La classe Churchill fu una classe di sottomarini d'attacco nucleari della Royal Navy, in servizio dagli anni settanta agli anni novanta; si trattava di un perfezionamento della precedente classe Valiant. La prima nave della classe venne battezzata in onore del precedente Primo Ministro del Regno Unito e Primo Lord dell'Ammiragliato, Winston Churchill.
Progettazione
Dopo lo HMS Dreadnought, che aveva introdotto i sottomarini nucleari nella Royal Navy, e la classe Valiant, la prima a montare motori nazionali britannici, con i sottomarini della classe Churchill si cercò di ottenere una silenziosità elevata, migliorando la sicurezza, la resa dei sensori e l'efficacia complessiva.
I sottomarini della classe Churchill portavano un equipaggio di 103 uomini e avevano un dislocamento a pieno carico in immersione di 4.900 t. Erano lunghi 86,9 metri, larghi 10,2 e pescavano 8,2. Il singolo reattore nucleare di cui erano dotati forniva vapore a due turbine English Electric, che producevano un totale di 20.000 CV per un singolo asse, permettendo di raggiungere una velocità massima di 28 nodi in immersione. Erano equipaggiati con un radar di ricerca di superficie Kelvin Type 1008, ed alla costruzione erano stati dotati di un impianto sonar Type 2001, che al finire degli anni settanta venne rimpiazzato da un impianto Type 202 e da un sensore trainato Type 2026.
Le armi erano le stesse della classe Valiant, come i siluri Mk 8 e Mk 23, ma presto si aggiunsero anche gli Mk 24 Tigerfish a doppio ruolo, seppur con alcuni difetti di affidabilità, e i missile antinave UGM-84 Harpoon.
Come per tutti i sottomarini nucleari potevano rimanere immersi per tempi praticamente indefiniti, limitati solo dalle provviste di viveri.
Le unità della classe:
HMS Churchill (1965-1991);
HMS Conqueror (1965-1991;
HMS Courageus (1966-1990).
ENGLISH
The three Repeat Valiant-class submarines, sometimes known as the Churchill class, were nuclear-powered fleet submarines which served with the Royal Navy from the 1970s until the early 1990s. The Churchillclass was based on the older Valiant class, but featured many internal improvements.
The lead vessel was named after the former Prime Minister and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. HMS Conqueror was the most famous of the class, sinking the Argentinian cruiser ARA General Belgranoduring the 1982 Falklands War. As of 2019, this is the only instance of a nuclear-powered submarine of any nation sinking an enemy ship by torpedo.
Design
The Churchills carried a crew of 103 and had a full load displacement of 4,900 tons whilst dived. They were 86.9 metres (285 ft 1 in) long, had a beam of 10.1 metres (33 ft 2 in) and a draught of 8.2 metres (26 ft 11 in). Their single pressurized water-cooled reactor supplied steam to two English Electric geared turbines, producing a total of 20,000 shaft horsepower (15,000 kW) for the single shaft and resulting in a maximum of 28 knots(52 km/h) submerged. Like all nuclear-powered submarines the Churchill class could remain submerged almost indefinitely, with supplies of food being the only limiting factor. One Kelvin Type 1006 surface-search radar was fitted. The ships were built with a Type 2001 sonar array, but this was replaced in the late 1970s with a Type 2020 array and a Type 2026 towed array. Weapons included Mk VIII torpedoes, Mk 24 Tigerfish torpedoes, and Sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes fired from the bow.
HMS Churchill evaluated both the American Mark 48 torpedo and the UGM-84 Harpoon missile, though only the latter was adopted by the Royal Navy. She was decommissioned in 1990 and is laid up at Rosyth awaiting disposal.
In 1981 HMS Courageous became the first British submarine to carry the Sub-Harpoon missile. She was decommissioned in 1992 and is at Devonport Dockyard serving as a museum ship.
Construction Programme:
HMS Churchill (1965-1991);
HMS Conqueror (1965-1991;
HMS Courageus (1966-1990).
Service history
HMS Conqueror was the most famous of the class, sinking the Argentinian cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the 1982 Falklands War. She did not fire again during the war, but provided valuable help to the British task force by using her monitoring equipment to track Argentine aircraft departing the mainland. After the war Conqueror returned to Faslane; the sinking of General Belgrano had provoked controversy in Britain and Conqueror was criticised for flying the Jolly Roger on returning to port, as Royal Navy submarines customarily did on returning after scoring a kill. She is the only nuclear-powered submarine of any nationality to have engaged an enemy ship with torpedoes. She was decommissioned in 1990 and as of 2010 is laid up at Devonport awaiting disposal. Conqueror's periscopes can be viewed at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport.
