The Federal German Navy (FGN) plans to send frigates, corvettes and patrol boats to patrol Lebanon’s coast are being held up by the lack of a formal request from Beirut, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday. The German Navy will take the commanding of the international fleet as part of a U.N. force to be deployed in southern Lebanon after Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah militants. The German air force may also contribute Tornado reconnaissance jets.

EDIT: @ Kiel-Holtenau: GRUß AUS LABOE !!!

The DD-21 Zumwalt-class Land Attack Destroyer was intended to replace the DD 963 and FFG 7 Classes of destroyer and frigate in today’s inventory. The DD 21 System will provide an advanced level of land attack in support of the ground campaign and contribute to naval, joint and combined battlespace dominance in littoral operations.

On 01 November 2001 the Navy announced that it would issue a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Future Surface Combatant Program. Formerly known as DD 21, the program will now be called “DD(X)” to more accurately reflect the program purpose, which is to produce a family of advanced technology surface combatants, not a single ship class. Instead of building the large DD 21 destroyer, the Navy may use the advanced technology on a full range of ships, including a downsized destroyer, an even smaller warship to operate in coastal waters, and a larger cruiser. One of the concerns about the DD-21 was that it was much larger than the current DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Another concern [reportedly of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz] was that the Navy was investing too much in a ship primarily designed to accommodate the long-range Advanced Gun System. The House Appropriations Committee voted in October 2001 to cut funding for the DD-21 program by 75 percent. The Navy subsequently restructured the program, which was renamed the DD-X. The new “downsized” destroyer is slated to displace 12,000 tons, instead of the 16,000 tons planned for the DD 21.

DD 21 is a multimission destroyer tailored for land attack warfare. DD 21 is required to support ground forces as a primary mission, in addition to performing traditional destroyer missions (i.e., anti-air, anti-surface, and undersea warfare). In that regard, DD 21 represents a departure from past design efforts, which were focused primarily on the deep-water threats of the Cold War era. The DD 21 will be a true fleet destroyer, capable of handling any mission that a Fleet commander might ask, from key wartime missions in land attack and undersea warfare to the equally important presence missions, noncombatant evacuations, escort, and diplomatic missions that have been closely associated with Navy destroyers for almost a century.

DD 21 will be designed with the necessary growth capacity to accommodate the additional missions of CG 21. CG 21 will be a fully capable next generation air dominance cruiser to replace today’s AEGIS Cruisers. This common design, along with an open systems architecture, will facilitate affordable and flexible mission upgrades to ensure this family of ships remains mission capable over its full service life.

DD 21 will be a multi-mission destroyer tailored to maritime dominance and land attack missions. DD 21 will push the envelope in improved joint connectivity, advanced computing systems, reduced signatures (radar cross section, infrared, acoustic, magnetic, and active signature management techniques) and optimal manning.

DD 21 will be an offensive, multi-mission destroyer capable of operating independently or with a Naval, Joint, or combined task force. The ship’s offensive, land attack orientation is being engineered and balanced with traditional multi-mission surface combatant capabilities that will be needed for DD 21 to dominate the maritime battlespace. While tailored for land attack, the ship’s ultimate mission is to fight and win any battle…open ocean or littoral.

With state-of-the-art information technologies, DD 21 will operate seamlessly with other naval, ground, and land-based air forces, and will be in accordance with the Navy’s evolving “Network-Centric Warfare” concept of operations and Information Technology for the 21st Century architecture. The DD 21 emphasis on “sensor-to-shooter” connectivity will provide a naval or Joint Task Force commander with the multi-mission flexibility to destroy a wide variety of land targets while simultaneously countering maritime threats.

Like today’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, DD 21 will be a multi-mission ship, capable of providing forward presence and deterrence, and operating as a vital part of naval, joint and combined maritime forces to gain battlespace dominance in littoral operations. But unlike today’s destroyers, DD 21’s primary mission will be land attack support for ground forces. Armed with 5-inch/62 extended range guided munitions and 155mm Howitzers, the ship will provide naval gunfire support up to 100 miles inland. A land attack missile system will extend support between 100 and 200 miles. Tactical Tomahawk missiles will be able to reach targets from 200 to 1,600 nautical miles.

DD 21 will have the most advanced undersea warfare combat systems ever installed on a surface combatant. The ship’s hangar will house attack helicopters as well as a system of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). In concert with other ships, DD 21 will contribute surveillance and force to establish and maintain local air superiority.

