Cutlass Fury 2021 - Part Two

 Another visiting naval vessel arrived this morning in advance of Operation  Cutlass Fury 2021. FS Aquitaine D-650 is no stranger to Halifax, as it made a call here on its first long cruise. Following commissioning in 2012, it arrived in Halifax in April 2013.

A European multi-purpose frigate, its design has been adopted by numerous countries even including a variation for the United States. Naturally Canada has not adopted the Fincantieri product preferring to stand alone (and spend more...?).

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Halifax and Fredericton - post FELEX update and post Halifax class [slightly revised]

1. HMCS Halifax reposes at the Docyard this afternoon. [A Canadian maple leaf flag that appears to be flying from the ship's stern, is actually on shore in Dartmouth.]

Of the four east coast RCN ships undergoing FELEX (Frigate Equipment Life Extension) programs, three are "ex shipyard" and one is still in progress.
HMCS Halifax was the first ship in the program, and it emerged in September 2011, then spent many months alongside at HMC Dockyard for other related work. HMCS Fredericton came out in October 2012 and after a similar period alongside, is now working up.
HMCS Montreal left the shipyard in July and is still in the "alongside" mode at the Dockyard. while HMCS Charlottetown is in the graving dock at Halifax Shipyard. It is due for completion of the shipyard program in April 2014.

2. HMCS Fredericton has spent the weekend at the north end of Bedford Basin tied up to trot buoys for trials.

For a fairly complete description of the scope of these refits see:

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/halifax/

According to the latest schedule I have been able to find, HMCS Ville de Quebec is next in line to start in the fall of 2014, followed  preceeded by HMCS St. John's in the winter of 2013-2014 and HMCS Toronto in the summer of 2015. This is quite different in the order of ships (and the end dates) from what was originally published.

Why there has been such a long gap between the current Charlottetown refit and the next Ville de Quebec start is a mystery to me.

Someday we will learn how close Lockheed-Martin came to budget and timetable.

Meanwhile defense industry fat cats, in Halifax this weekend for a conference, while not being chauffered around town in a fleet of Audis (with Ontario license plates), were told that the the French company DCNS is eager to sell their design to Canada for the next class of frigates to be acquired under the NSPS. This was not news, as the splendid FS Aquitaine was here earlier this year and impressed most people.

3. FS Aquitaine on April 11, 2013, for comparison purposes.

4. Spy Central in the background, and a license plate with indigestion in the foreground. I hope this security conference attendee did not over indulge on the way to work.
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FS Aquitaine sails

The newly minted FREMM FS Aquitaine sailed this morning and obligingly took the course west of George's Island.Because the channel is narrower (though deeper) to the west, and there were divers working at pier 22, the tug Atlantic Willow took up position as stern escort. The pilot boat Chebucto Pilot also paced the ship as they took the western channel outbound to avoid the inbound deep draft tanker Minerva Marina.

It certainly is a splendid ship, and received favourable comments from the Minister of Defence when he made a tour on the weekend. Should this be the model for the new RCN frigates, it would at least be a proven design, with several novel features, including reduced crew size, and multi-mission capability.
It certainly appears that DCNS (the French state owned naval builder) and Fincantieri (the Italian mega ship builder) have got their act together on this one.
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FS Aquitaine - a first look

The spanking new French frigate Aquitaine put in to Halifax today as part of its first "Long Cruise" Following commissioning in November 23, 2012, the FREMM (frégate multi-mission) has been working up with various milestones, such as first replenishment at sea (January), first missile firing (Ferbruary) and most recently on April 9 a replenishment at sea from a USN T-AO off Norfolk.
http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/year-2013-news/april-2013-navy-world-naval-forces-maritime-industry-technology-news/985-fremm-aquitaine-french-navys-newest-frigate-conducts-ras-with-us-navy-units.html

This is the first of nine state of the art frigates for the French Navy, ten for the Italian navy and one for Morocco.

Despite Halifax's notorious early morning sunshine, it was possible to see a number of the ship's features, including its helicopter (outside its hangar) and a rapidly spinning radar in a pyramidal shaped box mounted on the bridge.
The features of the FREMM  are too numerous to mention, but there are scores of excellent descriptions and  videos on the net:

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/fremm/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-qLdebC6m0

Given the tendency of visiting naval ships to pass east of George's Island on departure, there is little chance of better pictures when the ship leaves, but I will update this post if I get more.

Once tied up at HMC Dockyard, in full sun, a few more details become visible, including the helo perched over the stern.

HMCS Halifax - back from sea and other navy news

Navy News for today:

• HMCS Halifax returned from sea last night and anchored in the harbour. It got under way at 0800 hrs this morning to tie up in the Dockyard.

 1. Halifax weighs anchor at 0800 hrs.

• Meanwhile HMCS St.John's , Iroquois, and Preserver were reported in Leith, Scotland this week.

• Due tomorrow at 0900 at the pilot station is FS Aquitaine, the brand new French frigate, just commissioned in November and on its first "long cruise."