Il Gabriel è un missile antinave israeliano anche noto anche come Scorpion nella marina del Sudafrica.
Lo sviluppo del Gabriel per la marina israeliana ha avuto inizio nel 1962. Il primo modello entrò in servizio nel 1970 equipaggiando le corvette classe Sa'ar II e venne usato nella guerra dello Yom Kippur del 1973 infliggendo gravi perdite alle unità navali di Siria ed Egitto armate di missili Styx di fabbricazione sovietica.
STORIA
Nel 1958, la Rafael diede il via al suo primo studio ed allo sviluppo di una famiglia di missili a guida TV. Questo missile denominato “Luz”, doveva essere costruito in tre versioni:
terra-terra,
terra-aria,
mare-mare.
Tuttavia, il sistema di guida TV e il joystick risultarono incompatibili con la versione mare-mare. Inoltre, altre soluzioni avanzate furono respinte per motivi di costo. Questa versione fi sospesa.
Il 21 ottobre 1967 Quattro missili Termit sovietici furono lanciati contro il cacciatorpediniere Eilat, che era in navigazione sulle rive del Sinai settentrionale: 47 marinai e ufficiali furono uccisi o dispersi, eri furono oltre 100 feriti.
Spaventata dalla perdita della nave, la Marina israeliana chiese alla Israel Aircraft Industries di accelerare lo sviluppo di un missile anti-nave, iniziato nel 1958 con il programma Luz (o Lutz) che avrebbe dovuto essere costruito in una variante mare-mare, poi abbandonata. La perdita della fregata Eilat ravvivò il programma e la versione mare-mare del Lutz fu migliorata e divenne il Gabriel definitivo.
Di fronte alla preoccupazione della Rafael per lo sviluppo di un nuovo sistema di guida, il capitano Shlomo Erell (responsabile del nuovo progetto) chiese alla IAI di avviare il programma reclutando anche Ori Even-Tov, un ex ingegnere della Rafael. Quest'ultimo propose di abbandonare l'approccio del joy-stick di controllo per sviluppare un sistema di guida autonomo, che consentisse al missile di cercare l'obiettivo, anche in caso di maltempo o scarsa visibilità. Propose di usare un altimetro, in modo che il missile volasse a pochi metri sopra la superficie del mare, rendendo difficile il rilevamento e permettendogli di colpire il bersaglio appena sopra la linea di galleggiamento. Un radar di guida, installato sul lanciatore, doveva guidare il missile, mentre l'altimetro doveva mantenere il missile in modalità “quota zero-zero”. Questa funzione di divisione del sistema di guida fu una grande innovazione nella tecnologia missilistica.
Il successo di questo missile nell’esportazione e durante la guerra dello Yom Kippur nel 1973 portò allo sviluppo della versione Mk.III, che servì da base per il missile aria-mare Gabriel AS III (aria-mare).
VERSIONI
Gabriel Mk.I : autonomia di 20 km;
Gabriel Mk.II : autonomia di 36 km;
Gabriel Mk.III : autonomia di oltre 40 km;
Gabriel IV: equipaggiato con un motore turbojet e con un'autonomia di oltre 200 km;
Gabriel As.III : versione aria di mare, portata dopo l'altitudine di lancio tra 35 e 65 km.
Gabriel V: autonomia 200 - 400 Km.
La versione Mk.II fu prodotta su licenza da Taiwan (Hsiung Feng I) e dal Sud Africa. Le versioni Mk.III e AS III volavano così vicino alle onde che fu necessario impostare l'altezza delle onde prima del lancio.
La versione Mk.I fu usata durante la guerra di Yom Kippur nel 1973, contro le navi della marina siriana durante la battaglia di Latakia e durante la battaglia di Damietta contro le navi egiziane. Quando viene lanciato, il missile Gabriel sale ad un'altitudine di 35 m, quindi scende a 17 m per iniziare il suo volo di crociera. Durante la fase di attacco il missile si trova tra i 4 ed i 5 m sopra la superficie del mare.
Versioni successive
Gabriel II
Lo sviluppo della versione Mk 2 venne avviata nel 1972 e il missile entrò in servizio nel 1976. Tale versione fu costruita su licenza da Taiwan con la denominazione di the Hsiung Feng 1 e in Sud Africa sotto il nome 'Skerpioen' (Scorpione in Afrikaans).