The DD 21 program emphasizes more than just improved offensive and defensive capabilities. Because DD 21’s design will incorporate only the most advanced systems and materials on the market today, ships of the class can remain battle-ready with minimal maintenance and greatly reduced manpower. Design characteristics such as submarine-like survivability and a significantly reduced radar signature, achieved through a fully integrated topside design, will significantly expand the mission of the surface combatant.

As with previous destroyer designs, DD 21 will be focused on the key mission areas facing the nation and the Navy during its design phase. The Navy believes it needs a destroyer that is capable of exceptional performance in the littoral regions of the world and one that can provide significant support to forces ashore. As a result, DD 21 must excel in mission areas that include land attack and maritime dominance. DD 21 will provide an advanced level of land attack in support of the ground campaign, while contributing to naval, joint, and combined battlespace dominance in littoral operations. Given the large inventory of upgraded CG 47 and new DDG 51 Class ships that will be in the fleet by the time the first few DD 21 class ships begin to join the fleet after 2008, a robust self defense capability in air defense will be sufficient for this ship.

The DD 21 ships must possess the operational flexibility to meet the multimission forward presence and war-fighting requirements of the littoral environment and employ self defense against the threats documented in the 21st Century Surface Combatant Program System Threat Assessment Report. The DD 21 ships must also be capable of taking advantage of and maintaining the benefits of the military revolution stimulated by the rapid advances in information and information related technologies and exploit them through automation and system architectures capable of disseminating information to widely dispersed and dissimilar units to achieve an overall dominant maneuver concept of operations, as outlined in Joint Vision 2010 and concepts for future joint operations.

Specifications
Displacement 16,000 12,000 tons
Builder Bath and Ingalls
Power Plant Integrated Power System (IPS)
Length TBD feet [Panama Canal transit capability]
Beam TBD feet [Panama Canal transit capability]
Draft no more than 28 feet
Armament 2 – 155mm Advanced Gun System
117-128 VLS cells
[256 VLS cells without AGS]
Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile
Tactical Tomahawk Block IV
Advanced Land Attack Missile
Systems Multi-Function Radar (MFR)
Volume Search Radar (VSR)
Naval Surface Fire Support Weapon Control System (NWCS)
Speed TBD knots ( mph)
Crew Threshold: 150
Objective: 95
[vice traditional = 440]
Aircraft 2 SH-60 LAMPS helicopters
Costs $750 million procurement cost objective (for the fifth ship in each shipyard in FY 1996 dollars)
$2,700 (FY 1996) per hour underway operation and support (O&S) cost objective, excluding fleet modernization activities and sustaining engineering elements [about one-third the O&S cost of a conventional surface combatant].

Name Number Builder Homeport Ordered Comm Decomm
DD-21 Bath/Ingalls 2004 2011 2051
DD-22 Bath/Ingalls 2006 2012 2052
DD-23 Ingalls 2006 2012 2052
DD-24 Bath 2006 2012 2052
DD-25 Ingalls 2007 2013 2053
DD-26 Bath 2007 2013 2053
DD-27 Ingalls 2007 2013 2053
DD-28 Bath 2008 2014 2054
DD-29 Ingalls 2008 2014 2054
DD-30 Bath 2008 2014 2054
DD-31 Ingalls 2009 2015 2055
DD-32 Bath 2009 2015 2055
DD-33 Ingalls 2009 2015 2055
DD-34 Bath 2010 2016 2056
DD-35 Ingalls 2010 2016 2056
DD-36 Bath 2010 2016 2056
DD-37 Ingalls 2011 2017 2057
DD-38 Bath 2011 2017 2057
DD-39 Ingalls 2011 2017 2057
DD-40 Bath 2012 2018 2058
DD-41 Ingalls 2012 2018 2058
DD-42 Bath 2012 2018 2058
DD-43 Ingalls 2013 2019 2059
DD-44 Bath 2013 2019 2059
DD-45 Ingalls 2013 2019 2059
DD-46 Bath 2014 2020 2060
DD-47 Ingalls 2014 2020 2060
DD-48 Bath 2014 2020 2060
DD-49 Ingalls 2015 2021 2061
DD-50 Bath 2015 2021 2061
DD-51 Ingalls 2015 2021 2061
DD-52 Bath 2016 2022 2062
DD-53 Ingalls 2016 2022 2062

greetings gunner5″

Germany is the fourth-largest producer of ships worldwide, following South Korea, Japan, and China. In total, 68 ships were delivered in 2002 with 1.2 million CGT (calculated gross tonnage). The shipyard J.J. Sietas led production levels by 14 ships built in 2002. Orders for German shipyards in 2002 amounted to 225 ships with 5.8 million RT (registered tonnage) and 6.8 million TDW (Tonnes Dead-Weight) and an investment volume of USD 7.1 billion. However, taking into account the timeframe for shipbuilding projects, these projects will be spread over several years.

