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Denmark – Minor Standard Craft Mk 1
Rewritten – November 2006
Program Status: In Progress. The Danish Five-Year Defense Agreement 2000-2004 authorized the construction of ten minor craft, originally intended to be the Minor Standard Craft Mk 1 type. The program has since been changed to include six modified Standard Craft Mk 1, two tugs of an adapted commercial design, and a yet unspecified auxiliary craft for Naval Station Groennedal in Greenland. This report focuses on the Minor Standard Craft Mk 1, of which a construction contract award signed with Danish Yacht A/S in mid-2005. The first two units of the class, were delivered in January and April 2006. The remaining four units are in various stages of construction and will be delivered by the end of 2008. Operational Requirement: The RDN has a requirement for a modern force of smaller ships to perform a host of patrol and auxiliary functions, including surveillance, torpedo recovery, training, tug, survey, diver support, and mine counter measure (MCM) operations. Program Background: The block obsolescence problem facing the RDN’s auxiliary and small patrol boat force is similar to that of the RDN’s small combatant force in the 1980s. In that instance, RDN planners were confronted with the problem of replacing 22 small ships of different types (six fast attack craft (FAC), eight patrol boats, and eight MCM vessels) with a budget that would not support one-for-one replacement. To solve the problem, the RDN conceived the idea of having a standard hull, with a standard propulsion plant, designed in such a way that it could take a variety of containerized equipment and weapon loads to suit various missions. The idea, now known as the Standard Flex (STANFLEX) concept, was implemented in the highly successful Flyvefisken class of multi-role vessels. Using the success of the Flyvefisken class as a precedent, the Naval Materiel Command (NMC) decided to develop a Minor Standard Craft, featuring the STANFLEX concept, as the replacement for its aging force of small patrol boats and auxiliaries. Originally, plans were to build the Minor Standard Craft in two versions, a Mk1 with one STANFLEX container position, and a stretched version, the Mk 2 with two positions. However, updated staff requirements lead to a newly designed Mk 2 that was renamed the Minor Standard Craft Mk 2, and the first four original Mk1 units remained basically the same. The follow-on six units of the Mk 1 will be a modified variant of the original class. Danyard Aalborg Shipyard delivered a prototype Mk1 in December 1996, and was followed by three operational MSF Mk 1 mine countermeasures (MCM) from 1998 through 1999. The six additional units are to be modified versions of this class. Program Acquisition Plan: The Danish Five-Year Defense Agreement 2000-2004 allocated a total amount of US$91.5M (US$45M for the Mk 1) for the procurement of the six Minor Standard Craft Mk 1 and six Minor Standard Craft Mk 2 programs. A construction contract for the six Minor Standard Craft Mk 1was signed in mid-2005, and delivery of the units began in January 2006. Accordingly, the following acquisition plan for six units, valued at an estimated US$7.5M each, is projected: Construction Contract Award 2005 Hulls One and Two Commission 2006 Hulls Three and Four Commission 2007 Hulls Five and Six Commission 2008
Design and Construction Considerations: The NMC, in cooperation with Danyard Aalborg Shipyard, has updated the design of the Mk 1, based on the experience gathered with the prototype and the three MSF Mk 1 already in service. The Minor Standard Craft Mk 1 is constructed of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) sandwich construction like the previous units. The six modified Minor Standard Craft Mk 1 vessels will be performing the following missions: Training, torpedo recovery, hydrographic survey, diver support, naval base duties, transportation of STANFLEX containers, and as additional MCM drones. Two units will be utilized as inshore survey craft, two as training ships, and the final two units as MCM drones. Since these mission areas constitute primarily auxiliary functions, the combat systems and electronics suite will be very limited. As such, the ships will lack the sensors and combat systems needed to accomplish many of the combat functions supported by the available STANFLEX container suites. The Standard Craft Mk 1 will primarily utilize the MCM module since this was the original purpose of the vessels. However, it will also be able to perform a variety of other missions utilizing the following STANFLEX modules: A dinghy for search and rescue, and boarding operations (with storage module). An anti-pollution storage module with oil booms, skimmers, chemicals, storage tanks, etc.. A module for hydrographic survey. A module for oceanographic research. Ship Characteristics:
Key Personnel: Royal Danish Navy
Royal Danish Navy Material Command (Defense Acquisition)
Scania Industrial and Marine Engines
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