Gabriel III
Importanti miglioramenti furono introdotti con le versioni Gabriel III e Gabriel III A/S, con entrambe le versioni Gabriel III che utilizzano il sistema fire and forget (letteralmente spara e dimentica).
Gabriel IV
La versione Gabriel IV ha un raggio di 200 km, mentre è in fase di sviluppo la versione Gabriel V da parte della Israel Aerospace Industries, denominata Advanced Naval Attack Missile.
I vecchi modelli di Gabriel sono ancora utilizzati da Cile, Ecuador, Israele, Messico, Sudafrica, Sri Lanka, Kenya, e altri paesi.
GABRIEL V
Quest'ultimo sarebbe della stessa lunghezza di Exocet o AGM-84 Harpoon. È dotato di un autodirettore radar attivo, contromisure elettroniche, contromisure elettroniche e porta esche.
La Finlandia ha scelto di recente l'Advanced Naval Attack Missile di Israele per sostituire il suo attuale sistema MTO85M, un derivato del missile anti-nave svedese RBS15 che raggiungerà la fine del suo ciclo di vita nel 2020.
Il missile Gabriel della IAI ha battuto altri quattro concorrenti valutati dal Ministero della Difesa finlandese: l’ NSM di Kongsberg, l’Exocet di MBDA, l’Harpoon di Boeing e l’RBS15 della Saab. Il contratto iniziale ha un valore di 162 milioni di EUR, con un'opzione di 193 milioni di EUR.
La selezione del missile d'attacco navale avanzato di Israele segna un risultato importante per la società IAI, che rappresenta la prima vendita di tale sistema strategico a una marina militare europea.
Conosciuta anche come Gabriel 5, l'arma è l'ultimo membro di una famiglia di missili d'attacco navale sviluppata dalla IAI. Poco si sa dell’arma: si ritiene sia operativa sulle navi missilistiche della Marina israeliana e con alcune marine straniere.
Con dimensioni approssimative come l'Harpoon USA e l'EXOCET francese, il missile israeliano copre distanze maggiori e può completare la sua missione anche in un ambiente altamente restrittivo. Utilizzando un moderno e avanzato ricercatore radar attivo ed un sofisticato controllo progettato per superare i problemi di selettività degli obiettivi, il sistema raggiunge un'efficacia operativa molto elevata, in particolare nelle acque litoranee. Come tale è ottimizzato per il funzionamento in acque congestionate, in condizioni di pesante guerra elettronica e contro contromisure sofisticate, tipiche degli scenari che si possono incontrare nel Mar Baltico e in mari ristretti. Il missile ha una portata stimata di 200-400 km e, secondo alcuni rapporti, una versione del missile è dotata di un collegamento dati bidirezionale. Secondo il Ministero della Difesa finlandese, il missile sarà utilizzabile anche da piattaforme veicolari a terra e contro obiettivi terrestri.
Come un missile d'attacco avanzato, il Gabriel 5 potrebbe penetrare le protezioni dell'obiettivo, sia per le difese soft e hard-kill. E' stato progettato con sofisticate contromisure elettroniche (ECCM), esche avanzate ed ECM attive. Il missile Gabriel 5 ed il Barak 8 sono stati descritti come parte di un sistema combinato, offensivo e difensivo costruito dalla divisione Missili e Spazio della IAI per la marina israeliana e per l'esportazione.
I principali criteri di selezione hanno ponderato le prestazioni dell'arma, i costi di acquisizione, i tempi di consegna, i costi del ciclo di vita e la sicurezza dell'approvvigionamento. È stata presa in considerazione anche la compatibilità con le infrastrutture e il sistema di difesa esistenti.
Il nuovo missile sarà installato sulle navi missilistiche esistenti della classe Hamina e sulle nuove navi “Squadron 2020”, la prima delle quali sarà varata nel 2019.
L'Hamina è oggetto di un programma di aggiornamento di mezza vita condotto dalla società Patria. L'SMM2020 sarà installato anche su una piattaforma veicolare, introducendo una prima variante di difesa costiera conosciuta per il Gabriel. Le consegne inizieranno nel 2019 e continueranno fino al 2025. La Marina finlandese dovrebbe mantenere in servizio il nuovo missile per un periodo di 30 anni. L'acquisto comprenderà lanciatori, missili, simulatori, apparecchiature di prova, pezzi di ricambio e addestramento.
