Jane’s Fighting Ships

Content Structure
Details of major warships are grouped under six headings. These are:-

Number and Class name. Totals of vessels per class are listed as ‘in service + building (proposed)’ or ‘in service + transfer (proposed)’.
Building programme. This includes builders’ names and key dates.
Hull. This section covers specification and performance parameters. Hull related details such as Military lift and Cargo capacity may be included when appropriate. Displacement and Measurement tonnages, Dimensions, Horsepower and so on, are defined in the Glossary.
Weapon systems. This section contains operational details and some descriptions about weapons and sensors. The titles are:
- Missiles (subdivided into SLBM, SSM, SAM, A/S);
- Guns (numbers of barrels are given and the rate of fire is ‘per barrel’ unless stated otherwise);
- Torpedoes;
- A/S mortars;
- Depth charges;
- Mines;
- Countermeasures;
- Combat data systems;
- Weapons control;
- Radars;
- Sonars.
Aircraft. Only the types and numbers are included here. Where appropriate each country has a separate section listing overall numbers and operational parameters of frontline shipborne and land-based maritime aircraft, normally included after the Frigate section if there is one.
General comments. A maximum of six sub-headings are used to sweep up the variety of additional information which is available but has no logical place in the other sections. These headings are: Programmes; Modernisation; Structure; Operational; Sales and Opinion. The last of these allows space for informed comment. Some ships remain theoretically in the order of battle in some navies even though they never go to sea and could be more accurately described as in reserve. Where this is known comment is made under Operational.

Details related to front-line maritime aircraft reflects the importance of air power as an addition to the naval weapon systems armoury. Greater detail can be found in Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft and Jane’s Weapon Systems..

Other than for coastal navies, tables are included at the front of each country section with such things as strength of the fleet, senior appointments, personnel numbers, bases and so on. There is also a list of pennant numbers and a deletions column covering the previous three years.

Shipbuilding companies and weapons manufacturers frequently change their names by merger or takeover. As far as possible the published name shows the title when the ship was built or weapon system installed and is therefore historically accurate.

Like many descriptive terms in international naval nomenclature, differences between Coast Guards, Maritime Police, Customs and other paramilitary maritime forces are often particular to an individual nation. Such vessels are usually included if they have a paramilitary function and are armed.

The Navies by country section allows the professional user to make an assessment of the fighting characteristics of a Navy or class of ship without having to cross refer to other Navies and sections of the book.

Regular updates can be found on Jane’s Online.

Jane’s Online Information

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Sections

Glossary
1,000 kilos = 2,204.6 lb, Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion, ADvanced CAPabilities, Advanced Combat Direction System, Advanced Swimmer Delivery System, Afloat Logistics and Sealift Capability, Air Independent Propulsion, Airborne Early Warning, Air-to-Surface Missile, Air-to-Surface Vessel, Anti-Air Warfare, Anti-Radiation Missile, Anti-Submarine (Warfare), Anti-submarine rocket launcher, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Base Point Defence Missile System, Basically the weight of water displaced by a ship's hull when floating:, Calibre - the diameter of a gun barrel; also used for measuring length of the barrel for example a 6 in gun 50 calibres long (6 in/50) would be 25 ft long, Close-In Weapon System, Combined Diesel and Gas turbine Electric, Combined nuclear and steam, Commercial Off-The-Shelf, controllable pitch (propellers), Co-operative Engagement Capability, deadweight tonnage (see tonnage), Descriptions of mixed propulsion systems: combined, diesel and gas turbine, diesel-electric and gas turbine,, diesel or gas turbine, gas turbine and gas turbine, gas, Dry Dock Shelter, Dual Purpose (gun) for surface or AA use, Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System, Electromagnetic Aircraft Recovery System, Electronic counter-countermeasures, Electronic countermeasures, for example, jamming, Electronic intelligence, for example, recording radar, W/T and so on, Electronic Support Measures for example, intercept, Electronic Warfare, Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, Exclusive Economic Zone, Expressed in various ways:, Extended-Range Guided Munitions, Extreme High Frequency, Extreme Low Frequency radio, Fleet Rehabilitation And Modernisation programme, Forward-Looking Infra-Red, Global Command and Control System, Global Positioning System, gross registered tonnage (see tonnage), Gun Fire-Control System, Helicopter In-Flight Refuelling, High Definition Thermal Imager, High Frequency, Identification Friend/Foe, Infra-Red Search and Track, Japan Maritime Safety Agency, Joint Maritime Command Information System, Joint Tactical Information Distribution System, kiloton, kilowatt, Light Airborne Multipurpose System, Local Area Missile System, Low Frequency, Machine Gun, Magnetic Anomaly Detector, Maritime Defence Force, Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Measurement tons, computed on capacity of a ship's hull rather than its 'displacement' (see above):, Medium Frequency, Megawatt, Mine and Ice Detection Avoidance System, Missile Fire-Control System, Multiple, Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle, nautical mile (mean value 1.8532 km), Naval Tactical Direction System, Near-term Mine Reconnaissance System, net registered tonnage (see tonnage), Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (warfare), Officer in Tactical Command, Over The Horizon Targeting, overall length, Point Defence Missile System, Poisson Auto Propulse, Power developed or applied:, Pressurised Water Reactor, Principal Anti-Air Missile System, Quick Reaction Combat Capability, Radar Absorbent Material, Radar Cross Section, Rapid Anti-ship missile Integrated Defence System, Recovery, Assist, Secure and Traverse system, Remote Operated Vehicle, Replenishment At Sea, revolutions per minute, Rigid Inflatable Boat, Rocket assisted torpedo, part of whose trajectory is in the air, Rolling Airframe Missile, Roll-on/Roll-off, SATellite COMmunications, Search And Rescue, See Tonnage, Service Life Extension Programme, Ship Self-Defence System, Ship-Launched Cruise Missile, Ship's Inertial Navigation System, Short Take Off and Barrier Arrested Recovery, Short Take Off and Vertical Landing, Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull, Submarine Acoustic Warfare Countermeasures System, Submarine Command System, Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile, Submerged Signal and Decoy Ejector, Super High Frequency, Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff, Surface Effect Ship, Surface Ship Torpedo Defence System, Surface Towed Array Surveillance System, Surface-to-Air Missile, Surface-to-Surface Missile, Surface-to-Underwater Missile, Surveillance Target Indicator Radar, TACtical Air Navigation beacon, TACtical Towed Acoustic Sensor System, Target Acquisition System, Tercom Aided Inertial Navigation System, Terrain Contour Matching, Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence, Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile, Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, Towed Array Surveillance System, turbine or gas turbine, steam and gas turbine, gas turbine and electric, Ultra-High Frequency, Underwater-to-surface missile, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, Unmanned Surface Vehicle, Unmanned Undersea Vehicle, US Military Sealift Command, Variable Depth Sonar, can be lowered to best listening depth. In helicopters called 'dunking sonar'., Vertical Launch System, Vertical or Short Take-Off/Landing, Vertical replenishment, Vertical Take-Off/Landing, Very Low Frequency radio, Very Slender Vessel, waterline length

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Jane’s Fighting Ships

Jane’s Online Information

Information exploitation and integration