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Royal Thai Navy's new Frigate FFG-471 HTMS
Tachin Delivery Ceremony at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering( DSME)
Okpo-Dong shipyard, Geoje, South Gyeongsang, Busan, Republic of Korea, 14
December 2018
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) handed over
a 3,650t frigate to the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) in a ceremony at its Okpo-Dong
Shipyard, Busan in South Korea on 14 December.
The vessel, to be christened
HTMS Tachin with
pennant number 471 once it is commissioned, is expected to begin its voyage to
Thailand within the next month.
A contract for this
124m-long frigate was signed in August 2013 for a price tag of $410 million.
DSME was originally supposed to deliver it in August 2018, so it has been
delayed by several months.
Launched on 23 January 2017,
the vessel with 14m beam is referred to as the DW3000H design by DSME. It is
based on the KDX-1 destroyer operated by the Republic of Korea Navy.
The vessel has a maximum
speed of 30kt and a range of approximately 4,000nm. It has a complement of
around 135 crew.
The frigate is armed with a
Leonardo 76mm 76/62 Super Rapid gun, one Phalanx close-in weapon system, two
MSI-Defence DS-30M 30mm remote-controlled cannons, two quadruple Harpoon Block
II anti-ship missile launchers, two SEA triple torpedo launchers and an 8-cell
Mk41 vertical launcher system for ESSM surface-to-air missiles.
Sensors include a Sperry
Marine navigation radar and Atlas Elektronik ACTAS towed sonar and ASO
hull-mounted sonar.
DSME subcontracted Saab via
a $134 million award to integrate the 9LV Mk4 combat management system (CMS), Sea
Giraffe 4A and AMB radars and CEROS 200 fire control
radar. Additionally, a Link-T data link is installed on this warship. Link-T
was developed by Saab but is used as Thailand’s sovereign data link that
operates separately from data links such as Link 16.
This link allows warships to
share data with the Royal Thai Air Force’s Air Command and Control System,
including Gripen fighters and Saab
340B airborne early-warning aircraft.
The same Link-T is installed
aboard two Type 25T Naresuan-class
frigates and the aircraft carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebet of the RTN. Saab was given contracts
in 2011-12 to refurbish these three warships.
Chinese systems were
stripped out of both 2,900t Naresuan-class frigates,
and Saab’s 9LV Mk4 replaced the original ZKJ-3T CMS, while Sea Giraffe AMB
radars were installed as well. Also fitted was Saab’s CEROS 200 fire control
system and EOS 500 optronic director.
The contract for Chakri Naruebet saw the 9LV Mk4 CMS and Sea Giraffe
surveillance radar installed.
Thailand had earlier
expressed a desire for a second frigate of this class, and this contract will
go to DSME once sufficient funds are allocated. This time, however, Thailand
wants to build it locally at the Mahidol Adulyadej Naval Dockyard using
technology transfer from DSME.
This dockyard formerly built
HTMS Krabi, an OPV based
on a BAE Systems design and
which was commissioned in 2013. Source: shephardmedia.com
DW-3000F Frigate: Details
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