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Navy News JANUARY 1993
30p
An appropriate title for this stunning photograph of HMS Ark Royal, With ship's company linintj the deck in Procedure Alpha somewhere off the east coast of the United States. It won POA(Phot) Chris Nortrrthe Maritime Trophy in the annual Royal Navy photographic Peregrine Trophy Competition (see centre pages for more pictures and full results).
THE war of words over where RN nuclear submarines should be refitted in future has continued unabated, drawing in strong views from individual areas, including MPs, and the representations of trade unions. As speculation has continued over the future of Devonport and Rosyth for nuclear refitting, it was made clear for the Government in December that further time was needed to assess the situation. "We continue to receive from a variety of sources much detailed and important information which bears on future arrangements for the refitting and repair of Royal Navy vessels, particularly nuclear-powered submarines. "This information has recently included a further series of proposals from the contractors at the Royal dockyards for Back from her final major deployment the provision of the new dockyard facilibefore going into a state of "extended ties that will be needed to support Trireadiness" later this year is the last of dent submarines. the Portsmouth-built Leanders, HMS "We now expect that the need to assess Andromeda. In five months she has properly the latest contractor proposals sailed the seven seas from the Baltic will preclude an announcement before to the Adriatic (see page 2). the House returns after the Christmas recess, but we will make an announcement thereafter as soon as we responsibly can."
Home is the sailor
TRIPLE ENTENTE FOR FUTURE FRIGATE CHIEFS of Naval Staff of the French, Italian and Royal Navies signed a joint staff requirement for the Anglo-French Future Frigate in London last month — for the first time publicly introducing the Italians into a project designed to provide a low-cost common anti-air warfare platform for the first decades of the next century. First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Julian Oswald said value for money was a prime consideration for all involved — which his Italian counterpart Admiral Guido Venturoni expected would be derived from on-going exchange of ideas in use of manpower, maintenance and operation as well as from savings in spreading the load in research and development. Admiral Oswald added that having such a vessel in common — in the Royal Navy's case it is designed to replace the Type 42 destroyer once it comes into service in 2002 — would lead to a deeper type of co-operation between navies that
already enjoyed close working relationships. For the French Navy, Admiral Alain Coatanea felt there was "no other way to go forward — and il is a good way." Controller of the Navy Vicc-Admiral Sir Kenneth Eaton — mindful of the unhappy history of the Nato NFR 90 which was weighed down by the demands of eight participating navies — said there was no likelihood of introducing any more partners to the project, since no other European Navy was in the market for an anti-air warfare vessel in the same timescale. It is planned that development and build of the first of class ships will be contracted to an International Joint Venture Company early in 1995 following a competition. Each nation will build its own ships — the French and Italians each have a requirement for four w h i l e the Royal Navy wants 12. The Italian involvement has come with the discovery, as with the French, of a broadly similar requirement. Discussions are continuing which may soon lead to full Italian participation while a full joint project is due to get the go-ahead w i t h a memorandum of understanding in autumn this year.