34 · MT 3/2022 Feature ship, and CBRNflex, up 3,600m³/h (twin unit), with easy access to filters and high shock-resistance”. ENGIE Axima has been contracted for the project management, design, production and delivery of HVAC/CBRN systems for the four Type F126 frigates that Damen Naval is jointly building for the German Navy with Blohm+Voss and Thales. Arlit mentioned that planning and construction began in July 2020, and the first frigate will be equipped with the Noske-Kaeser systems in 2024. The first ship is to be handed over to the German Navy in 2028. Asked what the proportion of the cost of a CBRN system was to the overall cost of the ship, Arlit noted, “The rule of thumb is that HVAC/CBRN/refrigeration accounts for about 3% of a naval vessel’s value, excluding on-board weapons, thus standalone CBRN would be 1%”. Environics Oy, Finland’s leading supplier of CBRN detection devices and integrated CBRN monitoring solutions, claims to customise all its service offerings, based on size of ship, the number of citadels and end- user requirements. The company follows a modular system structure, wherein the CBRN monitoring system can be anywhere between one sensor solution and tens of types of sensors in different areas of the vessel, explained Arto Penttinen, Applications Manager for Naval CBRN Monitoring Systems. “The design of the CBRN system should parallel the ship’s design phase where the ship’s layout and the number of CBRN protected zones are determined, though its actual installation should be nearer the end of the ship’s construction […] When the layout is available, the number of detectors and their locations can be decided together with the shipyard and the end-user”. Environics’ CBRN systems can also be installed at the time of mid-life upgrades, and scaled according to user needs. The company, added Penttinen, also partners for the whole system lifespan, by providing full life-cycle support, user training and optimising its systems to meet local environmental conditions. When detection capability requirements cannot be met by Environics’ own detectors, the company resorts to integration of a wide range of third-party products to complement its own CBRN solutions. Penttinen mentioned that CBRN technologies have not undergone any revolutionary developments over the past few decades, and transformative solutions have rarely been introduced. The reliance is still on proven designs, he said, adding that, despite this, Environics focuses on continuously improving the reliability and performance of its offerings. “Our in-house R&D has been guided by our long presence in the industry, experience gained from real-life installations and feedback from our customers,” he concluded. Conclusion Ship survivability and force protection are hence becoming mandatory investments for navies for deploying technologies designed to better a ship’s threat response time and to limit its operating costs. Each CBRNflex system can filter 1,800m3/ hour of contaminated air, includes heat exchangers designed for Arctic and Tropical zones and is able to manage a wide range of environmental requirements with respect to temperature and humidity. (Photo: ENGIE Axima Germany GmbH) The company’s head of communication, Eugen Witte, remarked “Talking about a CBRN system as a combination of detection, protection and decontamination for surface platforms, our MEKO design has for decades been providing options for permanent citadel designs”. MEKO layouts aim to improve the operational availability, interoperability and flexibility of naval units. Witte also noted that running the citadel over filter units and at a slight permanent overpressure eliminates the need to shut down the vessel following a CBRN sensor alarm. “This saves valuable time, protecting the crew, as well as the vessel from any CBRN contamination even before its detection by the CBRN sensor […] Decontamination stations with double door systems provide the option to let crew members enter and leave the citadel, and the outer surface of our MEKO family comprising prewetting and wash-down systems cleans any fall-down”. Hamburg-based ENGIE Axima, formerly Noske-Kaeser, a specialist in customised HVAC, CBRN and fire protection solutions, as well as pipe systems for surface and offshore platforms, said a large part of its turnover is related to in-service support. “Our service teams monitor our systems in operations, for using that experience to continuously improve our components,” Managing Director Thomas Arlit said. “Our longstanding contacts with navies the world over have helped us understand their requirements that are driven by constantly changing mission-profiles, as a result of which we have evolved and innovated our products accordingly“. Indicating that Noske-Kaeser systems have been installed on 157 surface vessels and 81 submarines since the end of the Cold War in 1990, General Manager Jürgen Matthes said his company’s systems support both general CBRN concepts like ‘permanent overpressure’ (mainly used in the German Navy) and ‘changeover system’ (more common in the British and other navies). “Contingent on the platform and requirements – for instance, the amount of treated air – we can offer three main CBRN products that can be combined […] These are door stations, up to 900m³/h, with the additional benefit of easy access to filters from outside, the modular system, with no real limit in m³/h, but with filters inside the f
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