German shipyards sustain their strong market position due to highly specialized and expert products that require high levels of expertise and professional know-how. Competition is based on quality and expertise rather than on price.

Unlike in many other nations, military and civil shipbuilding is combined in shipyards, which are always privately owned.

According to a study conducted by the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association VSM, 35% of submarine contracts, 68% of frigate contracts, and 72% of fighting ships and mine detector contracts are given to national marine shipyards around the world, which leave few contracts for international competition. German exports of naval products, however, account for 75% of total German marine production. The importance of naval products remains significant. German products enjoy leading positions worldwide in the fields of non nuclear-driven submarines, speedboats, frigates, and increasingly mine defense systems.

Exports of military products are subject to several political barriers and restrictions. The sale of military ships requires a long time period, which is due to the production period of several years and intensive after-sales services. Taking into account the fast changing political environment in some countries business cooperation is extremely difficult for German shipyards. Potential markets with international competition for foreign defense products are Turkey, South Africa, Israel, Norway, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.

c. Position within Europe
Due to the ownership separation between the German government and marine defense producers, the marine defense industry sees itself at a disadvantage compared to France and Great Britain. Those countries have clearly defined their goals for future developments within the European Union, as well as in international markets. Stakeholders’ interests in politics and the industry are much more closely interlinked. Unless Germany’s government and shipbuilding industry agree on clear strategies for the coming changes in Europe, German shipbuilders will not be in a position to take the lead in the market transition process or gain a competitive advantage over French and British competitors.

There is a large number of shipbuilders and component suppliers in Germany. HDW Kiel, Thyssen Nordsee Werke, and Blohm & Voss are the key players and approximately 10 other shipbuilders play significant roles within the German shipbuilding sector.

HDW Kiel
Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW), Kiel, is the largest German shipyard and the parent company of an international shipbuilding group. HDW is a leader in the international market of submarine production. One Equity Partners (OEP) bought HDW in 2002 from the German corporate group Babcock-Borsig for USD 356 million. The HDW group with all its subsidiaries is currently for sale (expected to be finalized by the end of 2003). HDW is considered a key player in the European shipyard integration, but is experiencing problems that call for structural changes; one of the problems being the group’s production costs. Potential buyers are the French Defense Holding Thales S.A., the German Thyssen Krupp Technologies AG, and the U.S. Defense Group Northrop Grumman. The German government is concerned about a technology transfer and, therefore, wants the shipyard to remain in German or European ownership, taking EADS in the aviation industry as a model. Another preferred solution is a commercial partnership between Northrop and HDW.

Together with its subsidiaries, Kockums in Sweden and Hellenic Shipyards Co. in Greece, the HDW group approximately employs 6,600. The group has its head offices in Kiel. Its main activities are concentrated in Kiel (Germany), Karlskrona (Sweden), Malmö (Sweden), Rendsburg (Germany) and Skaramanga (Greece). The Swedish HDW subsidiary, Kockums, and the American defense group Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) have recently come to a licensing agreement concerning the unique stealth technology for warships developed in Sweden. Together with this new technology NGSS wants to apply for two significant contracts with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coastguard.

HDW produces sophisticated submarines and naval surface vessels, frigates and corvettes, and supplies proven atmospheric air-independent transmission systems, based on hydrogen fuel cell technology and the sterling engine. The shipyard is the only German company to have developed and constructed torpedo tubes and a fuel cell unit for submarine atmospheric air independent propulsion systems. It is market leader for submarines with fuel cell actuation. In merchant shipbuilding the group provides advanced design ferries, luxury cruise liners, and private yachts as well as sophisticated container ships.

Blohm & Voss GmbH, Thyssen Krupp Werften
Blohm & Voss GmbH is a subsidiary of Thyssen Krupp Werften GmbH (Hamburg) and is directly controlled by them. All profits are transferred to Thyssen Krupp Werften GmbH. Thyssen Krupp AG concentrates on three business fields, which are steel, industrial goods and services. The sales volume for the group amounts to USD 6 billion, it has 31.000 employees.

