Feature 8 | SUBMARINE PROPULSION Second Mesma AIP system ready for shipment
DCNS in France announced recently that it is ready to ship the second of three Mesma air-independent propulsion (AIP) modules ordered by the Pakistan Navy for its DCNS-designed Agosta 90B submarines. The module will be installed as part of a scheduled major refit for one of two Agosta 90Bs in active service. The self-contained hull module will be integrated with the submarine over the next few months with DCNS providing technical assistance. A ‘cut-and-plug’ operation will see the 8.7m ‘plug’ inserted into the boat’s hull. The first Mesma module was integrated directly during the construction of third-of-class Agosta 90B submarine PNS Hamza which entered active service in 2008.
Following the ‘cut-and-plug’, the boat will have a length of 76.2m for a submerged displacement of 1980tonnes. The Mesma module will enable the submarine to remain submerged for weeks at a time. Following a qualification campaign lasting seven months and 5200 hours of tests the AIP module was prepared for shipment as a 160tonne package. The main aims of the tests conducted by DCNS were to ensure that the module worked as designed and met its performance specifications. DCNS engineers and technicians checked the AIP module’s output power, endurance and range. These tests were followed by acceptance tests in the presence of customer representatives in March.
Once the tests had been completed, the AIP was disconnected from the test equipment and packed for shipment by barge to the nearby port of Saint-Nazaire where it will be loaded onto a ship chartered by the customer. The voyage to the shipyard in Pakistan will take three to four weeks. The first of the series of Agosta 90B submarines for Pakistan was built at DCNS’s Cherbourg shipyard and commissioned in 1999. The second and third boats were built in Karachi under a technology transfer programme; the third including a Mesma module from the outset. After deciding to equip the other two boats with AIP modules as they came due for major refits, the Pakistan Navy placed the corresponding orders. The third module is undergoing qualification testing at the Indret centre.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING IN SHIP & OFFSHORE DESIGN 28 -29 March 2012, London, UK
Following on from the success of the first Royal Institution of Naval Architects conference, we are organising a second international conference to highlight the principles and application of systems engineering as a tool for marine and offshore projects.
The prompt delivery of high quality complex ship and offshore systems is made possible by ever more advanced design methods but this also poses major challenges as management teams try to balance capability and cost across global markets. The many risks and interdependencies are best addressed within a systems engineering structure that brings together all the disciplines involved and represents a single unified view of the project. Based on a sound understanding of the original requirements, multiple concepts can be developed with lifecycle management, safety and environmental issues fully integrated from the start.
RINA invites papers from those in the marine industry with a systems engineering perspective on the efficiency of their design processes and the sustainability of future assets. • Practical examples of its application • Designing for environmental sustainability • Risk and safety engineering • Applying architectural frameworks • Dealing with multiple concepts • Operations and human factors integration • Product and lifecycle management • Tools & techniques
www.rina.org.uk/systems-engineering-2012
Please return to: Conference Department, RINA, 10 Upper Belgrave Street, London SW1X 8BQ by fax on +44 (0)20 7259 5912 or by email:
conference@rina.org.uk
Sponsored by
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