ENGLISH
Gabriel missiles, created by Israel Aerospace Industries, are a range of anti-ship missiles that use the technique of sea skimming, created in response to an attack on an Israeli warship in 1967. The Mark IV version was in service with the Israeli Navy while other versions are in service with navies around the world.
Origin
On October 21, 1967, four Styx missiles sank the destroyer INS Eilat, which was patrolling along the northern shores of the Sinai. Forty-seven Israeli sailors and officers were killed or went missing in action and 100 were injured. The loss of the ship prompted the Israeli navy to ask Israel Aerospace Industries to accelerate the development of an anti-ship missile, which had begun in 1958 with the Luz (or Lutz) program.
Development
Faced with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems's anxiety to develop a new guidance system, Shlomo Erell asked Israel Aerospace Industries to take over the program by recruiting Ori Even-Tov, a former Rafael engineer. Even-Tov suggested dropping the guidance joystick approach used by the Luz, and instead proposed the development of an autonomous guidance system which would allow the missile to seek its objective, even in bad weather or bad visibility. He further proposed using an altimeter, allowing the missile to fly some meters over the surface of the sea, making it difficult to detect and allowing it to hit the target just above the waterline. A radar installed on the ship had to guide the missile, while the altimeter would keep the missile in sea-skimming mode.
Gabriel Mk 1
The development of the Gabriel for the Israeli Navy began in 1962, before being first shown to the public in 1970. It was touted to be the world's first operational sea-skimming missile, and saw extensive action during the Yom Kippur War. A batch of 50 was imported by the Republic of China Navy for evaluation and as the interim weapon for the three Allen M. Sumner class destroyers upgraded with Gabriel Mk 2 missile system, and it is also the basis for the Taiwanese Hsiung Feng I missile.
Gabriel Mk 2
The Gabriel Mk 2, an improved version of Gabriel, was created in 1972 and entered service in 1976. It was also built under license South Africa under the name Skerpioen (Afrikaans for Scorpion). The Taiwanese Hsiung Feng I missile can be considered as a parallel development, being based on Gabriel Mk 1 but with similar improvements, and ordnances used by the two systems are interchangeable.
Gabriel III
Gabriel III and Gabriel III A/S were introduced in 1978 with major improvements. The air-launched Gabriel III A/S has a range of over 60 km. Both Gabriel III versions employ the widely used 'fire and forget' mode.
Gabriel IV
Developed in the early 1990s is related to the Gabriel Mk III but larger and with a turbojet engine for sustained flight. It is distinguishable from the Mk III because of its swept wings with cropped tip. Like the Mk III, it has 3 guidance modes: Fire and Forget, Fire and Update with data link, and Fire and command using Radar update.
Gabriel V (Advanced Naval Attack Missile)
Israel Aerospace Industries is reportedly working on a Gabriel V Advanced Naval Attack Missile, with an advanced active multi-spectra seeker designed for cluttered littoral environments.
Operational history
During the Yom Kippur War the Gabriel I was used for the first time during the Battle of Latakia. Israeli missile boats armed with Gabriel Mk 1 missiles were credited with defeating Syrian ships armed with the Soviet-made Styx missile. Even though the Styx missile had a longer range, the Gabriel's reliability and flexibility of handling contributed to the Israeli victory. It is known that the Syrians shot missile salvos at the charging Israeli vessels, but missed due to the Israeli ECM technology of the time. When they were in range, the Israeli boats launched their Gabriel missiles, and sank all but one Syrian Osa class ship, which was later sunk by cannon fire. After defeating the Syrian Navy (surviving Syrian ships stayed in port) the Israeli missile boats defeated the Egyptian navy as well, achieving naval supremacy for the remainder of the war.
Older models of the Gabriel are still used by Chile, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and other countries. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, however, the P-15 Russian missile was much less successful. From October 6 to October 12, 54 missiles were fired to no effect, according to Western sources. The aforementioned Russian sources however, claim that a total of seven ships were sunk - all small vessels such as trawlers, patrol boats, and missile boats. But the Russian specialists agreed with their Western counterparts that the overall results were unsatisfying, especially considering that seven Egyptian and Syrian vessels were sunk after being hit by Israeli Gabriel Mk.1 anti-ship missiles. This last figure is commonly recognized by specialists in both the West and East.
