Training for Iraqi Sailors
Iraqi navy crews will undergo both classroom as well as under way training on the OSVs at a training center located in Swiftships’ facility in Morgan City, La. VSD, LLC, is slated to carry out training of the Iraqis from May through June under a $15.05 million contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD).
OSV training for Iraqi navy crews will take place primarily on a VSD-designed simulator. VSD, LLC photo
Training will be primarily on a VSD-designed simulator. Unlike the simulator for the 35-meter CPB program that replicated ship panels with high fidelity, the OSV system is programmable so a few screens can be configured for several scenarios. Clearly it is a cheaper approach but, for the Iraqi sailors, who may not possess a high degree of technical and computer literacy, this could pose challenges.
VSD is also under a $6.8 million NAWCTSD contract to deliver, install, and commission the 35-meter CPB and 60-meter OSV training systems at the main Iraqi naval base in Umm Qasr, Iraq. VSD will also provide trainer training and contractor support through June 2014.
Meanwhile the seventh and eighth 35-meter CPBs just left Bahrain for Iraq, while the ninth boat is being prepared for delivery at Bahrain. Swiftships expects to deliver boats 10-12 to NAVSEA by May 2012. The Iraqi 35-meter CPB contract has another three options which, for contractual reasons, have not yet been “definitized,” although this is expected to happen in due course.
The CPBs are armed with the same 30 mm DS30M Seahawk gun mount and electro-optical director combination as the OSV as well as machine guns. They also have a stern ramp to facilitate rapid launch and recovery of the on board RHIB.
The CPBs have been very successful in Iraqi service. “The Iraqis are extremely satisfied with the performance of these boats and are looking for additional platforms,” says Swiftships.
The 27-foot-long, 45-knot Defenders boats built by Port Orchard, Wash.-based Safeboats International also play a key role in the Iraqi navy. Sold to Iraq through a United States Coast Guard FMS contract, they serve as Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) platforms.
CONOPS
One concept of operations (CONOPS) for defending oil terminals calls for concentric defensive rings around the oil terminal. The outer ring is formed by the larger patrol craft, a middle ring by the 35-meter CPB, and an inner ring by the Defender FAB, with the OSV(s) acting as a command and control platform and also as a mother ship for the patrol boat squadrons. UAVs and other airborne assets provide aerial surveillance and overwatch capabilities while radar stations and vessel traffic monitoring systems help in monitoring and tracking vessels of interest.
Seaspray and Defender class fast-attack boats are pictured with an Iraqi-built Al Faw patrol boat at Umm Qasr in 2010. Royal Navy photo
By the time the OSVs join the Iraqi fleet, the force structure would comprise two OSVs; four Fateh-class large patrol craft; three or so locally built, 30-meter-long Al Faw-class patrol boats; 12 Swiftships 35-meter CPBs; and five Chinese-origin, 27.1-meter Predator-class patrol boats built by Wuhan Nanhua Shipbuilding, along with substantial numbers of minor craft including 25 Defender FAB, a similar number of aluminium-hulled Seaspray FABs, several U.S.-supplied RHIBS, and six ex-Italian patrol craft – two 15-meter Type 200s and four 12.5-meter Type 2010s.
Prior to the arrival of the 35-meter CPB, the Predators were the Iraqi navy’s workhorses. The entire class is being overhauled at Umm Qasr by another U.S. company, VSE Corporation. The overhaul involves rebuilding the majority of the hull, mechanical, and electrical equipment.
VSE also provides ship maintenance training to the Iraqi navy at their new Ship Repair Facility (SRF) in Umm Qasr. The FMS-supported SRF will undertake repairs of five different classes of ships.