Flatvision Industry News

The UK Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth-class (QE) aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has been fitted with the first Rolls-Royce marine gas turbine, MT30, at Babcock’s Rosyth shipyard in Scotland.

Rolls-Royce Marine president Tony Wood said the installation of the first MT30 engine marked a significant milestone in the Queen Elizabeth-class construction programme.

Each of the two Queen Elizabeth-class frigates, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will be equipped with two 36MW MT30s to provide power equal to two thirds of the 109MW.

Designed to provide cost-effective propulsion, the compact, lightweight MT30 is a twin-spool, engine based on the Rolls-Royce Trent 800 aero engine technology.

Currently undergoing construction at shipyards around the country, the two aircraft carriers are scheduled to enter service in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

(For full article please see: http://www.naval-technology.com)

Our ‘StormVision’ display range has been designed specifically for harsh-duty demanding avionics applications, where the visual performance, power-efficient operation and low heat design provides increased reliability and longevity critical for extreme environment avionics applications.

These sunlight viewable monitors are shock and vibration tested, altitude-ready, light weight and water-tight, incorporating front-mounted controls and optional touch-screen technology providing a user-friendly monitor interface solution.

* Fully-sealed IP67/NEMA 6 black anodized milled aluminium casing including connectors provides water/dust proof protection

Babcock is undertaking a programme of work to the Royal Navy’s largest ship, HMS Ocean, to prepare the amphibious assault ship for her military support role to the London Olympics. HMS Ocean will be moored at Greenwich and will act as a maritime hub in support of police-led maritime security operations during the Olympic Games. The 21,500 tonne warship can house 1,100 people, and will operate a number of Royal Navy and Army helicopters.

Part of the work being undertaken by Babcock to prepare Ocean for her London role is the installation of a ‘London berthing arrangement’ to allow the ship to berth in the Thames and accept the ‘London Brow’ (a large pontoon moored alongside the ship with gangways providing access to the ship). This includes installing pontoon mooring eye plates and access platforms in the landing craft bays.

Other work being undertaken includes upgrades to fuel stowages, improvements to flight deck communication to support flying operations, an extensive habitability package (including installation of over 2,000 items) to accommodate additional personnel during the Olympics, a galley and laundry package, painting of the weatherdecks and superstructure, and maintenance to critical systems including aircraft lifts and the chilled water and salt water systems.

(To see full article please see: http://www.asdnews.com)

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) engineers are weaponizing the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter for an urgent request from the U.S. This is the first time the Navy has armed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Weapons planned for the Fire Scout include a laser-guided rocket, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS).

Personnel from NAVAIR’s structures rotary-wing division worked with the Fire Scout engineers to run tests on the unmanned helicopter’s new hardware, which will measure how the new system performs in a shipboard environment.

Navy officials saw arming this aircraft as an urgent need, “so we are pressing forward as hard as we can to get it out there,” says Jeremy Moore, the Fire Scout weapons system integration lead.

The weaponization was fast, taking place in a little over 18 months, when it usually takes at least two to three years for such a process, Moore says. A guided rocket gives the Fire Scout the ability to engage hostile threats independent of air support from shore or carrier-based aircraft.

Flight and ground tests will be conducted later this year.

(For further details please view: http://mil-embedded.com)

SAN DIEGO: USS Peleliu (LHA 5) became the first ship in the Navy to implement the amphibious low-light surveillance system (ALSS) Aug. 12 while in port San Diego.

Peleliu’s ALSS provides for safer evolutions by allowing operational leaders more visibility of spaces on the ship and wider, zoomable views of places the old camera system covered.

“We installed 29 cameras, which can be controlled from eight stations throughout the ship,” said Dan Bischoff, project leader for Naval Air Systems Command in Lakehurst, N.J. “A combination of fixed and movable cameras with zoom capability will help cover the flight deck, well deck, waterline, hangar bay, vehicle stowage and engineering spaces.”

Bischoff estimated the implementation of ALSS from start to finish cost more than $1 million and was completed by a team effort of professionals from General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Sea Systems Command.

Bischoff said the bombing of the USS Cole (DDG 67) on Oct. 12, 2000, influenced the planning of ALSS.

“Originally the ALSS was going to be used primarily for flight deck and amphibious operations only, but the Cole incident showed the benefits of being able to remotely monitor engineering spaces,” said Bischoff. “So, the designs were changed and the concept grew.”

