As already announced here ten days ago, the Kiel shipyard used the SMM 2022, which has just ended in Hamburg, to present a new corvette design. Here are a few more details that might interest you.
With the new Seaguard 96 is an "innovative high-end corvette capable of carrying out the entire spectrum of naval operations", according to the press release from German Naval Yards Kiel. With a length of 96 metres and a width of 13.5 metres, the ship is expected to have a displacement of around 2,000 tonnes. The design of the propulsion system (two propulsion diesels, four diesel generators and controllable pitch propellers) enables a maximum speed of 28 knots and promises a range of 3,800 nautical miles at 15 knots. The maximum sea endurance is said to be 18 days. There is accommodation capacity for 60 people. The flight deck and hangar can accommodate an NH 90 class helicopter (11 tonnes).
Model of a Seaguard 96 exhibited at SMM 2022. Here - as in the photo of the model at the end of the article - the vertical launch starter of the SAM system can be seen: between the turret and deck superstructure. Photo: hum
Nothing is impossible
The corvette's armament can consist of a 76 mm or 57 mm turret on the forecastle. It is supplemented aft by two remote-controlled 30 mm guns on both sides of the hangar. Eight anti-ship missiles can be mounted aft of the mast. The design also provides for 16 vertical launch silos for anti-aircraft missiles (see photos of the model). Optionally, the sensors and effectors required for submarine hunting can also be scaffolded. German Naval Yards Kiel provides a hull mounted sonar and two triple torpedo launchers. Decoy systems, electronic countermeasure systems and small-calibre weapon stations round off the weaponry options.
The potential sensor equipment is based on the application profile specified by the customer and includes the latest conceivable options in this size range: 3D or 4D, electro-optical as well as radar-controlled detection and fire control.
In any case, the design aims for a high degree of modularity. The final configuration is based on customer requirements. Also in the design. For example, the Kiel-based company is specifically advertising the extensive construction in the recipient countries. Only the bridge and engine room modules are to be reserved for production in Germany.
Seaguard 96 - View of the centre deck. Illustration: German Naval Yards Kiel
Support from the cousin
The overall design of the Seaguard 96 - especially the hull - bear the signature of the French Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN). In 2014, the Cherbourg-based shipyard built the striking C Sword 90 a design that stood out from the traditional design of a stealth ship with an inverted bow and a round, bilge-shaped hull.
The CMN blueprint is followed by the Seaguard 96 not in all details. The camouflage elements of the surface structures were not realised as conspicuously as in the prototype. The C Sword 90 the striking aft deck island gives way to the Seaguard 96 a rather conventional hangar. The 'inverted bow' became an 'axe bow'. This narrow bow shape, which cuts the waves more than it divides them, reduces buoyancy and prevents the bow from floating on the waves. This reduces the typical pitching in rough seas, which gives the ship a different sea behaviour. With maximum utilisation of the waterline (albeit less than with an inverted bow), higher hull speeds can be achieved. The design submitted by German Naval Yards Kiel takes into account a bulbous bow below the waterline.
Artist impression of a Seaguard 96 'in action'. Illustration: German Naval Yards Kiel.
German Naval Yards Kiel another view
Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) is a shipbuilding company that supplies naval vessels, yachts and civilian platforms (including the multi-purpose vessel MRV 80). Originally based in Cherbourg, the company's management is based in Paris. CMN has subsidiaries in Newcastle and North Shields, in the United Kingdom. Since 1992, the company has been owned by Privinvest, the holding company of the French-Lebanese entrepreneur and investor Iskandar Safa (initially via the holding company Abu Dhabi MAR).
German Naval Yards Kiel emerged from the surface shipbuilding division of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). The shipyard infrastructure includes what the company claims is the largest dry dock in the Baltic Sea region at 426 metres, as well as a 900-tonne gantry crane. The Kiel-based company has been part of the Privinvest Group since 2011. They see themselves as part of a European shipbuilding group that includes CMN as well as ISHERWOODS in the UK, which specialises in integrated logistics solutions.
Model of a Seaguard 96 - aft view.
Photo: hum
Ukraine and Europe
Against the backdrop of the support for the Ukrainian armed forces called for by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Prague on 29 August, German Naval Yards Kiel sees its design as a possible and substantial contribution to the reconstruction of the Ukrainian naval forces. The modularity and free architecture for the installation of sensor and weapon systems in particular offer advantages. Especially as the ship's relatively shallow draught of 3.5 metres accommodates the operational area, which must also take the Sea of Azov into account.
German Naval Yards Kiel believes it is well positioned in terms of armaments policy thanks to the bundling of Franco-German capabilities. All the more so if the need to harmonise European armaments efforts, as emphasised by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Prague, becomes a reality. According to information available here, the management of the Kiel shipyard has made representations to Berlin along these lines.
With the Seaguard 96 German Naval Yards Kiel appears to be attempting its own launch in order to strengthen its own position in the stalled attempts to consolidate the German naval shipbuilders. Backing comes from the boss. In an interview with a French trade magazine at the beginning of June 2022, Iskandar Safa spoke out in favour of consolidating the German industry (ESuT reported). In this context Seaguard 96 more than just a solo effort by the Kiel shipyard.
Model of a Seaguard 96. photo: hum
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