A Look at the İ-Class Frigate Project
İbrahim Sünnetci
Issue 104
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The I Class Frigates will feature new generation (Networked Capability, higher performance and a shortened reaction time) the GENESIS ADVENT (Network Enabled Data Integrated Combat Management System) Combat Management System (CMS). As a platform-independent CMS “Developed with the Naval Forces for the Naval Forces” and which can be integrated with a wide variety of sensors and weapons, the GENESIS ADVENT is a powerful and scalable C4I System that provides planning, tactical picture compilation, decision-making and weapon control to meet current and emergent threats. The ADVENT CMS, which has been developed in 3 different facilities of ARMERKOM and Havelsan, is one of the most comprehensive Combat Management Systems both in Turkey and the world with approximately 550 applications and 13 million lines of code. The İ Class will also feature the ADVENT LINK, which works under the ADVENT CMS, allowing different communication protocols to communicate with each other. This system supports Link 11, Link 16, Link 22, VMF, FFI and Web Service protocols, as well as the Multi-Link Process protocol that enables Link 11, Link 16 and Link 22 to communicate with each other.
For Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW/ missions the İ Class Frigates will have the SH-70 ASW/ASUW Helicopter, Aselsan’s FERSAH hull mounted medium frequency active/passive sonar system and new version of HIZIR Torpedo Defense System with a Towed Array containing both low frequency active (DÜFAS, Low Frequency Active Sonar to replace Towed Decoy) and passive sonar arrays/transducers as well as a winch positioned at the stern of the vessel and a pair of expendable acoustic decoy launchers deployed at port and starboard.
The navigation, communication and sensor systems to be installed in the İ Class vessels will include AKREP (AKR-D Block B-1/2) Fire Control Radar, X-Bant SatCom System, LN270 Fiber-Optic Gyros (FOGs), Laser Warning System, IFF System, SeaEye-AHTAPOT EO Reconnaissance and Surveillance System, PIRI-KATS IRST System (dual band [LW & MW] IR Search and Tracking System with 3 antennas each has 120-degree coverage and able to track 150 targets simultaneously), KULAÇ EchoSounder System (depth measurement equipment), MILPARS Electromagnetic Log System, Underwater Telephone and ALPER LPI Navigation Radar. The TCG Istanbul Frigate was planned to be fitted with the SMART-S Mk2 3D Surveillance Radar but as underlined above the ship will be integrated with new indigenous 3D naval surveillance radar. Aselsan previously introduced the HAZAR 3D Naval Radar Family with rotating active phase array antenna for the first time at IDEF ‘13 Fair with a scaled mock-up of the system. It can be produced in different sizes as S-Band and X-Band thanks to its scalable architecture and the HAZAR multi-function rotating/scanning digital AESA radar will feature GaN based solid-state Transmit & Receive (T/R) modules.
The İ Class Frigates will be fitted with a comprehensive integrated ESM and ECM suite including Aselsan’s ARES-2N Radar ESM (probably the V2 version which features new generation wide-band receivers improving instantaneous band width and receiver parameters) and new generation AREAS-2N Radar EA System. Featuring both wide and narrow band digital receivers, Digital RF Memory (DRFM, for modern coherent threats) and solid-state power amplifiers the AREAS-2N Radar Electronic Attack System will include a total of 4 AESA antennas (each covers 90-degree field of view and incorporates over 1,000 T/R modules) of which two of them will be deployed at port and the remaining two at starboard side of the ship. Thanks to its directional RF radiation capability, which enables deceptive and noise jamming techniques in a dynamic threat environment the AREAS-2N Radar EA System is able to jam/deceive up to 32 threats simultaneously (8 threats per antenna). At the moment only YAVUZ and BARBAROS Class Frigates of the Turkish Navy have Radar EA capability thanks to their Scorpion 2 Radar EA System. Turkish Navy performed its first ever Radar EA test with Scorpion 2 Radar EA System on board the TCG Turgutreis Frigate against 16 F-16 aircraft of the TurAF in the Mediterranean Sea in 1993 and successfully jammed AN/APG-68 radars of these aircraft (which does not have AN/ALQ-178(V)3 EW Self Protection System at that time). According to a Thales product brochure, performing at 7.5GHz to 18GHz frequency range and providing 360-degree azimuth coverage, the DRFM capable Scorpion 2 is able to generate up to 200kW ERP and able to deal with 6 threats simultaneously.
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Rest of the analysis here;
A Look at the İ-Class Frigate Project
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