Bischoff added that the ALSS works well with Peleliu’s new green well deck and primary flight control tower’s lighting, which provides for safe night vision device operations.

Another practical use of ALSS is video surveillance, helping to assist the ship’s security force.

“This system is better than the last one we had,” said Master-at-Arms 1st Class (SW) Ronald Maples, security leading petty officer. “It has better clarity, detail and definition. Before, we could barely make out if someone on the pier approaching the ship was a male or female, but now we can actually tell specifically who it is.”

Maples said the new system’s steerable zooming features enable the ship’s security force to track “persons of interest” near the ship, which the old system’s cameras could not do.

(See article at: http://www.defencetalk.com)

Scientists from the University of Illinois, US, have developed and successfully demonstrated an acoustic metamaterial cloak that could make submarines completely invisible to sonar and other ultrasound waves.

Mechanical science and engineering professor Nicholas Fang and his team have tried testing the technology on objects with different materials and densities and proved that the cloak could make objects invisible to a broad range of sound waves.

“We are not talking about science fiction. We are talking about controlling sound waves by bending and twisting them in a designer space,” he said.

The metamaterial cloak consists of 16 concentric rings of acoustic circuits that bend the sound waves to wrap them around the outer layers of the cloak making it appear invisible.

According to an Australian Government report, military sonar systems generally operate from 1,000Hz to 500kHz and the cloak is capable of covering sound wavelengths, from 40kHz to 80kHz.

The technology could also be used by other areas of submarine stealth including cavitation, through which small bubbles form and burst around fast moving objects such as propeller blades.

(See full article at: www.naval-technology.com)

Our OceanVision display range incorporating Marine Certified Panel Mount LCD Monitors has been designed specifically for harsh-duty demanding Marine & Naval applications, where the robust and durable construction alongside a power-efficient and low heat design provides increased reliability and longevity required for mission-critical applications.

Our professional marine displays available in sizes ranging from 10.4” up to 19”, are housed within a rugged industrial metal-cased enclosure, and IP65-Sealed front bezel with front-mounted OSD controls, and are suitable for a wide variety of Naval and commercial shipping applications, where marine certification including IEC 60945, long-term vibration resilience and display stability are essential decision criteria.

Within this range we also have the ability to offer a selection of monitor enhancements including Sunlight Readability, 100-240vAC Power Input, Touch-Screen Technology and Various mounting options which can be selected in accordance with your specific application.

Features available within our StormVision range include:

As with any customised solution, the features of the display are critical to the individual customer, and so as part of our consultation process we will enquire further about the application in more detail to propose the best solution, based on the displays purpose, environment, timescales and budget.

For more information on our OceanVision range of displays, please feel free to give us a call on: (01782) 567979 and provide us with a specification you have in mind, or alternatively send us an e-mail: sales@flatvision.co.uk.

(For further information please visit our website: www.flatvision.co.uk)

TOKYO, Aug 24, 2009 (AFP) – Dozens of Japanese activists on Monday protested the arrival of a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier at a port near Tokyo.

The demonstrators sailed small boats into Tokyo Bay and handed flyers to arriving crew of the USS Nimitz when it docked in the naval hub of Yokosuka, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Tokyo.

“We are worried about the safety of the nuclear-powered vessel,” protest leader Masahiko Goto told AFP. “We hear the USS Nimitz came to pick up supplies and offer holidays to its crew, but we don’t know other details.

“They should disclose more information, including on the nuclear reactor.”

The USS George Washington last year docked in Yokosuka to become the first US nuclear-powered vessel to be based overseas.

It also met protests by activists who said it was unprecedented for a nuclear-powered ship to be located so close to densely populated areas.

Japan has campaigned against nuclear weapons since US atomic bombs destroyed its cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, killing more than 210,000 people.

Since its defeat, Japan has been officially pacifist and relied on a security alliance with the United States, which has stationed more than 47,000 troops in the country.

In March, the US Navy said it deployed two warships in waters off Japan ahead of North Korea’s planned rocket launch the following month.

Japan once operated a nuclear-powered ship, the cargo vessel Mutsu, from
1972 to 1992, when its engines were switched to diesel. The ship had sprung a nuclear leak on its first test run in the Pacific in 1974.

About one third of Japan’s energy needs are met by nuclear power.

(See article – http://www.asd-network.com)