Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Hanwha Naval Shield CMS Link 16 Certification Update – April 14, 2020

Here is an update from the South Korean Press on the Link 16 (L16) Certification Issue of the Naval Shield (NS) Combat Management System (CMS) used on the BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) Frigate of the Philippine Navy (PN).

This news article was released last month on March 17, 2020, and basically what it says is that:

* Hanwha Systems proposed the use of the Air Defense Systems Integrator (ADSI) made by the United Kingdom (UK) company Ultra Electronics which is also a L16 Simulator to verify the compatibility of the NS with L16.

* Hanwha Systems provided to the PN an Official Letter from the United States (US) of the ADSI’s compatibility with L16, but the PN reportedly is asking the US Government for additional documents to confirm this compatibility.

In short, unless the US Government grants the PN’s request for additional documents certifying the NS as L16 compatible, then it seems that things will be at a standstill, meaning the PN won’t accept the ship, as I understand it for now.

First off, remember that South Korea (SK) uses a lot of assets that are L16 compatible, so the question for me is how did they certify the L16 compatibility of those assets? Did they use ADSI also? Which assets were these? If so … then in theory it should be good enough, especially if those assets that were certified by ADSI were eventually installed with L16 Terminals and proven to work.

If Hanwha / Ultra Electronics cannot prove any asset certified by ADSI to be truly L16 compatible then I would agree with the PN on this.

Also what is the procedure really for certifying the compatibility of assets to L16? Do they really go to the US Government each and every time, or are certified L16 Simulators good enough?

How does Thales test and certify their Tacticos to confirm L16 compatibility for example, what L16 Simulators do they use? Each unit out there need to be tested for compatibility via a L16 Simulator, so I am sure they have their own procedure also.

I also have some concerns about how responsive the US will be to grant the PN’s request since, as we all know, relations between the US and the Duterte Government has not been very smooth lately.

Lastly if the US won’t be as responsive then perhaps the PN could go and have another L16 Simulator aside from ADSI to test the NS CMS, perhaps the same L16 Simulator that Thales is using for their Tacticos just to make sure everything is clear.

But there could be additional issues as well, like who will shoulder the cost for that. Remember though that the ship itself will be delivered without L16 Terminals and that it will still function well. The question here is whether the L16 Terminals will work with the NS CMS once they are installed later.

At any rate, the SAGA of the Jose Rizal class Frigates continues. Frankly I feel a bit sorry for these ships, they haven’t reached the Philippines yet and they have already gone thru so much.

What should’ve been a celebration of the PN’s first true modern warships ended up with so much negativity around them. Such a tragedy, a big, big tragedy for me.

I am posting below the complete English Translation by Google Translate of the South Korean article:

*********************

Philippine Navy, Hanwha Systems, Monty

Reporter Gil So-yeon ksy@theguru.co.kr
Registration 2020.03.17 09:21:21

-Philippines Authority Needs to Verify Reliability for ADSI -Thales of Thales pushed against CMS contract

[The Guru = Reporter Gil So-yeon] It was alleged that there was concern about delay in the final delivery of the Philippine Navy frigate trap equipped with Hanwha Systems' Trap Combat System (CMS).

This is because the Philippine authorities pointed out the CMS compatibility of Hanwha Systems with the tactical data link (Link-16), which is expected to secure a frigate, and requested the US government's compatibility certification document.

According to industry and Philippine media Inquire on the 17th, Navy General Giovanni Carlo Barcor said on the 10th (local time), "The introduction of the frigate is ongoing without delay." .

The certification process that the Philippine Navy is waiting for is whether the CMS of Hanwha Systems mounted on the Philippine Export Escort is compatible with the US Tactical Data Link (LINK16).

In the beginning, even though Hanwha Systems proposed to the Philippines to test with ADSI, a Link-16 simulator, to verify compatibility, the Philippines side requested verification of ADSI reliability.

Hanwha Systems proved its authenticity by providing an official letter from the United States' original ADSI manufacturer to the Philippines, but the Philippine authorities said that the letter of the company was not sufficient and that they had to go through the certification process by asking for US government documents. 

From the standpoint of Hanwha Systems, the Philippine authorities are embarrassed by the establishment of a flagship with ADSI certification while the delivery schedule is being completed without any delays, such as the successful completion of a frigate trap equipped with its CMS.

CMS is a large equipment for the trap brain. It is an integrated system that maximizes the effectiveness of ship combat by generating and sharing integrated tactical situation information by connecting ship-mounted detection, armament, and navigation support equipment through a network.

The CMS of Hanwha Systems is designed as an open distributed structure based on the world standard open architecture, and can be configured in various ways according to the duties and characteristics of the trap, and implements the multi-tactical data link integrated design essential for the integrated operation. It is characterized by applying ergonomic design in consideration of user convenience and ensuring improved operability and maintainability.

Earlier, Hanwha Systems was finally selected as a supplier of frigate combat management systems for the Philippine Navy last May. <Reference on May 27, 2019 Hanwha supplies combat management system to Philippine Navy escorts>

Hyundai Heavy Industries will be mounted on two frigates worth 370 billion won from the Philippine government in 2016.

The first ship of the frigate with CMS of Hanwha Systems will be delivered in the 3rd to 4th week of April, and the 2nd ship will be delivered in September to October of this year.

Some argue that the demand for US government certification by the Philippine authorities is a deterrent to Thales, who has fallen out of the CMS competition. It means that Thales will scratch Hanwha Systems to secure the next business.

The CMS debate began in 2016 when the Philippine government signed a contract to build two frigates with Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The Philippine Navy's technical work group and project management team selected Thales' TACTICOS combat data system to meet the compatibility of tactical data link 16 (TDL 16), a military network used by NATO and Allied forces to exchange data in real time.

However, while Delphin Lorenza and Philippine Defense Minister objected to this, he argued that the Hanwha system, not Thales, was finally selected. In the process, the commander of the Navy, Mercado, was also dismissed for disobedience to the order of the Secretary of Defense.

An industry official said, "Hanwha's CMS is already installed in the Philippine frigate, and the frigate acceptance test (including CMS-Link16 test) has been successfully conducted. Issuance is in progress".

SOURCE: "인증 절차 다시 밟아라" 필리핀 해군, 한화시스템에 몽니

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