As good as Type-022 may be, I think the PN will acquire additional MRTP-33 - and perhaps have them built in Pakistan too. It's an excellent FAC design, and I am sure they can customize it to carry non-American AShM. Although I wonder if PN would consider the option of smaller corvettes - i.e. something comparable to Visby, but of Turkish design and origin?
Bro it was just my opinion, "I think..."
Agreed, but I think the bigger reason why PN negated Marlin was because a submarine of its apparent calibre - i.e. U-214 - was already developed and in production for Greece & ROK. That said, Andrasta is a unique solution and the only alternative could be the German Type-210mod; but I'm not sure if it is available, or even in line for development. Hopefully the size and other differences between Scorpene and Andrasta will allow for the latter to be a dissimilar opponent for IN.It is real out of the box thinking and as Taimikhan put it someone in PN has his thinking cap on!!!;-)
The only negative is that we have always negated the Marlins beacuse of simillarites between the Scorpene and now we are trying to get something with is infact a little bro. of the bigger fish!
.......
The 19-crew, 855t displacement, Andrasta submarine, announced by DCNS in September 2008, has been optimised for littoral operations in coastal waters, but remains a formidable adversary in blue (deep) water environments.
The submarine is named after Andrasta, the Celtic goddess of war whose name means victorious or invincible. The prime contractor, DCNS, considers that the Andrasta has no equivalent for littoral missions in terms of manoeuvrability and stealth.
The submarine design draws heavily on the proven configuration and systems adopted for the Scorpene family and has about 70% commonality with the Scorpene. The Andrasta surfaced displacement is 855t compared to the 1,790t to 2,010t displacement of the Scorpene. The submarine incorporates the same level of safety, stealth signatures and systems integration as the Scorpene.
The Andrasta can lurk on the seabed in coastal waters where the water depth is typically less than 100m. At a speed of 4kt the range is more than 3,000nm and more than 1,800nm at 8kt.
Andrasta is being presented to world markets at about half the cost of attack submarines such as the Scorpene. The Andrasta design can incorporate extra performance options which are not mandatory for littoral missions but which customer countries may require, without degrading the submarine’s efficiency.
For specials operations, the Andrasta has a deployment airlock for combat swimmers, electronic warfare and intelligence gathering systems
Andrasta missions
The submarine missions cover anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, special operations, offensive mine mooring, covert tracking of illegal activities, single ship operations and cooperative operations with other ships or maritime assets. The Andrasta is equipped to communicate easily with other assets and command centres.
Design
The double-hull structure gives good survivability and surfaced sea keeping characteristics. An X-configuration rudder has independently operated surfaces for a high level of manoeuvrability including a small turning radius.
The small hull helps contribute to the submarine's stealth characteristics. The submarine has a diving depth to 200m and a submerged endurance of five days. It also has a very low acoustic and visual signature
Command and control
The Andrasta is equipped with the DCNS SUBTICS submarine tactical integrated combat system. SUBTICS systems are in operation aboard Scorpene submarines of the Chilean Navy and Agosta 90B submarines for the Pakistan Navy
The combat management system is integrated with the sonar and other sensors (optical, optronic, electronic support measures, radar) and carries out the location and identification of vessels, target tracking, tactical analysis, decision making, action management, exchange of tactical data via datalinks, the control of weapons systems and engagement of targets.
"Andrasta's double-hull structure gives good survivability and surfaced sea keeping characteristics."The submarine is equipped with high-precision navigation and surveillance systems for operation in littoral waters. Surveillance missions can be successfully carried out while the submarine is at rest on the seabed.
Weapons
The Andrasta can accommodate new-generation heavyweight torpedoes such as the Black Shark, anti-ship missiles such as the Exocet SM-39 and a mine-laying system. The torpedoes and missiles are stored and carried in the six forward torpedo tubes. The small hull size of the submarine does not accommodate torpedoes and missiles for reload.
New Recruit
