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Background
— Joint Support Ship ( JSS ) Project — Now an AOR |
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Update: Feb 2013, The PBO argues that Ottawa should add a US-style contingency fund to JSS cost (raising expected costs from $2.6B to $$4.13B) for the completion of two
AOR replacements. Higher costs are a factor of building ships in Canada. But that is a cornerstone of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Stategy, the Harper Conservative's planned
template
for all major military procurement programs. Update: BMT's Aegir class is not being considered. Navantia and ThyssenKrupp have received ACANs for feasibility studies to
adapt their AOR designs to Canadian standards. As usual with DND, deciding on the extent of Canadianization now holds up JSS design work.
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Running Aground on Reality – Joint Support Ship Project transmogrifies into an AOR
Since the Afloat Logistics Sealift Capability Project began in the early 1990s, Maritime Staff have been trying
to dodge a truism – multi-use ships must be big and, as a result, very expensive. The rebranded Joint
Support Ship had multiple roles lumped on to make JSS seem reasonable to the politicians. Naval
architects know that the only way to reduce cost is by the reducing hull size, number of tasks, or both. And
that's
what happened with JSS. After 20 years planning for grandiose multi-use ships, DND was instructed to proceed
with a direct replacement of aged CF Protecteur class
AORs (Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment) or fleet tankers.
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Joint Support Ship as an 'Off-the-Shelf ' AOR
After a last-moment lunge at a Dutch JSS design, Maritime Staff concluded that acceptable military AOR hulls
were the German FGS Typ 702 Berlin and the Spanish Cantabria classes. [1] Both
are designed to naval standards to jive with old JSS biases against commercial standards. Naval spec ships, it
is reasoned, have more redundancy and greater shock resistance. [2] Such ships are also correspondingly more
expensive. Perhaps then it will come as no surprise that the JSS Project budget of $2.6B proved inadequate
to buy two naval standard AORs (plus one option). [3]
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NSBS "... playing a starring role in their own desperate domestic scenario..."
But back to DND planners and commercial standards. During the JSS Project's ELMS (Engineering, Logistics and
Management Support and Services) phase, consultants BMT Fleet Technology used its parent firm's Aegir
AOR [4] as a cost estimate comparison control. Now, with Berlin and Cantabria classes out of the
running for JSS, the sole remaining candidate is a mysterious 'domestic'
offering from BMT. It's all but certain that this will be a variation on that Aegir AOR. A glance at the
Aegir 18R's specs reveals modest capabilites compared with our in- service AORs. But the BMT
hull design is scaleable and this family includes a 26,000 DWT variant, the Aegir 26. Were that longer
auxiliary oiler hull matched with Aegir 18R RAS rigs, the resulting AOR could carry
fuel and dry stores roughly equivalent to the minimum requirements for the old, multi-use JSS. So is Aegir
26R DND's future JSS? Only time (and transparency) will tell.
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Life on Mars: RN's Military Afloat Reach Sustainability
BMT will be highly motivated. Aegir 18 was aimed at the Royal Navy MARS Fleet Tanker
but MARS [5] is delayed and may be cut back. The Aegir is based on a commercial hull from
Skipskonsulent AS, Norway with naval systems by BMT. As a bonus, Aegir was intended from the outset for
licence-building in local shipyards. So, no NSPS grief. Some sailors might bewail Aegir's commercial
heritage but all other avenues have been explored. Otherwise, JSS AOR may go the way of
JSS multi-use.
