Archive: News & Articles

The keel was laid for the first block of the third defence and intervention frigate (FDI) for the Hellenic Navy at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient on 15 April 2024, the French company announced on 23 April. The construction of the frigate, to be called Formion, is being conducted in collaboration with Greek industry. […]

The Royal Navy’s latest Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) was officially named at BAE Systems’ site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, on 22 April 2024. Agamemnon, named after the ancient Greek king, is the sixth of seven Astute-class SSNs being built for the Royal Navy. The boat is due to be launched later this year. UK Minister […]

UK underwater operations specialist JFD is looking to extend its market recognition among the special operations forces (SOF) community, especially with its range of tactical diving vehicles (TDVs), with attendance at the SOF Week event in downtown Tampa, Florida, from 6-10 May 2024. JFD will be taking both its Carrier Seal and Shadow Seal TDVs […]

The Rafael Advanced Defense Systems C-Dome naval air and missile defence system has made its first combat interceptions. Rafael initially reported on 10 April 2024 that the system had been used the previous night “to intercept a suspicious hostile target which posed a significant threat to Israeli assets and strategic sites in southern Israel”. Then, […]

UK anti-submarine warfare (ASW) specialist SEA is demonstrate a software application to enhance the UK Royal Navy’s sonar systems as part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) Spearhead defence innovation programme, the company announced on 16 April 2024. The system, which is likely to be trialled later in 2024, automatically determines the optimum deployment […]

Two former Royal Navy Sandown-class minehunters transferred to the Ukrainian Navy have arrived in Portsmouth after a two-day voyage from Scotland, the Royal Navy announced on 11 April 2024. The two minehunters, formerly HMS Shoreham and HMS Grimsby but now renamed Cherkasy and Chernihiv respectively, were commissioned into the Ukrainian Navy on 2 July 2023. […]

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) announced on X/Twitter on 6 April 2024 that the initial “special modification work on the destroyer Kaga was completed as planned on 29 March”. The JMSDF added that it will “continue to systematically carry out the necessary modifications to the Izumo-class destroyer in order to acquire the operational capability […]

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 12 April 2024 that it will install the UK DragonFire laser directed-energy weapon (LDEW) – developed by MBDA in conjunction with Leonardo UK, QinetiQ and the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) – on Royal Navy warships. The installation of the weapon will take place from 2027 […]

On 4 April 2024 the US government took a significant holding of war materiel seized from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and transferred it to the Ukrainian armed forces to help them defend against the Russian invasion, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported on 9 April. The material included more than 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles, […]

Israeli underwater warfare specialist DSIT Solutions is unveiling its new DogFish sonar system at the UDT 2024 exhibition, held in London’s ExCel Centre from 9-11 April 2024. The DogFish sonar system, designed for integration with small underwater vehicles, can autonomously detect, track and classify underwater threats, especially small targets such as mini-submarines, semi-submersible vehicles, moored […]

ST Engineering AirX (AirX), ST Engineering’s joint venture with Peluca (formerly known as Wigetworks), is to collaborate with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) in the trials of AirX’s AirFish wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft, ST Engineering announced on 9 April 2024. AirX intends to trial both single- and dual-engine AirFish 8 WIG prototypes, which […]

The annual Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) exhibition and technical conference comes to ExCel London between 9 and 11 April 2024. Headlined as ‘The largest global event dedicated to undersea defence technology’ and now in its 35th year, UDT is firmly established as a leading learning, networking and business development opportunity for companies and professionals active […]

BAE Systems has been awarded an additional USD 25 million (EUR 23 million) firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded USD 181 million contract by the US Marine Corps (USMC) for more Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs) under USMC’s fourth order for full-rate production, the company announced on 8 April 2024. The total cumulative face value of […]

Shipbuilder Damen Naval has commissioned gearbox manufacturer Renk to supply eight gearboxes four the four anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates ordered by Belgium and the Netherlands, the companies announced on 4 April 2024. The two countries each ordered two ASW frigates from Daman Naval under a joint programme in October 2023. According to Renk, the companies […]

The Brazilian Navy and Embraer have signed a partnership agreement for mutual support in research, development and innovation aimed at developing onboard surface search and coastal surveillance radars. The accord was signed on 2 April 2024 at the LAAD defence exhibition in São Paulo, Brazil. “We are proud to partner again with Embraer. This agreement […]

A Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) built by RTX business Raytheon has intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile target at sea in its final seconds of flight, verifying some of the missile’s enhanced capabilities when launched from a Baseline 9.C2 variant of the Aegis Combat System, RTX announced on 29 March 2024. This latest flight test, designated as […]

The Belgian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered six Exail R7 remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the naval technology specialist announced on 2 April 2024. The value of the contract was not disclosed. “This state-of-the-art underwater vehicle will play a pivotal role in enhancing the Belgian armed forces capabilities for inspection and disposal of underwater explosive […]

Fincantieri has secured a EUR 1.18 billion contract from the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, within the framework of collaborative relations initiated by the Italian Ministry of Defence (MoD), to supply two multi-purpose offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) to the Indonesian Navy, the Italian shipbuilder announced on 28 March 2024. The OPVs being supplied are of the […]

Tonelero, the third of the four Scorpène-derived submarines being procured for the Brazilian Navy under its Programa de desenvolvimento de Submarinos (ProSub) programme, was launched in Brazil on 27 March 2024. Built entirely in Brazil by Itaguaí Construções Navais (ICN) in partnership with France’s Naval Group, Tonelero was launched at Itaguaí Naval Base in the […]

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) published its Defence Nuclear Command Paper on 25 March 2024. Titled ‘Delivering the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent as a National Endeavour’, the paper sets out the country-wide strategy that will see the UK’s Continuous-At-Sea Deterrent (CASD), delivered by the Royal Navy’s Operation ‘Relentless’ since April 1969, maintained and renewed. More expansively, […]

Cohort subsidiary Systems Engineering and Assessment (SEA) has been awarded a GBP 135 million (EUR 157.3 million) contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide a trainable decoy launcher to improve the defensive capabilities of Royal Navy surface ships, the company announced on 26 March 2024. The MoD has selected SEA’s Ancilia system […]