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By James R. Holmes
October 8, 2012
Strategist Edward Luttwak likens warships to black boxes during peacetime strategic competition. Without peering inside, outsiders have a hard time judging how well designed, maintained, and operated a ship is. Combat clarifies a ships fitness by the most stringent standard possible, but battles are infrequent. The U.S. Navys last major fleet engagement, for example, took place at Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Absent that severe test, observers are forced to infer the state of things within the black box. Yet navieslike all big institutionshave defensive instincts. Few naval officials relish advertising ships or crews shortcomings. Such disclosures tarnish an institutions reputation with domestic constituents and foreign audiences. In short, its hard for outsiders to take the measure of a navy in peacetime. A heavy guesswork quotient prevails.
Dramatic eventsfires, groundings, collisions at sea, engineering accidentsoffer a rare glimpse inside the box. Seldom is the view encouraging. Exhibit A: engineering travails on board the Soviet-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. The flattop has undergone a major conversion since 2004, when New Delhi and Moscow inked a deal for the refit. It will join the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya. After repeated postponements, the transfer was slated for this December. Last month, however, the ship encountered major engineering problems during sea trials in the White Sea. The capacity to operate at full power for a specified period of time constitutes a key performance benchmark for propulsion plants. While details remain sketchy, the Gorshkovs crew evidently had to take seven of eight boilers offline when they overheated during a full-power run. It appears the schedule will slipyet again, untilprobablysometime next year.
How long repairs will consume remains a matter of dispute. At fault was the insulation used to protect the boiler casings from the flames that burn within to generate steam. Indian officials rejected Russian proposals to use asbestos, which fell out of favor long ago owing to health hazards. Instead the boilers were lined with firebrick, long the standard in conventional steam-propelled U.S. warships. The bricks were evidently unable to withstand the heat generated when operating the boilers at full power. Accounts of the fault and likely repair timelines conflict. Some sources within the Russian shipbuilding industry indicated that the boilers will have to be replaced entirelya major enterprise that would require cutting open the hull. If so, the ships delivery date will fall back another year or more.
Such estimates seem unduly dour. Unless the engineering watch team was asleep at the switch, they reduced the firing rate or shut down the boilers altogether when the problem appeared, and long before the heat could compromise the machinerys structural integrity. In all likelihood, consequently, the shipyard can install new insulation without removing these massive pieces of gear. Betting against fresh setbacks to the Indian carrier program is typically a losing proposition. Still, I place my bet with the Russian boiler-design official who foretold a much shorter delay.
Who pays? is the other lingering question. The controversy took a comic turn late last month when Russian shipyard officials blamed imported, low-grade Chinese firebrick for the Gorshkovs troubles. No less a personage than Defense Minister Yan Yujun rebutted the charges, maintaining that Chinese firms have never exported firebrick suitable for naval propulsion.
Engineering woes, questions about battle efficiency, diplomatic flare-upstheres clearly a reason navies like to keep their problems within black boxes. One hopes the Indian Navy affords this one close scrutiny as it nears service.
India's Aircraft Carrier Challenge - The Naval Diplomat
October 8, 2012
Strategist Edward Luttwak likens warships to black boxes during peacetime strategic competition. Without peering inside, outsiders have a hard time judging how well designed, maintained, and operated a ship is. Combat clarifies a ships fitness by the most stringent standard possible, but battles are infrequent. The U.S. Navys last major fleet engagement, for example, took place at Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Absent that severe test, observers are forced to infer the state of things within the black box. Yet navieslike all big institutionshave defensive instincts. Few naval officials relish advertising ships or crews shortcomings. Such disclosures tarnish an institutions reputation with domestic constituents and foreign audiences. In short, its hard for outsiders to take the measure of a navy in peacetime. A heavy guesswork quotient prevails.
Dramatic eventsfires, groundings, collisions at sea, engineering accidentsoffer a rare glimpse inside the box. Seldom is the view encouraging. Exhibit A: engineering travails on board the Soviet-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. The flattop has undergone a major conversion since 2004, when New Delhi and Moscow inked a deal for the refit. It will join the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya. After repeated postponements, the transfer was slated for this December. Last month, however, the ship encountered major engineering problems during sea trials in the White Sea. The capacity to operate at full power for a specified period of time constitutes a key performance benchmark for propulsion plants. While details remain sketchy, the Gorshkovs crew evidently had to take seven of eight boilers offline when they overheated during a full-power run. It appears the schedule will slipyet again, untilprobablysometime next year.
How long repairs will consume remains a matter of dispute. At fault was the insulation used to protect the boiler casings from the flames that burn within to generate steam. Indian officials rejected Russian proposals to use asbestos, which fell out of favor long ago owing to health hazards. Instead the boilers were lined with firebrick, long the standard in conventional steam-propelled U.S. warships. The bricks were evidently unable to withstand the heat generated when operating the boilers at full power. Accounts of the fault and likely repair timelines conflict. Some sources within the Russian shipbuilding industry indicated that the boilers will have to be replaced entirelya major enterprise that would require cutting open the hull. If so, the ships delivery date will fall back another year or more.
Such estimates seem unduly dour. Unless the engineering watch team was asleep at the switch, they reduced the firing rate or shut down the boilers altogether when the problem appeared, and long before the heat could compromise the machinerys structural integrity. In all likelihood, consequently, the shipyard can install new insulation without removing these massive pieces of gear. Betting against fresh setbacks to the Indian carrier program is typically a losing proposition. Still, I place my bet with the Russian boiler-design official who foretold a much shorter delay.
Who pays? is the other lingering question. The controversy took a comic turn late last month when Russian shipyard officials blamed imported, low-grade Chinese firebrick for the Gorshkovs troubles. No less a personage than Defense Minister Yan Yujun rebutted the charges, maintaining that Chinese firms have never exported firebrick suitable for naval propulsion.
Engineering woes, questions about battle efficiency, diplomatic flare-upstheres clearly a reason navies like to keep their problems within black boxes. One hopes the Indian Navy affords this one close scrutiny as it nears service.
India's Aircraft Carrier Challenge - The Naval Diplomat
Like what? - an alternative example would be nice about something the Chinese defense spokesman has said and which he really didn't mean.
as per CCP.
