Valour-class frigate
The Valour class is a class of frigates built for the South African Navy. Part of the MEKO family of warships, the German shipbuilder Blohm+Voss officially designate the class as the MEKO A-200SAN.
Designed as a multiple purpose, multi capable frigate, the Valour class encompasses the general guided-missile anti-surface and anti-air role forming the core of the South African surface fleet. The Valour class frigates employ the use of stealth technology to avoid enemy radar and infra-red detection.
Four Valour class frigates were constructed for the South African Navy as part of the Strategic Defence Package 1999. The first, SAS Amatola, was commissioned in 2006, with the fourth and final, SAS Mendi, commissioned in March 2007. The frigates have a service life of 30–40 years. However, in May 2023, Rear Admiral B.K. Mhlana, Deputy Chief of the Navy, reported to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence that Mendi was the only frigate of her class still effectively operational, given cancellations and delays in refits for her sister ships. In 2024, a planned voyage by SAS Amatola to participate in the Russian Navy's "Navy Day" in St. Petersburg had to be cancelled due to “current defects to the vessel”.
The Valour-class vessels are named in honor of acts of distinguished bravery in South African military history.
Development
The concept for the Valour class was first conceived in the late 1990s as part of the Strategic Defence Package, in which the new South African ANC government was keen to modernise the armed forces after decades of apartheid-era United Nations sanctions. Since the 1970s, previous attempts to replace the aging Type-12 frigates, as well as the 'W' class destroyers, had repeatedly been aborted due to sanctions, strategic considerations and financial cost. The Portuguese Carnation Revolution of 1974 axed efforts to acquire four João Coutinho-class corvettes, and the delivery of three Type-69A light corvettes and two submarines from France was cancelled at the last minute after the imposition of mandatory UN sanctions in 1977. Following from the successful experience of constructing SAS Drakensberg in 1987, it was briefly considered that a class of frigates could be locally constructed at the same shipyard. However, an increasingly deteriorating security and financial situation by the late 1980s within South Africa put an end to the project. As the final Type-12 frigate was retired without replacement in 1985, the intensifying Border War forced the navy to shift operational focus away from the regional capabilities of large surface units to a purely localised coastal force, with a new core of offshore patrol vessels and mine hunters. As white minority rule came to a negotiated end by 1994, the Navy had lost all its major surface warships and suffered from a critical lack of anti-submarine and anti-air capability, operating nine increasingly obsolete strike craft OPVs and three aged diesel electric submarines.The Spanish frigate design, the Álvaro de Bazán class topped an acquisition effort in 1995 under Project Falcon, however this was later cancelled in favour of the wider Strategic Defence Package.
In 1999, an initial tender of five general purpose warships that could negotiate the tough sea conditions off the South African coast was met with four designs being proposed by the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain. The ANC Government was keen that the newly democratic South Africa would play a leading role in African peacekeeping missions, and as such required a naval force that had regional capability. The winning design had to be able to conduct sustained operations at sea - potentially far from a home port, provide gunfire and transport support to land forces, have helicopter capacity, and undertake a range of general offensive and defensive missions, as well as regular maritime patrols on behalf of law enforcement.
On 3 December 1999, a contract was signed with the European South African Corvette Consortium to provide four warships based on the German MEKO 200 design bid. ESACC consisted of Blohm+Voss, Thyssen Rheinstahl and Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft, African Defence Systems and a number of South African companies. Originally termed corvettes for political reasons by the South African Navy, the Valour class design, officially the MEKO A200SAN, represented a quantum leap in multi-purpose capability, with a final procurement cost of R9.65 billion in 2007.
