Iver Huitfeldt class frigate


F361 Iver Huitfeldt in Fredericia during seatrails, January 2011
Class overview
Builders: Odense Staalskibsværft
Operators: Royal Danish Navy
Built: 2008-2011
In commission: 2012 onwards
Building: 3
Planned: 3
General characteristics
Type: Air defence frigate
Displacement: 6,645 tonnes (full load)
Length: 138.7 m (455 ft)
Beam: 19.75 m (64.8 ft)
Draft: 5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion: Four MTU 8000 20V M70 diesel engines, 8 MW each.
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range: 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement: 165
Crew: 101
Sensors and
processing systems:

1 Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar

1 Thales Nederland APAR air and surface search, tracking and guidance radar (I band)
Atlas ASO 94 sonar
2 Saab CEROS 200 fire control radars
ES-3701 Tactical Radar Electronic Support Measures (ESM)
Electronic warfare
and decoys:
4 × 12-barrelled Terma DL-12T 130 mm decoy launchers
2 × 6-barrelled Terma DL-6T 130 mm decoy launchers
Seagnat Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament: 4 x VLS with up to 32 SM-2 IIIA surface-to-air missiles (Mk 41 VLS)
2 × VLS with up to 24 RIM-162 ESSM (Mk 56 VLS)
8-16 × Harpoon Block II SSM
1 × Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun System CIWS
2 x Otobreda 76 mm
2 × dual MU90 Impact ASW torpedo launchers
Aircraft carried: 1 × EH-101
Aviation facilities: Aft helicopter deck and hangar

The Iver Huitfeldt class will be a three-ship class of frigates entering service with the Royal Danish Navy in 2012 and 2013.[1]

Contents

Background

The class is built on the experience gained from the Absalon-class command and support ships, and by reusing the basic hull design of the Absalon class the Royal Danish Navy have been able to construct the Iver Huitfeldt class considerably cheaper than comparable ships.[2] The frigates are compatible with the Danish Navy's StanFlex modular mission payload system used in the Absalons, and are designed with slots for six modules.[3]

While the Absalon class ships are primarily designed for command and support roles, with a large ro-ro deck, the planned three new Iver Huitfeldt frigates will be equipped for a fighting role, and the potential to use Tomahawk cruise missiles,[4] a first for the Danish Navy.

Anti-air warfare

These ships share their Anti-Air Warfare suite with the Royal Netherlands Navy's De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates and the German Navy's Sachsen-class frigates. The sensors of this suite include the long range surveillance radar SMART-L and the multi-function radar APAR. The SMART-L and APAR are highly complementary, in the sense that SMART-L is a L band radar providing very long range surveillance while APAR is an I band radar providing precise target tracking, a highly capable horizon search capability, and missile guidance using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique, thus allowing guidance of 32 semi-active radar homing missiles in flight simultaneously, including 16 in the terminal guidance phase.[5] The primary anti-air weapons are the point defence Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and the area defence SM-2 IIIA. The Mk 41 Vertical Launch System is used to house and launch these missiles. Up to 24 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and 32 SM-2 IIIA may be carried.

List of ships

Name Number Type Laied Launched Commissioned Status
HDMS Iver Huitfeldt F361 frigate June 2008 March 2010 Testing
HDMS Peter Willemoes F362 frigate March 2009 December 2010
HDMS Niels Juel F363 frigate December 2009

References