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| CLASS |
Proctecteur AOR |
ALSC ('96-2000) [6] |
JSS (2006) |
FGS 720 Berlin |
'Aegir 26R' AOR |
Complement
(crew/air/troops) |
365 total / (incl. air
det. of 45 ) /
0 pax |
111 crew (combined)
mod. hosp./JTF
HQ |
165 crew /air det 76/
650 + 75 JTF
HQ |
60 crew / 30 air det. /
50 mod hosp./
94 pax |
175 crew (all ranks)
berths for
80 pax |
| Size (L x B x D) |
172 / 23 / 10.1 m |
193-200 / 32 /8.5 m |
210 / 28 / 9.5 m |
174 / 24 / 7.4 m |
196.6 / 25 / 9.2 m |
| Speed (sustained ) |
20 knots |
20-21 knots |
20-22 knots |
20 knots |
18 knots |
| Range/speed |
7,500 nm at 11.5 kts |
10,800 nm at 15 kts |
10,800 nm at 15 kts |
n/a [45 day endurance] |
10,000 nm at 16 kts |
| Propulsion |
steam, 15,700 kW |
2 x diesel 20,000 kW |
2 x diesel 18,000 kW |
2 x diesel 10,560 kW |
2 x diesel 7,500 kW |
| Displacement (dwt) |
26,389 tonnes |
28-38,000 tonnes |
28,000 t (2006) [*] |
20,240 tonnes |
26,000 tonnes |
| Diesel/Av Fuel [7] |
42,447 m3 [7] |
24,070 m3 |
19,820-28,316 m3 |
27,014 m3 |
21,800 m3 [7] |
| Dry Stores |
2,298 tonnes |
2,000 tonnes [?] |
2,000 tonnes [?] |
4,500 tonnes |
1,350 m2 |
| Lane Metres |
620 lm |
1,950-2,500 lm |
1,000-1,500 lm |
n/a |
n/a |
| TEU (20' ISO cont.) |
Heli deck option |
200 x TEU |
20-100 x TEU |
84 x TEU |
8-12 x TEU |
| RAS stations |
2 RAS + jackstay |
4 RAS |
3 RAS + jackstay |
2 RAS (+ stern rig) |
4 RAS (+ stern rig) |
| Helicopters |
3 x 12 t ( CH-124 ) |
4 x 15 t (MHP) |
3-4 x 15 t ( CH-148 ) |
2 x 12-to-14 tonne |
1 x 15 tonne |
Flight deck |
1 heli deck spot |
2 heli deck spots |
1 min, 2 desirable |
1 heli deck spot |
1 heli deck spot |
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[1] Both ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (representing the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Typ 702
Berlin class AOR in Canada) and Navantia SA (representing their BAC Cantabria class
AOR in Canada) backed away from the revised Joint Support Ship bidding process.
[2] Some of the economy of modern commercial designs comes from automated systems. This also reduces
crewing demands. The naval objection to such 'economies' has always been that small complements mean fewer crew
to repair combat damage (especially fire-fighting). Conversions of commerical tankers to AOR are popular
but naval standard redundancies must either be added or their absence accepted. The same would be true of
shock-absorbing equipment mounts or being able to maintain buoyancy in the aftermath of mine blast effects.
[3] After a 20 year lifespan, it is not surprising that the JSS Project's budget has jumped around. Back in
2000, while still the ALSC Project, the budget was set at $2.1B which was to buy 3 x 28,000 tonne multi-use
ships by 2005 (already scaled-back from the originally planned 4 38,000 t ALSC ). By the time that the
rebranded JSS Project was terminated in Aug 2008, $2.9B could only deliver 2-3 ships by 2012. When JSS was relaunched
in July 2010, the budget was down to $2.6B but only expected to buy two non-sealift AORs plus an option on a
third.
[4] Of the four current members of the Aegir family, only the Aegir 18R is an AOR. The
others ( Aegir 10, 18, and 26 ) are auxiliary oilers. As noted, Aegir is based on a
commercial hull but then outfitted to naval standards – essentially the same as multi-use JSS less its
sealift.
[5] The British Royal Navy's Military Afloat Reach Sustainability or MARS Project is intended to replace an existing
AOR fleet based on various converted tankers (manned by civilians) with dedicated naval designs. If selected,
BMT's Aegir 18 would become the MARS FT (Fleet Oiler). Separated from these five oilers,
replenishment will be divided between two classes – the Fleet Solid Support Ship optimized for
RN Carrier Strike and Joint Sea-Based Logistics Ship for the Littoral Manoeuvre group. Neither FSS nor JSBLS
are relevant to Canada.
[6] In 1992, Multi-Role Support Vessel was the correct term. MSRV became Afloat Logistics and Sealift Capability in
1996 and JSS in 2004.
[7] Deliverable liquids listed here includes marine diesel ('dieso') and JP-5 aviation fuel ('AVCAT') but not
potable water or lube oils. Both fuels have been lumped together because most AOR models can vary the
proportions of each type carried (also affecting stores). As an example, an Aegir 18R or 26Rs
would carry 12,000 or 20,000 m3 respectively of 'dieso', 1,800 m3 of JP-5, and a further 800 m3 of fresh
water.
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