Royal Navy helicopter carrier HMS Ocean definitely sold to Brazil

[Khafee]

Royal Navy helicopter carrier HMS Ocean definitely sold to Brazil
January 02, 2018

HMS Ocean in Beirut. Photo: UK Embassy Lebanon


UK helicopter carrier HMS Ocean has reportedly been bought by Brazil.

The purchase was confirmed by Brazilian defense minister Raul Jungmann, according to UK Defence Journal.

Brazil is reportedly paying £84 million for the UK helicopter carrier which recently returned from her final deployment as a commissioned Royal Navy ship, serving the role of NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 flagship in the Mediterranean.

UK Defence Journal further said the first group of Brazilian officers are to travel to the UK while the vessel is expected to remain in the UK until October or November 2018.

Commissioned in October 1995, the 202-meter long HMS Ocean replaced HMS Bulwark as fleet flagship in June 2015. In her role as a helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship, Ocean is designed to deliver troops by helicopter or by landing craft.

The acquisition of HMS Ocean comes as the Brazilian Navy decided to decommission their only aircraft carrier BNS Sao Paulo (A 12) after it had been determined that the cost of returning the aircraft carrier to an operational status was too high.

After several attempts to improve the ship’s operational capacity failed in previous years, the navy reasoned that a modernization procedure would necessitate heavy investment without a guarantee of operational improvement.

BNS Sao Paulo, formerly known as Clemencau-class FS Foch, was a conventionally-powered aircraft carrier built for the French Navy in 1959. By acquiring the ship in 2000, Brazil became the only country in South America to operate an aircraft carrier.

Last month, the Brazilian Navy also issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the construction of new Tamandaré-class corvettes.

The RFP was announced at the Brazilian Naval Academy by defense minister Raul Jungmann and navy chief Admiral Eduardo Bacellar Leal Ferreira.

Brazil is planning to invest US$1.6 billion to acquire four corvettes in the class with the first unit in the class set to arrive by 2021-22.

https://navaltoday.com/2018/01/02/r...hms-ocean-definitely-sold-to-brazil/?uid=1067

 

[Khafee]

Navy’s flagship HMS Ocean sold to Brazil for £84 million
17th February

Navy’s flagship HMS Ocean sold to Brazil for £84 million

The Ministry of Defence is selling the Royal Navy’s flagship vessel HMS Ocean to help plug a mammoth financial black hole.

The £84 million sale to the Brazilian navy is due to go ahead next month and Ocean will sail to South America in the summer.

Pressed on the amount of money that would be reinvested from the sale, an MoD spokesman confirmed it expected to yield a £55 million net profit, all of which would be pumped back into naval coffers.

The sale of HMS Ocean will inject £55 million into defence funds (MoD/PA)

In its report published last month, the National Audit Office said that despite building in a £6 billion contingency, there was an “affordability gap” of at least £4.9 billion in the MoD’s equipment programme.

However if all the risks of cost growth associated with the programme were to materialise the shortfall would rise to £20.8 billion, it said.

HMS Ocean returned to Devonport in Plymouth in December following its final foreign deployment, which included assisting with the humanitarian efforts in the Caribbean following Hurricane Irma.

Announcing the sale of HMS Ocean, Clive Walker, head of the Defence Equipment Sales Authority which managed the deal, said: “We have a proven track record of supplying surplus defence equipment on a government-to-government basis.

“The successful sale of HMS Ocean to the Brazilian navy will provide a financial return to the UK which will now be reinvested in defence.”





Modifications to HMS Ocean will be made by UK companies Babcock and BAE Systems, funded by Brazil, ahead of its transfer, the MoD said. It is understood the vessel will become a fully operational member of the fleet, rather than being used for display purposes.

HMS Queen Elizabeth will eventually take on the role as the nation’s new flagship, and will be able to act as a helicopter carrier once its sea trials have been completed.

The MoD spokesman said HMS Ocean’s helicopter-carrying capability would not be lost, with the likes of HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion able to take over those duties.

Johnny Mercer, the Tory MP for Plymouth Moor View and a former Army officer and Afghanistan veteran, said HMS Ocean’s sale marked ” a sad day”.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “I served on HMS Ocean. Sad day to see her go today, but determined our amphibious capabilities as a nation will only modernise and grow, and remain centred on #Plymouth. Looking forward to the Modernising Defence review later this year.”

The amphibious warfare craft was host to Theresa May’s first visit on board a Royal Navy ship in December 2016, and five years earlier members of its aviation crew became unlikely internet sensations after their rendition of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You went viral.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...d_to_Brazil_for___84_million/#comments-anchor

 

[The Sandman]

Navy’s flagship HMS Ocean sold to Brazil for £84 million

How much a new one costs?

 

[Khafee]

How much a new one costs?

HMS Ocean is 21,500 tons, and when the contract was awarded in 1993, it cost £139.5 million.

Today, I don't expect it to cost +/- £1bn, but then again, IF built outside the UK, it would be half, or less than half of this price.

 

[SOUTHie]

HMS Ocean is 21,500 tons, and when the contract was awarded in 1993, it cost £139.5 million.

Today, I don't expect it to cost +/- £1bn, but then again, FI built outside the UK, it would be half, or less than half of this price.

The South Korean has a similar one which costs around $600 million.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROKS_Dokdo_(LPH-6111)

 

[Khafee]

Our HMS Queen Elizabeth thread:

https://world-defense.com/threads/hms-queen-elizabeth-uk-royal-navy-aircraft-carrier.4586/

 

[Khafee]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROKS_Dokdo_(LPH-6111)

Oh how I wish, we could have a few of these!

 

[The Sandman]

Today, I don't expect it to cost +/- £1bn, but then again, IF built outside the UK, it would be half, or less than half of this price.

But still i guess Brazil made a good choice?

 

[Khafee]

But still i guess Brazil made a good choice?

Even if they spend another $100m on it, to bring it upto cutting edge. They got a very good deal.

 

[The Sandman]

Even if they spend another $100m on it, to bring it upto cutting edge. They got a very good deal.

I don't have much knowledge but it's a helicopter carrier right? Pakistan can too get one of these no?

 

[SOUTHie]

Oh how I wish, we could have a few of these!

Yeah, I think this is relatively new in Asia, I think the Japanese have Heli Carriers. The west is no longer at war, the focus has now shifted to Asia. We will see more of such ships in here.

 

[Khafee]

I don't have much knowledge but it's a helicopter carrier right? Pakistan can too get one of these no?

For $200m ~$250m (after upgrades) PN should have gone for it, but in all honesty, what they need right now is Frigates and Destroyers.