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MICHAEL NITZ
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MICHAEL NITZ

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Combat Fleets

By Eric Wertheim
August 2009
Proceedings
Vol. 135/8/1,278
Article
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India's navy recently sent a four-ship task group on an extensive four-month deployment intended to increase cooperation while taking part in training and visiting ports in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Headed by the Project-15 destroyer INS Delhi, which acted as flagship, the force included the Improved Godavari-class frigate Brahmaputra and her sister ship, Beas, shown here. Rounding out and supporting the task group was the Rajabagan Palan-class replenishment oiler Aditya. The group operated throughout early summer with forces from a number of navies, including the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. The deployment began by passing through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea and continued across the Mediterranean Sea and into English Channel, Gulf of Finland, and Baltic Sea. Exercises with warships from the Royal Navy and French fleet as well as a visit to the Russian Baltic fleet, provided the Indian Navy with an opportunity to gain expertise under far different environmental and climatic conditions than those generally found off India's coast. 

 


On 21 June 2009 the Fatah, flagship of Iraq's growing navy, arrived at her new homeport of Umm Qasr. The vessel is the first of four patrol boats manufactured by Fincantieri shipyard in La Spezia, Italy, for the Iraqi maritime force. Built to a modified Ubaldo Diciotti-class design, the Fatah, meaning "Conquer" or "Victory," is 53.4 meters long and carries a crew of 34. In January 2009 Iraqi crewmembers arrived in Italy to begin training on board the vessel. Following the Fatah's official delivery on 15 May, the flagship departed Italian waters. Capable of traveling at a top speed of 23 knots, the Fatah journeyed for 26 days over 5,000 nautical miles by way of the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Red Sea, and around the Arabian Peninsula into Iraqi waters. Three additional units of the class are due to follow a similar route, arriving in Iraq by early 2010.

 


Throughout late spring 2009 numerous sightings were made of an unknown type of patrol boat fitting out at Lurssen Werft shipyard in Bremen, Germany. The boat, currently undergoing sea trials, appears to be a new patrol craft for the navy of the State of Brunei. She is named Ijhtihad and carries hull number 17. According to observers and reports, the Ijhtihad is 41 meters long with an 8-meter beam and a draft of 1.9 meters. This would make the craft roughly 20 percent smaller than U.S. Cyclone-class patrol vessels. Carrying a small rigid-hull inflatable boat at her stern, photos of Ijhtihad show that the ship is also armed with a forward-mounted gun. Though covered, the weapon seems similar in size to the 25-mm Bushmaster cannon carried on board a number of U.S. warships and may in fact be the German Mauser MLG 27, a naval variant of the gun fitted to the Panavia Tornado strike aircraft. Additional details, including the total number of ships to be built, remain unknown.

Mr. Wertheim, a defense consultant in the Washington, D.C., area, is the author of The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 15th edition, currently available from the Naval Institute Press at www.usni.org.
The Commander

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