Dual-use navy requires balanced fleet
Courtesy of Surface SITREP. Republished with the permission of the Surface Navy Association (
www.navysna.org)
The Portuguese navy, known as Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa or Armada Portuguesa, can trace its origins back to the 12th century, and is the oldest continuously serving navy in the world. Today, as part of the Portuguese armed forces, the Marinha is charged with the defense of Portugal, assuring sovereignty, and meeting international commitments as part of NATO, the European Union, and other organizations.
“We cannot be a specialized navy. We must stay focused on being a balanced navy.”
“In spite of Portugal being a small country, it has huge ocean and vast maritime responsibilities,” says Vice Adm. Antonio Silva Ribeiro, director general of the Maritime Authority of Portugal. “Our economic exclusive zone is 1.7 million square kilometers, the 10th largest in the world, and our search and rescue area is 5.8 million square kilometers.
Ribeiro says Portugal’s navy must be balanced between military defense of the country and non-military support to safety, environmental protection and economic development. “We cannot be a specialized navy. We must stay focused on being a balanced navy.”
Portugal’s international commitments include participation in standing NATO forces and multinational coalition operations such as Ocean Shield, Active Endeavor and Atalanta. The Portuguese navy has also deployed to former colonies such as Cape Verde Islands, Guinea Bissau and East Timor.
“Our international commitments are diversified. We have to commit ships to very distant parts of the world. For example, we have a commitment in East Timor, our international commitments within NATO, of which we are a founding member, and within standing maritime forces in operations Ocean Shield, Active Endeavor, and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). We also commit ships and navy assets to the European Union Operation Atalanta, in Somalia, and Mali. In some recent engagements in the Portuguese-speaking countries – we have very strong relations with our former colonies – we have employed assets in Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and East Timor,” says Ribeiro.
“We are a dual-role navy, which basically means we act as both a navy and a coast guard,” he says. “We have different legal frameworks and authorities, but we have been both a navy and a coast guard, for 200 years. We never divided and developed a new and completely separate entity due to the fact that it’s more affordable for the country to use these ships in both military and non-military activities.”
“As a dual-use navy, we also commit assets to Frontex – the European Union’s border patrol mission – and to the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization. And we have to consider security and safety challenges,” he says.
Ribeiro says doctrine is based upon two main ideas. “The first one is our dual-role navy that enables Portugal to use the sea based upon its needs. With this proposal, the navy has three tasks: military defense and support to foreign policy; security, safety, and state authority; and economic, scientific and cultural development. This military defense and support to foreign policies is focused on our military action, and the other two tasks are related with non-military action. And this is the concept of framework for the dual-role navy, a navy that performs both navy and coast guard tasks.”
“But the second idea is also very important,” he says. “We are a balanced navy. We haven’t adopted the idea of NATO specialization that was very popular some navies. Due to our responsibilities and interests, we cannot be a specialized navy. We have to be a balanced navy because the international environment changes very fast, and if we specialized as other navies have, we would not be able to perform the tasks that our foreign policy requires. So we kept a set of capabilities to be able to perform the tasks that the navy has to do.”
To carry out the broad spectrum of tasks, Ribeiro says Portugal has five frigates, two submarines, two new ocean patrol vessels, six old corvettes, a logistical support ship, four hydrographic vessels, three patrol vessels, thirteen patrol boats and three sailing ships for training. It also has five Lynx helicopters.
“We had to decide which were the imperative capabilities – the ones we must have, and design capabilities – the ones that were good to have.”
The two classes of frigates – the Vasco da Gama-class MEKO frigates, and two Bartolomeu Dias-class frigates – are being modernized. “They are used in very different scenarios and in very different tasks. So we are going to modernize them in different ways,” he says.
The Bartolomeu Dias frigates are former Royal Netherlands Navy Karel Doorman-class multi-purpose frigates, transferred in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The MEKO ships were built in Germany for Portugal and joined the fleet in 1991-1992.
Maintaining and improving the navy is challenged by budgetary realities.
“Portugal is in a very severe financial situation,” Ribeiro says. “In spite of that, we are fighting very much to modernize our navy.”
Ribeiro says the modernization effort was guided by several factors, including limited financial resources, and increasing performance as much as possible within those budget constraints. “We had to decide which were the imperative capabilities – the ones we must have, and design capabilities – the ones that were good to have.”
