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Further Reading

Skjold

The P-960 KNM Skjold (pronounced shold Norwegian shield") is the Royal Norwegian Navy's first Fast Patrol Craft (coastal corvette) of the Skjold-class. She is designed by the Norwegian Navy in company with different contractors. The ship was commissioned on April 17, 1999.

More evolutionary than revolutionary, the ship is the prototype for six such fast patrol boats (FPBs) to be built in Norway. All incorporate multinational technology. The ship is not an experimental craft because she was designed and built to meet specific requirements. Using a catamaran (twin-hull) design, Skjold is a rigid-sidewall surface effect ship (SES) that can sustain 50-plus knots and can operate in waters as shallow as 3 feet. With its light weight and two lift fans for SES operation, Skjold can lift about 70 percent of her weight out of the water, yet keep some "keel" in the water via her two hulls. The ship's high-speed capability could not be achieved with a traditional hull or catamaran design and without the lift fans. Having a minimum portion of the hull in the water reduces "skin drag:" friction created by the portion of a hull beneath the water's surface as a ship moves forward (or backward). Reduced skin drag thus allows for higher speeds. The ship's main propulsion comes from two Rolls Royce-Allison gas turbines, each producing 8,160 shaft horsepower. Two diesels power the lift fans, and Skjold also has two auxiliary diesels and two waterjets.

The ship is designed for littoral and anti-surface warfare. Skjold is designed to carry two quad, anti-ship-missile launchers; a 76 mm, rapid-fire gun; and a two-round, point-defense, surface-to-air missile launcher.

Composite materials used in the ship's construction are the key to the Skjold prototype project and to the very concept of this class of littoral combat ship. It is by far the strongest and lightest material around. Skjold will float high in the water because she is so much lighter than water. There are different kinds of foam in different places on the ship because we want it to be as light as possible but still strong enough. And there's different laminate outside, with varying thicknesses. All reinforcing components and all the hull plates--everything--are made of composite material.

Composite materials used in the are mainly glass-fiber material, with some carbon fiber. It's the way the fibers are laid down and the way they are pressed together that give the material its strength. And, while there are some radar-absorbing areas, most of the ship is radar-reflecting. It's difficult to absorb a radar signal; it's much easier to reflect it. Only in special situations does a ship want to absorb it. The ship does have infrared (IR) and radio-energy shielding molded into its composite structure to reduce its radar and IR signature.

The composites are fire-retardant, meaning they will not catch fire, and they also are 'isolating.' Normally, when you have a shipboard fire, you attack it from all directions. You try to seal it off, and cool it down so it doesn't spread because--with steel plates--heat will go right through [the plates], and the next compartment will catch fire. That will not happen here. It will not help to start cooling this side if there's a fire on the other side because the heat will not spread [through the composite material]. If you add fuel under pressure and oxygen, for a prolonged period of time, you eventually will generate enough heat to melt it down--then you also could have toxic fumes.

State-of-the-art weapons and technology aboard Skjold will be supplemented with up-to-date training based on the developing concepts of littoral warfighting, something with which the Norwegian navy is quite familiar. The ship's main offensive weapons will be surface-to-surface missiles, designed specifically for littoral warfare and, as such, having very high-resolution imaging and passive infrared seekers so they can discriminate targets in an archipelago area, along with a highly accurate navigation system.