Construction
Construction began on the Valour class when the first steel was cut on 6 August 2001 for at the Blohm+Voss shipyards in Hamburg, Germany. was also assembled here. and were constructed separately at the Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft shipyards in Kiel. All four frigates were first laid down between August 2001 and June 2002, launched by October 2003 and later delivered to South Africa by the end of 2004. The delivery programme was delayed by up to nine months after the discovery of defects in installed electrical cabling in the lead ship SAS Amatola. Further delays were not incurred to the programme as the electrical cabling at fault had not yet been fitted to the subsequent frigates. The majority of the combat suite, weapons and sensors were designed and built by South African companies, with the integration process taking between 2–3 years per ship in South Africa. Final commissioning into service was achieved by 2007 for all four vessels.Characteristics and design
The A200SAN design is an evolution of the MEKO 200 series of frigates that have been built for the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand navies since the late 1980s. Experience has been gained by Blohm+Voss when optimising weight distribution, trim, low noise and manoeuvrability. Focusing on providing a frigate for navies with a restricted budget, the design ensures a low crew complement, comfortable accommodation, and plenty of space for future technological upgrades on a modular construction.The A200SAN design offers very solid sea-keeping due to high forward buoyancy and stability reserves to accommodate future upgrades, making the class perfect when engaging in sustained operations in the rough sea conditions found off the South African coast. The Valour class has a strong focus on conflict survivability and was built around the latest principles of stealth design in naval construction. The design has the extensive use of the ‘X-form’ structure in which right angles and vertical surfaces are avoided, whilst techniques to reduce an infrared signature allow for pre-cooled exhaust gasses to be expelled just above the waterline. A degree of proactive protection has also been incorporated into the design, along with an optimised layout and damage control features with light ceramic and Kevlar armour shielding critical compartments and the dividing up of the hull into zones with independent fire fighting, electrical and HVAC systems. More than 10 watertight compartments, as well as double bulkheads and box girders running lengthwise, form the steel hull which has been proven to prevent break-up. Blohm+Voss claim that the Valour class has a radar signature 50% smaller than a comparable vessel of their size, 75% less infrared emissions than previous designs, as well as 20% lower life-cycle cost, 25% lower displacement and 30% fewer crew required.
The Valour class has been designed with growth in mind, based around future technology and flexible mission requirements. The design allows for a flexible mission bay with space for two ISO containers, a recessed boat bay on either side of the ship, and wide passageways to aid maintenance, upgrades and store replenishment. Even after the fitting out of weapons systems and sensors, the A200SAN allows for a 200-tonne margin of future growth, 20% spare electrical generation, and 37% spare cooling capacity.
The propulsion system of the class is unique amongst other warships. Using a CODAG-WARP arrangement, the design utilises two controllable pitch propellers and single water jet. In diesel-only mode the arrangement is very fuel-efficient as a single engine can drive both shafts for speeds of up to. An independent centre-line gas turbine drives the water jet, coupled by a small reduction gear, eliminating the need for another combining gearbox. The water jet can be used alone, or combined with the diesel engines to achieve the maximum speed of nearly. A reverse-thrust bucket is also fitted that can be raised to redirect the water jet forward, giving the class the shortest stopping distance of any other similar warship.
- I – Economical mode: One diesel engine driving both shafts, maximum propeller speed: 150 rpm and up to 18 knots.
- II – Maneuvering mode: Both diesel engines driving both shafts, maximum propeller speed: 200 rpm.
- III – CODAG-WARP: Both diesel engines and the gas turbines engaged, maximum propeller speed: 215 rpm and a maximum speed of over.
- IV – Gas turbine only: Gas turbines powering water jet only.
The ship's steering gear consists of a steering unit and twin semi-balanced underhung rudders. There is an emergency steering station in the superstructure in the event of damage to the bridge and they can also be operated by hand from the steering gear compartment. To improve the ship's performance in a seaway, they are fitted with a B+V Simplex Compact stabiliser system.
This class of warship has seven independent Noske Kaeser air-conditioning plants allowing the ship to operate at a pre-set temperature and moisture level in ocean water ranging between, and the air temperature between. This also keeps the air pressure in the citadel five millibars higher than on the outside to prevent the drawing in of RBC contamination. These ships are also fitted with Sulzer und Weise seawater fire-fighting pumps and sprinkler systems. These are also ready to wet down the warship's ammunition magazines. In addition, a fire-extinguishing system protects the gas turbine and diesel engineering areas. The galleys are fitted with an ANSUL system and the flight deck and hangar with a Noske Kaeser Hy FEx foam fire extinguishing system. Two Pall Rochem reverse-osmosis plants generate of fresh water each every 24 hours. This water is provided to the galleys, messes, and drinking water supplies, and it is also used for cooling the guns, the air-conditioners, and the engine room, in addition for washing the helicopters. Water pumped to the guns, sensors, and air-conditioners is chilled by two Noske Kaeser refrigerators. An oil-fired hot-water boiler, made by the same company, provides the ship's heating, whereas the hot water for the galley and messes comes from a, 45-kilowatt electric geyser. With a main crew of 92, plus eight aircrew, stores can last for up to 28 days when on station.