The result has been to designate two frigates for demanding, major theater operations, and three of them – the German-built MEKO-class frigates – that will be used for small-scale contingencies. On the latter, the Vasco da Gama-class ships, Ribeiro says the modernization will focus on sustaining radars, and improving IFF, electronic warfare, and electro-optic GPS sensors. The plan is to improve the CIWS (close-in weapon system), but keep the present surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles. To improve command and control, the satellite communications and other communications systems, including Datalink 11, 16, and 22 – the latter fitted for the combat management system – and the decision support system will be upgraded. The engineering integrated platform management system will also be improved during the refit.
Two new Viana do Castelo-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) have recently been built in Portugal.
Ribeiro says that a more ambitious mid-life update is planned for the two Bartolomeu Dias frigates, for which more demanding operations are envisioned. “We will improve the IFF, electronic support measures, electro-optic GPS and sonar. On the weaponry, we will upgrade the CIWS and the surface-to-air-missiles, keep the present surface-to- surface missiles, and modernize torpedoes. Engineering-wise we will overhaul and modernize the turbines in order to extend their life significantly.”
“Command and control will be improved differently on both classes of ships. The main differences will be on sensors and weaponry. The Bartolomeu Dias will be better able to perform anti-air and anti-submarine warfare.”
According to Ribeiro, the five Lynx helicopters will be upgraded. “The engines are going to be new, and the communications and navigation systems will be changed in order to extend their life of operation.”
Two new Viana do Castelo-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) have recently been built in Portugal. “We commissioned the new ships two years ago. We’ve been testing them, and have learned some lessons, but they are performing quite well. We are going to build six more ships over the next two years.”
The Portuguese navy also intends to acquire an LPD (landing platform dock) of about 10,000 tons sometime beyond 2020.
The OPVs have an overall length of 273 feet (83 meters), a displacement of 1,800 tons, and a maximum continuous speed of 20 knots. They have an endurance of 14 days at 15 knots, a crew of five officers, eight petty officers, and 25 rankings and extra accommodation for 29 persons. “These are the ships we are using in Frontex and in North Atlantic fisheries operations.”
In addition, Ribeiro says Portugal has acquired two STANFLEX patrol boats from Denmark.
The ex-Danish navy Flyvefisken-class ships are being overhauled in Portugal at the Alfeite naval shipyard. “We expect to have the first one operational this year,” Ribeiro says.
They have an overall length of 177 feet (54 meters); speed of 28 knots; and a crew of three officers, four petty officers, and 16 rankings, and extra accommodation of 10 persons. “They will be operating mainly on coastal activities,” Ribeiro says.
Ribeiro says the Marinha also has to replace its oiler. It plans to procure a new replenishment ship with an overall length of 140 meters, and around 11,000 tons in 2021.
The Marinha has three old patrol boats, and a buoy tender that is actually being used as a patrol boat, which operate from Madeira and from the Portuguese mainland, primarily performing coast guard missions.
The Portuguese navy also intends to acquire an LPD (landing platform dock) of about 10,000 tons sometime beyond 2020. “We don’t have this capability in the Portuguese navy,” Ribeiro says. “We have two options – buy a used one, or build a new one.”
The LPD will have three main functions. “Our marines have been operating with the Spanish, British and U.S. Marines, but without a proper naval vessel. What we intend to do is to have this capability in order to be able to project them to scenarios where we have interests and where we are supporting a coalition. Portugal, due to its history, is a country with very strong security concerns in Africa. As you probably know, we have hundreds of thousands of Portuguese living in Africa, in Angola and Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau. It’s difficult to have an alliance committed to this type of environment. There are not always multinational solutions, so we may have to work alone in response to contingencies. So we need this type of ship for evaluating citizens or other contingencies. The second purpose is for military cooperation with African countries. We need to go there, stay there in a stable way for some time, and provide training. This type of ship is very good to do this type of work. And we have the Azores, which frequently has very severe earthquakes, and we need these ships with medical capabilities in order to be prepared to help the populations of the Azores whenever they have earthquakes. The navy has always committed ships to these tasks, but we haven’t always had the proper capabilities, and this LPD will enable us to do that,” Ribeiro says.
Ribeiro says the Marinha also has to replace its oiler. It plans to procure a new replenishment ship with an overall length of 140 meters, and around 11,000 tons in 2021.
Between its modernization program, new construction, and planned new projects, Ribeiro says the Marinha will continue to meet its dual roles as Portugal’s navy and coast guard, and its balanced fleet will help Portugal meet its national security and international commitments. And it will continue to do this in an austere budgetary environment. “Our main effort is explaining our politicians and our citizens the utility and the necessity of having a reasonably-prepared navy to accomplish the tasks the country needs in what concerns our areas of responsibility and in what concerns our foreign policies,” he says.
in Defense Media Network
18 de Setembro de 2015
