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By A. D. Baker III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
The Tumleren (S 322) is the first of three ex-Norwegian Kobben-class submarines to be modernized and recommissioned into the Danish Navy. The former Utvaer (S 303) was originally commissioned in 1965 and displaces 482 metric tons submerged. Two sisters, the Saelen (S 323, ex-Uthaug, S 304) and the Springeren (S 324, ex-Kya, S 317), have also been purchased by Denmark, which also operates two very similar Danish-built, German-designed submarines. The modernized ex-Norwegian units have been lengthened by two meters and have received updated sensors and combat information systems.
The At Jawf (420), the first of six British-built Sundown-class minehunters on order for the Royal Saudi Arabian Navy, was launched on 2 August 1989 and is to be operational by August 1991. The 520 metric ton full-load displacement ship is constructed of glass-reinforced plastic and is 172 feet overall. A Plessey Type 2093 minehunting sonar is fitted, and two PAP-104 Mk.5 remote-controlled submersibles are to be used for mine identification and disposal.
Demonstrated at the September 1989 Royal Naval Equipment Exhibition at Portsmouth was the sleek, privately financed Kevlar-construction “multimission high speed craft” Viper, designed and built by Vosper-Thor- nycroft. Capable of 56 knots maximum continuous speed, the 61-foot craft has a range of 600 nautical miles at 40 knots and is powered by two MAN diesels. The normal crew is two, but there are facilities for eight passengers. The prototype carries two .50-caliber machineguns, and it may be destined for the Colombian Navy to help combat the illegal drug trade.
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