Archive: News & Articles

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 […]

Lockheed Martin announced on 29 October 2025 that it has made a USD 50 million investment in Saildrone, which it described as a global leader in maritime autonomous systems. The strategic collaboration is intended to deliver commercially available unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) equipped with lethal, combat-proven defence technology. The companies will collaborate with a goal […]

Rheinmetall and the German arm of MBDA have transferred a laser demonstrator for the German Navy to the Laser Competence Centre at the Technical Centre for Weapons and Ammunition (WTD 91) in Meppen for further testing, Rheinmetall announced on 27 October 2025. The move, which follows the successful completion of a one-year trial phase of the […]

Engineers from Denmark-headquartered command-and-control (C2) specialist Systematic have recently completed the successful integration of the Mk11 Sharpeye navigation and naval surveillance radar into Systematic’s SitaWare Headquarters C4ISR software suite, the company announced on 22 October 2025. The integration, effected in support of the Irish Naval Service’s (INS’s) Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessels, allows absolute positions […]

ST Engineering launched the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN)’s first Victory-class Multi-Role Combat Vessel (MRCV), Victory, at its Benoi Yard on 21 October 2025 in a ceremony officiated by Singapore’s defence minister, Chan Chun Sing. Victory is the first of six MRCVs to be built by ST Engineering under a contract awarded by the Singaporean […]

Damen Naval contracted Danish defence technology company Terma A/S to supply its C-Guard decoy launching system for integration on the PES frigate currently under construction for the Colombian Navy, Damen announced on 8 October 2025. The C-Guard system significantly enhances the frigate’s survivability. It features advanced anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) modules designed […]

The Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division of Huntington Ingalls Industries announced on 7 October 2025 that it has successfully completed initial sea trials for the US Navy Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798). Over the course of several days at sea, an NNS and US Navy team conducted testing of systems and components, including […]

A joint team from Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the US Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport has successfully completed the first recovery of a second-generation REMUS 620 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) into a Virginia-class submarine torpedo tube and shutterway test fixture at Seneca Lake, New York, HII announced […]

The UK Royal Navy has achieved initial operating capability (IOC) with the Sea Venom anti-ship missile, the navy announced on 2 October 2025. IOC with the Sea Venom, which was developed by MBDA under the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy) programme, was achieved during the eight-month Operation ‘Highmast’, the Royal Navy’s global mission to the […]

At its shipyard in Cartagena on 3 October 2025 Navantia hosted the naming ceremony for the Spanish Navy’s second S-80-class submarine: S-82 Narciso Monturiol. The event, presided over by Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles, took place next to the facility where the final outfitting of the submarine was completed. This is the step before the […]

RTX’s Raytheon business announced on 1 October 2025 that it has delivered its 500th Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 to the US Navy. The company says it is investing in infrastructure and material to continue deliveries, with plans to nearly double production rates by June 2026. The ESSM Block 2 is an advanced surface-to-air missile that has […]

Norway’s selection of the UK as the strategic partner to provide its future frigate will open up other opportunities for further co-operation on capability development between the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) and the UK Royal Navy (RN), the RNoN’s chief has told ESD. On 31 August 2025 Norway announced the downselection of the UK’s BAE […]

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) published a summary of its work under the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Spearhead programme on 1 October 2025. A collaboration between the Royal Navy, defence industry and research organisations, the ASW Spearhead programme is a GBP 400 million (EUR 460 million) initiative that has rapidly delivered three autonomous platforms that […]

The Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset has become the first Royal Navy (RN) warship to fire a Naval Strike Missile (NSM), the RN announced on 29 September 2025. The firing was made inside Norway’s Arctic rocket range in Andøya during Exercise Aegir 25, which took place throughout September and also included firings from land-based launch […]

Nascent Anglo-German unmanned systems specialist STARK has introduced onto the market its first unmanned surface vessels (USVs). Called the Vanta-4 and Vanta-6, the new USVs were put through their paces during NATO’s Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping Augmented by Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS)/Dynamic Messenger 2025 exercises, which were held in the area around Troia, Portugal, throughout […]

Marine defence specialist James Fisher Defence (JFD Global) has begun a project to deliver to the UK Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) a new medical monitoring capability for integration into the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS). A major upgrade to the current NSRS, the new capability will expand capacity from monitoring four submariners to up to […]

MBDA has signed a contract with Italy’s National Directorate of Naval Armaments for the production of the Teseo MK2/E anti-ship missile, which is currently under development for the Italian Navy. The contract covers the supply of new-generation Teseo MK2/E anti-ship missiles, which will equip new naval vessels entering service with the Italian Navy. These include […]