Having bagged Indonesia as the first export customer for its Arrowhead 140 Frigate (AH140) design, UK aerospace, defence and security company, Babcock is looking at replicating this success in the region. Babcock entered into an agreement with PT PAL in Indonesia for two Frigates in September 2021. Babcock has entered into a design licence agreement with PT PAL Indonesia (Persero), Indonesia’s state-owned enterprise that builds and maintains ships for military and commercial use in Surabaya, Indonesia. The design licence will enable PAL to build two Arrowhead 140 frigates in Indonesia with bespoke design modifications for the Indonesian Navy. With Babcock’s support PT PAL will engineer the modifications requested by the Indonesian Navy to configure the Arrowhead 140 for its needs.
in September, Poland emerged as the second export customer, selecting the Arrowhead 140 for its Miecznik (Swordfish) Frigate programme. Babcock is supporting the PGZ- Miecznik Consortium for three Arrowhead 140 Frigates to be built in Polish shipyards by a local workforce, drawing significantly from Polish suppliers and Babcock’s global supply chain. Babcock was announced as the preferred bidder for the UK Type 31 Frigate programme in 2019 and the contract was confirmed in November of the same year. A Babcock-led team is building five Type 31 general-purpose Frigates for the British Royal Navy using the Arrowhead 140 platform.
Babcock’s offer of developing a country’s sovereign shipbuilding and support capability through Arrowyard, a comprehensive and bespoke programme of technology transfer and focused support options is proving attractive to potential customers in the region. Arrowyard will allow customer nations to construct the Arrowhead 140 warships at their own facilities by optimising their own shipyard capability.
The design of Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 Frigate originates from an air defence warship, the Danish Navy’s proven Iver Huitfeldt Frigate. As a multi-mission surface combatant, the Arrowhead 140 is capable of conducting AAW, ASuW, ASW and EW operations and is operationally proficient in both blue water and littoral areas.
The AH140 design will have a minimum operating complement of approximately 100 personnel and over 80 additional bunks will be available for embarked Task Group command staff, troops or other additional operational personnel. The vessel offers a dedicated reconfigurable space capable of accommodating 20 ft ISO Containers supported by power, communications and data services.
The new generation warships can be fitted with an open architecture and scalable Combat Management System, from a range of suppliers and also includes comprehensive Command and Control facilities, including dedicated planning and operational spaces for Task Group commanders. It will also be available with an Integrated Electronic Warfare (EW) suite including R-ESM, C-ESM and R-ECM off-board decoys. The warships will also be fitted with an Integrated Bridge and Navigation System, Integrated Platform Management System and Damage Surveillance and Control system.
The AH140 platform is driven by compliance with Lloyd’s Register Naval Ship Rules, UK Naval Standards and NATO ANEP-77 Naval Ship Code amongst many other naval standards and as a result includes levels of survivability, damaged stability and recoverability that exceed those of many contemporary complex Frigate designs. These levels will allow AH140 warships to operate in the threat environment commensurate with combat operations.
The Arrowhead 140 warships will have a nominal displacement of 7,000 tonnes and be able to attain a maximum speed of 28 knots. Range is quoted as 6500-9000 nm, depending on configuration and operating conditions. Propulsion is from Combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) with 4 x Diesel Engines, 2 x Controllable Pitch Propellers and 4 x Diesel Generators.
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