Blohm & Voss GmbH and Blohm & Voss Repair GmbH, both situated in Hamburg, and Thyssen Nordsee Werke GmbH, situated in Emden, comprise the shipyard unit. They operate in the merchant as well as in the naval sector. Their overall performance amounts to USD 402 million with sales of USD 187 million, order intake of up to USD 361 million, and a workforce of 1,110.

Blohm & Voss builds technically highly specialized ships such as the MEKO frigates and has licensees worldwide. The Shipyard also builds the latest type of frigate, the F124, for the German Navy. HDW, Blohm & Voss and Thyssen Nordsee Werke are working in close cooperation in the naval shipbuilding sector.

Aker MTW Werft Wismar
Aker MTW Werft Wismar was founded in 1946 and is owned 100% by the Norwegian Aker Yards AS situated in Oslo. The workforce comprises of 1,328 employees. The shipyard specializes in passenger vessels, container ships, and tankers. The production program also includes product tankers, icebreakers, shuttle and gas tankers, ferries, liquefied petroleum gas tankers’ and FPSO (floating, production, storage, and offloading) vessels.

Meyer Werft
The Meyer shipyard was founded in 1795 and is privately owned. It employs a workforce of 2,500 employees. The Shipyard specializes in cruise liners, gas tankers, livestock carriers and conversions, passenger ships, and ferries.

f. Medium-sized Shipyards

Abeking & Rasmussen
The shipyard was founded in 1907. The product line includes research ships and specialized ships, such as SAR (search and rescue) craft, ocean supply ships, fast passenger ferries, patrol boats, minesweepers, and mine hunters. A&R developed SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) technology.

Friedrich Lürssen-Werft
Friedrich Lürssen Werft is family owned and was founded in 1875. It employs around 1,200 employees. The production line is comprised of naval vessels, such as fast patrol boats, corvettes, frigates, mine counter measure vessels and support vessels; and special ships, such as patrol boats, fast ferries, SAR and coast guard, and yachts.

Kröger Werft
Kröger Werft is owned by the Friedrich Lürssen-Werft. It has a workforce of 300 employees. The production line includes containerships, commercial ships, research vessels, and naval vessels. The shipyard also does repair and refit works, as well as consulting.

Peene-Werft
Peene-Werft is owned by Detlef Hegemann GmbH & Co (95%) and by Hegeman & Kämmerer GmbH & Co (5%). The shipyard has 737 employees, produces merchant as well as naval ships, and supplies repair and conversion services.

Flensburger Schiffbaugesellschaft
The Flensburger Schiffbaugesellschaft employs 650 employees. The Shipyard focuses on steel fabrication and system integration of components. The types of ships built are Ro-Ro (roll-on-roll-off) vessels, Ro-Pax (roll-on-roll-off with passengers) ferries, container carriers, multipurpose vessels, navy vessels, and special vessels.

2. The Supply Industry
The German marine and offshore equipment industry sector is comprised of nearly 400 mainly small to medium-sized manufacturing companies with total sales of about USD 8 billion. The sector employs about 70,000 people and the firms are mainly located in Baden-Wuertenberg, Bayern, and Nordrhein-Westfalen. More than 70% of added value of new shipbuilding derives from the supply sector. Exports account for two thirds of sales.

1. Private sector
In Germany, there are about 420 shipping companies that are all together comprised of 2,110 ocean-going vessels with a RT of 26.6 million and 34.3 million TDW. Shipping companies expectations of environmental and safety requirements for new ships are steadily increasing as are the number of EU standards. The world shipbuilding market experienced a drop in incoming orders by 50% for the year 2002, compared with the previous year. The downturn in the tourism industry, caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11th affected the cruising sector. Since 2001, existing production programs have been stretched, and demand for new built passenger vessels and cruising ships has declined. Political developments in Afghanistan and Iraq also influence developments within the tourist sector negatively. Although there is a sound demand for container ships worldwide, German shipyards face a decline in orders, due to fierce Korean competition.

2. Military sector
The German Navy accounts for 25% of total marine shipbuilding production. The Navy purchases, almost exclusively, their goods from the German shipbuilding and defense industry, apart from products where the American expertise is of essence, for example with products such as navigation systems or weapons.

In Germany, defense production is closely interlinked with national and international politics. Contracts for building military ships are not internationally posted, but given almost directly to national shipyards without consideration of costs and production prices. Thus, the possible step toward privatization of state-owned navy productions will lead toward a cost efficient decision making approach. U.S. military products have a competitive advantage. However, the European Union has agreed on a common European defense policy, which may lead to closer cooperation between European defense producers. Defense manufacturing will, therefore, remain in European hands.

It´s time to say good bye…..