. The shipborne laser weapon system of the US Navy has been tested and achieved good results. It is an appropriate move to board FFG(X).

Fifth, electronic warfare equipment has been added. On the one hand, these electronic devices are used to electronically suppress and interfere with the enemy and collect battlefield information; On the other hand, it can share engagement information as its own information node. In other words, it is one of the external manifestations of FFG(X) high informatization.

Of course, these are only visible progress. If there is no accident, the all-electric propulsion power system should not be absent, which means that FFG(X) will have better energy efficiency and stronger power output. Generally speaking, "FFG ”( X) basically returned to the design of traditional frigates. Considering the strong air defense capability of the US naval formation, the main task of FFG(X) is still anti-ship and anti-submarine, especially the latter. The new towed sonar previously equipped on the Littoral Combat Ship will definitely become standard.