The first such encounter took place during the night of October 6 to October 7, 1973, near Latakia on the Syrian coast. Israeli forces used helicopters flying slowly at very low altitude, effectively simulating naval targets. No Israeli ship was hit by the large salvo of P-15s subsequently fired by the Syrians, who themselves lost the T-43 class trawler Jarmuk and three torpedo boats to Israeli Gabriel missiles. The Syrian missile boats withdrew successfully, but all of their missiles missed the Israeli helicopters, which had climbed to break the missile radars' locks. On the same night, a similar trick with helicopters was repeated against Egyptian ships north of the Sinai Peninsula. Yet another encounter took place near Latakia on the night of October 10–11. This time, the missile exchange between Israeli and Syrian missile boats took place without the use of helicopters, and Israeli ships relied on chaff launchers. The Syrian vessels maneuvered outside their harbor among the anchored merchant ships. Two of the warships were sunk by Gabriel missiles, which also hit two neutral ships, the Greek Tsimentaros and the Japanese Yamashuro Maru. According to Israeli sources, the use of chaff saved all of its vessels. The following night, the helicopter maneuver was again successfully used during an encounter near Tartus off the Syrian coast. No Israeli ship was hit by a salvo of P-15s fired by Syrian missile boats. On the Syrian side, two Komar-class vessels were sunk by Gabriel missiles, and also the Soviet merchant ship Ilya Mechnikov was hit. On the same night, a similar encounter took place off the coast of Port Said.
Finland has selected Israel’s Advanced Naval Attack Missile to replace its current MTO85M system, a derivative of Swedish RBS15 that will reach the end of its life cycle in the 2020s. IAI’s Gabriel has beaten four other competitors evaluated by Finland’s MOD, including Kongsberg’s NSM, MBDA’s Exocet, Boeing’s Harpoon and Saab’s RBS15. The initial contract is worth EUR162 million, with an option worth EUR 193 million.
The selection of Israel’s Advanced Naval Attack Missile marks an important achievement for IAI, representing the first sale of such strategic system to a European Navy. Also known as Gabriel 5, the weapon is the latest member of a family of naval attack missiles developed by IAI. Little is known about the weapon, that is believed to be operational on Israel Navy missile boats and with some foreign navies.
With a size roughly as the American Harpoon and French Exocet, the Israeli missile covers longer ranges and can complete its mission even in a highly restrictive environment. Using a modern and advanced active radar seeker and a sophisticated weapon control designed to overcome target selectivity problems, the system achieves very high operational effectiveness, particularly in littoral waters. As such it is optimized for operation in congested waters, and under heavy electronic warfare and against sophisticated countermeasures, typical of scenarios that might be encountered in the Baltic Sea. The missile has an estimated range of 200-400 km and, according to some reports, a version of the missile is equipped with a two-way datalink. According to the Finnish MOD, the missile will also be usable from vehicular platforms on land and against land targets.
As an advanced attack missile, Gabriel 5 could penetrate the target’s protection, both soft- and hard-kill defenses. It was designed with sophisticated electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) dealing with chaff, advanced decoys, and active ECM. Gabriel 5 and Barak 8 were described as part of a combined, offensive and defensive system suite built by IAI’s Missiles and Space division for the Israeli navy and for export.
The main selection criteria weighed the weapon’s performance along with acquisition costs and schedule, lifecycle costs and security of supply. Compatibility with existing infrastructure and defense system was also considered.
The new missile will be installed on existing Hamina-class missile boats and the new Squadron 2020 vessels, the first will be launched in 2019. The Hamina is undergoing a midlife upgrade program lead by Patria. The SMM2020 will also be installed on a vehicle platform, introducing a first known coastal defense variant for the Gabriel. Deliveries will start in 2019 and continue through 2025. The Finnish Navy is expected to maintain the new missile in service for a period of 30 years. The purchase will include launchers, missiles, simulators, test equipment, spare parts, and training. The SSM2020 will be maintained in Finland.
Operators
Current operators:
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Navy
Chile Chilean Navy
Ecuador Ecuadoran Navy
Eritrea Eritrean Navy
Finland Finnish Navy from 2019 onwards
Kenya Kenyan Navy
Mexico Mexican Navy
Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Navy
India Indian Navy.
Former operators:
Israel Israeli Navy
Singapore Republic of Singapore Navy
South Africa South African Navy
Taiwan - Republic of China Navy (Mk 2, reduced to reserve status due to service entry of the similar Hsiung Feng I missile and decommissioned in early 1990s).
