Concluído acordo de venda das Tipo 23
Chega ao fim a longa novela sobre a venda da fragatas Tipo 23 britânicas. Assinado no último dia 9 de setembro, o acordo entre o Governo Chileno e o Ministério da Defesa Britânico estabelece a venda em definitivo de três unidades da classe Tipo 23 (HMS Norfolk, Grafton e Marlborough). O Chile assinou uma carta de intenções em dezembro de 2004, posteriormente modificada por um adendo em junho deste ano. Ao final, o valor total de transação, que inclui preparação de pré-venda, manutenção e treinamento, foi de 135 milhões de libras (aproximadamente 250 milhões de dólares). A previsão é de que os navios sejam entregues ao Chile em 2008.
Type 23 Frigates
Powerful and versatile with the capability to operate anywhere in the world, the type 23 frigate is the mainstay of the modern surface fleet. The 14 Type 23 frigates form 50% of the total frigate/destroyer force in the Royal Navy. Originally designed for the principal task of anti-submarine warfare, they have evolved into powerful and versatile multi purpose ships with the capability to operate anywhere in the world. The effectiveness of these ships is enhanced by their stealth design, which reduces their radar signature significantly. In addition to the war fighting roles described above, the ship is trained to conduct a wide range of other tasks. These include embargo operations using boarding teams inserted from the ship's boats or helicopter, disaster relief work and surveillance operations.
Type 23 Statistics
Displacement: 4,900 tonnes
Length: 133m / 436ft
Beam: 16.1m / 52.9ft
Complement: 185
Armament: 2 x Quad Harpoon Missile launchers
Vertical Launch Sea Wolf anti-missile system
4.5in (114mm) MK 8 gun
2 x 30mm Close range guns
2 x Magazine launched anti submarine torpedo tubes
NATO Seagnat and DLF3 Decoy Launchers
Sensors: Type 1007 navigation radar
Type 996 air/surface surveillance radar
2 x Type 911 Sea Wolf tracking radars
UAT Electronic Surveillance System
Type 2050 active sonar
Aircraft: MK 8 Lynx helicopters:
Armament:
Sea Skua anti-ship missiles
Stingray anti-submarine torpedoes
Mk 11 depth charges
Machine guns
Propulsion: Turbines:
CODLAG (Combined Diesel and Gas) - 2 x
Rolls Royce Spey gas boost
Diesels:
4 x GEC-Alsthom Paxman Valenta
Electric:
2 x GEC motors
fonte: Royal Navy
