Oldgateboatdriver
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
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- Points
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The four knots are lost as a result of having half the engines but it leads to using a lesser strength of steel on the Absalon than on the Ivar Huitfeldt.
However, on the Absaslon, the second engine room (with the other two engines and one larger DG) is used as mess decks for habitation. On the Ivar Huitfeldt, these mess decks are pushed into the flex deck area. Similarly, the ASW systems at the stern of the IH take some of the room of the flex deck. Finally, the Absalon does not have a traversing system for the helicopters - IH does and obviously, to operate a large helicopter such as the Canadian CH-148 Cyclone in the North Atlantic for ASW, you need the traversing gear and the air stores and shops. All these take the rest of the flex deck room.
BTW, the IH is not "fitted for" the 5 inch gun. There is an intention (and some of the sub-systems are located to help) of replacing the two 76 mm guns with a single 5 inch gun at a later time. But it's one or the other and the 5 inch gun is not as good as two 76 mm guns for anti-air defence or for asymmetrical warfare against small high speed boats. The 5 inch gun is obviously superior for surface warfare against large armed ship and for naval gun support of troops on shore. Either is a compromise, but the IH cannot have both a 5 inch and retain one 76 mm.
There is another aspect, and I don't know to what extent it would come into play because the requirement to work with a US carrier group seems something new, but with four diesels instead of gas turbines for higher speeds, the IH has a considerably slower acceleration / braking power curve and those are two extremely important aspects when operating with American carriers (lest one wishes to be runneth over). I don't know how that would affect the evaluation.
Finally, if you look at what Odense is doing for the AOPS, when you eliminate propulsion, command and surveillance system, it basically is providing the architecture work for the hull and living spaces, period. I would not necessarily see that as a leg up on the others. I hope that ultimately, it is the Canadian government and the Navy who decides the design it wants, not Irving. (in which case we would get the design that Irving can produce with the greatest differential between it's real low cost and how much - based on looks and gobbledygook - Irving can get the government to agree to spend, including all "justifiable" extras :nod.
However, on the Absaslon, the second engine room (with the other two engines and one larger DG) is used as mess decks for habitation. On the Ivar Huitfeldt, these mess decks are pushed into the flex deck area. Similarly, the ASW systems at the stern of the IH take some of the room of the flex deck. Finally, the Absalon does not have a traversing system for the helicopters - IH does and obviously, to operate a large helicopter such as the Canadian CH-148 Cyclone in the North Atlantic for ASW, you need the traversing gear and the air stores and shops. All these take the rest of the flex deck room.
BTW, the IH is not "fitted for" the 5 inch gun. There is an intention (and some of the sub-systems are located to help) of replacing the two 76 mm guns with a single 5 inch gun at a later time. But it's one or the other and the 5 inch gun is not as good as two 76 mm guns for anti-air defence or for asymmetrical warfare against small high speed boats. The 5 inch gun is obviously superior for surface warfare against large armed ship and for naval gun support of troops on shore. Either is a compromise, but the IH cannot have both a 5 inch and retain one 76 mm.
There is another aspect, and I don't know to what extent it would come into play because the requirement to work with a US carrier group seems something new, but with four diesels instead of gas turbines for higher speeds, the IH has a considerably slower acceleration / braking power curve and those are two extremely important aspects when operating with American carriers (lest one wishes to be runneth over). I don't know how that would affect the evaluation.
Finally, if you look at what Odense is doing for the AOPS, when you eliminate propulsion, command and surveillance system, it basically is providing the architecture work for the hull and living spaces, period. I would not necessarily see that as a leg up on the others. I hope that ultimately, it is the Canadian government and the Navy who decides the design it wants, not Irving. (in which case we would get the design that Irving can produce with the greatest differential between it's real low cost and how much - based on looks and gobbledygook - Irving can get the government to agree to spend, including all "justifiable" extras :nod.