VICKERS VEDETTE MULTI-PURPOSE CORVETTE PROJECT

      IN an ideal world it would be possible for a navy to have a shipbuilder of experience build the ideal warship - a vessel capable of fulfilling a multiplicity of roles, packing a powerful punch in the way of weaponry, and so reliant on advanced technology that only a minimal number of men would be required to operate the ship efficiently and effectively. The cost would be such as to placate any Treasury, and the Naval Staff would be satisfied that their dreams had come true.
      The ideal, alas, does not exist. Naval staffs and shipbuilders exist and work in a world where the task has to be identified by one and the tool with which to perform that task has to be designed by the other. Looking over their shoulders, as it were, is the Chancellor of the Exchequer and it is he, as well as the Commanders in Chief, who has to be convinced that what is eventually produced will give full value for money in efficiency, effectiveness, acceptable maintenance costs and equally acceptable running costs. That might well explain why, today, there is so much emphasis on a multiple role for a warship and why so much effort is concentrated on producing designs which will have a virtually universal appeal.
      The task is daunting but, so far, the British appear to have done quite well in facing up to it. The British Ministry of Defence, for instance, has produced designs such as those for the Launder class frigates and the Type 42 and 21 destroyers. They have also conceived the Command Cruiser as a ship which can perform at least three tasks, and while their ideas about craft as large as the Type 81 frigates such as HMS Bristol might have been proved by time and money to be less attractive than they were, no one can suggest that there is a paucity of ideas.
      There is always an export potential in any successful British design; hence the attractiveness of the Leander to India and the interest by Argentina in the Type 42, an interest that has crystallized into orders for two ships. Not quite so widely publicised was the joint success of Vosper and Vickers in producing the 36 knot gas turbine-driven Mark V destroyer, four of which were sold to the Imperial Iranian Navy. Now, another promising new design has emerged upon the scene ... the Vickers Vedette.
      More than ten years have passed since Vickers first foresaw the need for a small powerful ocean-going warship which would fill the gap which then existed - and still does in many navies - between the coastal and inshore craft on the one hand and the much larger ocean-going frigates and destroyers on the other. The Mk V Destroyer venture was a step in this direction but for a variety of reasons the development of the design resulted in a ship rather larger than had first been envisaged. The gap remained and by this time the incentive to fill it had been strengthened by influences which were much more relevant than the mere existence of the gap.
      Until the mid 1960s warship costs had been rising slowly in step with the general low level of inflation of about 6% per annum. Then costs began to escalate at a much higher rate until today they have virtually 'taken off' - 50% increase in 1974 alone and no sign of any levelling off. There are few, if any, defence budgets which can absorb continued cost increases of these proportions and some form of exacting reappraisal of the naval role and of the types of ship necessary to fulfil it is almost certainly being conducted at this moment by many naval staffs.
      It is fairly obvious that one way of restricting unit costs is to restrict the size of the unit but is equally obvious that there must be some lower limit of size if the outcome is to be a warship with realistic capabilities which will enable it to undertake most of the duties of the larger ships which it is to replace.
      To resolve this problem Vickers approached it from two directions. Their analysis of warship costs showed that if the displacement was reduced much below 1000 tons the specific cost, in terms of cost per ton of displacement, increased sharply. Above this displacement the specific cost rose slightly and then levelled off. A displacement of 1000 tons therefore seemed to offer the best value for money and it remained to be seen whether the prime requirement, a credible ocean-going capability, could be achieved on this displacement. An entirely new hull form was developed and thoroughly tested in the Vickers ship model tank at St Albans. The results exceeded all expectations - the performance in certain respects being better than that of a Leander class frigate.
      In all this activity time had been on the side of Vickers, for recent developments in weaponry and the associated electronics had by then made feasible the whole concept of a modern fighting ship within the size limits of the hard worked wartime Hunt class destroyers of the Royal Navy. The Mark 8 gun, for instance, weighed something like 28 tons and required two men against the 50-ton gun and 20 men of 20 years previously. A powerful and very modern weapon if it was practicable, and, as the design developed, it became evident that the new ship could even be given the capability of operating a Lynx helicopter. That particular point is now being pursued.
      By coincidence, a type name had been chosen before the design studies were seriously under way, and, in the Vickers tradition, the type had the initial letter V - Vedette, a French word meaning lookout or sentry. It has turned out to be a most appropriate choice, for the Vickers Vedette, now at the stage where it can be offered to the world, will be able to meet tactical and strategic requirements beyond the capabilities of small corvettes or patrol craft. These can be readily seen as the defence of shipping, the escort of naval task forces, the peacetime role of ocean policeman, and the reconnaisance and surveillance that are clearly the duties of the vedette.
      One of Vedette's principal strong points is that it represents a huge saving in manpower - i.e. a crew of 75 all told with about 20 bunks for training, against about 245 for Leander. The importance of this is obvious when one considers that the gross cost of the crew - including recruitment, training and pay - accounts for 40-55% of total life cycle costs in Royal Navy ships.
      The designed tonnage of the current versions has slightly exceeded the planned 1,000, but already Vickers are able to offer a ship with a displacement of about 1,100 tons, and alternative propulsion systems. With CODOG arrangement of Paxman diesels and a Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbine developing a maximum 25,000 shp the speed is 32 knots and the range 6,440 kilometres at 16 knots. Given two diesel engines and a total maximum power of 8,300 shp, the top speed is about 24 knots and the range 4,830 kilometres at 16 knots.
      There are now four basic versions of the same design and the possibility of others being developed, the armament varying slightly according to basic purpose - see separate lables. Air surveillance, tracking, and navigational radar, plus sonar are all included in each outfit.
      Pricewise, Vickers see their ship having total life-cycle costs of about 45% of comparable figures for a typical frigate. Britain, for instance, might be persuaded to consider the usefulness of the Vedette in a surveillance role for offshore oil rigs, particularly as Vickers, rather expert in being able to assess through-life costs, consider that their Vedette will be able to spend half her operational life at sea. Better still, from the point of view of any Treasury, the total cost per day of operation for the Vedette will be about 35% of the equivalent figure for a frigate of the Leander type. Vickers have made no secret of the fact that the background of the Vedette design is essentially one of simple economics. That should not surprise anybody, but it probably explains why a Vedette hull, with a walerline length of 250 feet and a beam of 32 feet, will be of welded mild steel construction. It will be simpler, cheaper and more robust than is common in warships, and the use of widely available commercial plates and sections will simplify maintenance and repair. General layout is conventional but there is emphasis on functional grouping and good communication. All operational, working and living spaces will be air conditioned and the ship's habitabilily generally will be better than current British Ministry of Defence standards.
      One other rather interesting point is that aluminium alloy will be employed extensively in the construction of the superstructure, a building technique employed with considerable success in liners like the Oriana and Queen Elizabeth 2. That has helped Vickers keep within their selfimposed limits and it might also be a help in selling what is clearly much more than an interesting exercise in design. In Vedette. Vickers could well have a winner for both the home and export markets.