Sirius? I thought her Deck was pretty much unusable due to wind flow issues or something similar?
Not true mate:-
CORRECTING THE RECORD
On this page, we set the record straight to correct any inaccuracies in media reporting of DMO issues.
The Facts
16 August 2007
The Story: Today’s edition of the Courier Mail features an article by Mr Ian McPhedran titled ‘Helicopter ship ban: No-flight deck cost $8m.’ Mr McPhedran claims helicopters have been banned from using the flight deck fitted to the Navy’s replenishment ship HMAS Sirius.
The Facts: Aviation modifications were carried out on HMAS Sirius to provide a Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) capability. This VERTREP capability involves a helicopter hovering over the ship’s deck to transfer underslung loads, typically pallets of stores or food. The modification also provides a transfer capability which allows the ability to transfer persons or equipment by the helicopter’s winch. The aviation flight deck modifications were designed to accommodate naval helicopter landings in the event of an emergency only, not as part of normal operations.
Source Department of Defence DMO.
Related non-us example: Triton
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/trimaran/
So, trials with a friendly navy may be a possibility, so is sale to a foreign service or transfer to a US-sister service. Sale to a US commercial pary might also be possible, the vessels can then be loaned/rented back by US government services. I can also see the loosing contender joining the small fleet of USN X-craft and/or ending up supporting e.g. special forces ops. Or they may just be retired at some point and stored or disposed of (see e.g. what happened to the Pegasus class PHMs patrol hydrofoils and PC-1 Cyclone class coastal patrol ships, or some the the more recent mine counter measures ships)
Shame on you Wan: you forgot to mention that RV Triton is now in Australian Customs service as ACV 90 Triton and slightly modified. She now has two .50cals mounted on her and has traded some of her Ballast for extra room to house people caught doing illegal things in our EEZ (see in the pic, the tents for and aft of the main structure).
As for your comment about where they may end up- I really thing the USCG would love these vessels in their service- they already have the weapons systems in place so logistics and supply won’t be an issue (remember that the 56mm gun is new to the USN but has been in USCG service for a good many years now). Should the USCG gain the LCS 1 type, then ops closer to shores of drug lords with DEA support would be more realistic.
The Super Frelon is actually being retired in less than a month. Since the NH-90 isn’t ready yet, the French Navy has bought 2 EC-225s in SAR configuration as stop gaps.
Pics of Super Frelon aboard Mistral and Tonnerre:
http://bpctonnerre.free.fr/actualites2010transittoulonbrest4.htm
This is why I excluded it, I know it was being retired, though I thought that was at the end of this year, as for the Chinese Z-8’s, would China export them and if so, would Russia buy them- simple answer- NO!
Geee look at the tight sqeeze on that side elevator, no room for mistakes there!
Well, that settles the height issue then?
Well ok they can fit in there, but ask a mechanic to change a rotor hub or gear box and don’t be surprised when they hit you in the head with a spanner!
Didn’t you know, we do a group hug regularly :);)
Speaking of which- you haven’t given me mine lately Wan 🙁 I feel left out!
Yak 141?
Length: 18.36 m (60 ft 2 1/4 in)
Wingspan: 10.105 m (33 ft 1 1/2 in)
Height: 5.00 m (16 ft 5 in)
Hmmmm Russia use their Mistral like the USN use their Amphibs with Harriers- I like it. Yeah Bring back the Freestyle!
The Kazan Ansat is in low rate production with a quadruplex digital FBW system and whenever it finally enters service the Mi-38 will be FBW as well. If only the Russian helo industry got their collective behinds in gear, I’m not sure Europe would have much to teach them beyond improvements regarding maintenance intervals.
Take also composites – the Ka-50/52 family do not contain as much by weight as many Western helos but they use this type of material in their central load-bearing structure, not just for skin panels and access hatches. That is unusual (though far from unheard of) even today and it certainly was back when the Ka-50 first appeared.
I did a bit of looking before commenting and I found no reference to the MI-38 being FBW at all. The Ansat is a small helo that would make a nice plane guard but not a real contender for mass airborne helo ops from an LPD- lets be serious here
The Super Frelon is still in service in France (though expected to be replaced by NH-90 by 2011-12) abd both produced and used in China (as Z-8). But that was not the point.
Super Frelon has a folding tail, which reduces it’s length, and it is as tall as EH101, which is significantly taller than NH-90. Wouldn’t it be logical for the French to take into consideration the EH-101 as a possible visitor (or even resident) of the Mistral, given it’s use by UK, Italy and Portugal. By comparison, the Dutch and Spanish have designed their LPDs (Rotterdam/Galicia, of the Enforcer-series, which resulted in the UK Bay class) with an eye to both NH-90 and EH101 even though e.g. Spain uses the Sea King (though plans for NH90 on the Juan Carlos), which is more similar to NH-90 (Length: 16.7 m, Height: 5.13 m) than to EH101, and the Dutch have NH-90. Lockheed Martin, team leader for the US101 VXX competitor, noted that the US101 has a folding tail, unlike the EH101. Which shows it is not that hard to make a change.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classe_Mistral#Pont_d.E2.80.99envol
The flight deck at least can take EH101s and in one place even CH-53 (Length: 26.97 m, Height: 7.6 m). The 18.5×6.5m elevator can handle a 19-19.5m long helicoptor placed diagonally. Likewise, the 15x15m elevator should be able to handle a helicopter up to 21m long helicopter if placed diagonally.
Note that Mi-17 (max t/o weigh 13 metic tons) is entirely possible on both elevators, Mi-38 (max t/o weight 15.6 metric tons) on one.
Yes you can make the EH-101 fold down, but you can’t make it reduce height- this is my point that everyone is skipping over!
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