Archive: News & Articles

The steel-cutting ceremony for the UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s (RFA’s) first Fleet Solid Support (FSS) was held at Navantia UK’s Appledore shipyard in North Devon on 3 December 2025, marking a significant milestone in FSS programme. The steel-cutting ceremony, led by UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard, officially kicked off the start […]

On 27 November 2025 Italy’s Leonardo unveiled the ‘Michelangelo Dome’: a new, advanced integrated defence system “designed to counter emerging threats in an increasingly complex global landscape”. Launched at the Officine Farneto complex in Rome, the project is being developed to protect critical infrastructure, sensitive urban areas, territories and assets of national and European interest […]

Navantia has hosted the sixth and final General Assembly of the European Digital Naval Foundation (EDINAF) project: a strategic initiative funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF) that has defined the digital architecture to be integrated into future European naval vessels. The three-day meeting concluded on 27 November 2025 at Navantia’s COEX Digital Twin facilities […]

The Polish government has selected Saab’s A26 Blekinge design for its Orka submarine programme, although a contract has yet to be signed. Saab and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) will now follow the next steps in the procurement process together with relevant Polish authorities. Heralding “an extraordinarily important day for Poland’s security and for […]

The US Navy’s troubled Constellation-class frigate programme has been terminated, with no guarantee that even the first two ships, currently under construction by Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) in Wisconsin, will ever see service. Announcing the move, Secretary of the Navy John C Phelan stated on his X social media account on 25 November 2025, “I will not […]

A fourth defence and intervention frigate (FDI) has been ordered for the Hellenic Navy from French shipyard Naval Group. A contract for the ship was signed on 14 November 2025 by Major General Ioannis Bouras, general director of the Hellenic General Directorate of Defense Investments and Armaments (GDDIA), and Pierre Éric Pommellet, chairman and CEO […]

The UK has seen a 30% increase in Russian vessels threatening UK waters in the past two years, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 24 November 2025. The announcement follows UK Defence Secretary John Healey stating at a press conference in Downing Street on 19 November that the Russian intelligence ship Yantar had […]

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has contracted MBDA UK to fit its DragonFire laser-based directed energy weapon (DEW) onto two Royal Navy (RN) Type 45 air-defence destroyers, in a capability development offering the navy a new deterrence and defence option against a new threat in the modern battlespace. The GBP 316 million (EUR 360 […]

The second S-80-class submarine being built for the Spanish Navy is now afloat in Navantia’s shipyard in Cartagena as it prepares for the final stages of its construction and commissioning, including harbour and sea trials, Navantia reported on 17 November 2025. Narciso Monturiol (S-82) “sits in the water after a long and delicate manoeuvre, carried […]

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that a Russian intelligence ship it has been monitoring near UK waters has directed lasers at the pilots of the Royal Air Force (RAF) P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft that have intercepted it. Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street on 19 November 2025, UK Defence Secretary […]

Rheinmetall’s Mission Master SP2 autonomous uncrewed ground vehicle (A-UGV) was deployed in sea-to-land operations during this year’s NATO Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS)/Dynamic Messenger exercises in Portugal, Rheinmetall announced on 18 November 2025. The aim of the exercises, held out of Troia and Sesimbra in Portugal throughout most of September, is […]

German missile and air defence specialist Diehl Defence and US company Lockheed Martin have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the potential of combining their integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) capabilities for international surface combat vessel programmes. The MoU was announced on 18 November 2025 and was signed during a ceremony at […]

HMS Prince of Wales and its associated UK Carrier Strike Group has reached full operating capability (FOC) and has been placed under the command of NATO, UK Defence Secretary John Healey declared on 17 November 2025. The move means that for the first time NATO will have a carrier strike group under its command with […]

MBDA has signed a contract amendment with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) enabling follow-on deliveries of the Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM), the company announced on 13 November 2025. This latest contract follows an initial CAMM order announced on 16 November 2023. The missiles are used in the MBDA Sea Ceptor air defence system […]

The UK’s Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme has successfully completed its critical design review (CDR), marking the transition from design to manufacturing for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s (RFA’s) next-generation support ships, the UK arm of Spanish shipyard Navantia announced on 12 November 2025. The CDR, an essential stage in the shipbuilding process, provides the green […]

Finnish company Marine Alutech is to deliver a new generation of landing craft to the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps (Korps Mariniers), the company announced on 15 October 2025. The Littoral Assault Craft (LAC) will become the Dutch marines’ new landing craft, replacing the current Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) vessels. The new craft are expected […]

The UK Royal Navy’s flagship, the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, has embarked 24 British F-35B Joint Strike Fighters for the first time as it leads the UK Carrier Strike Group in the Mediterranean after five months operating in the Indo-Pacific, the Royal Navy reported on 6 November 2025. Two dozen F-35s is the […]

In a preview event the Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology trade fair (SMM) has presented details of the upcoming Maritime Security & Defence (MS&D) conference, taking place on 25 November 2025 at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg. Launched in 2009, MS&D has been held regularly as part of SMM in subsequent years. This year […]

The Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) announced on 30 October 2025 that it has recently conducted tests using an unmanned surface vessel (USV) in Hårsfjärden: a fjard outside Berga off the Baltic Sea near Stockholm. The USV used, which has been given the name Ran in honour of the goddess of the sea depths in Norse mythology, […]

Russia’s leaders reported the successful testing of two of the country’s strategic, nuclear-powered ‘wonder weapons’ in late October 2025. In Moscow on 29 October Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the previous day had seen a successful testing of the nuclear-powered 2M39 Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV)/torpedo, which is capable of delivering both conventional and […]

South Korea’s Hanwha announced on 29 October 2025 that it is exploring strategic co-operation with US-based artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy specialist HavocAI to accelerate its expansion into the global unmanned maritime systems market, including in the United States. On 28 October HavocAI CEO Paul Lwin and members of his research team visited Hanwha Ocean’s […]