US GAO confirms concerns with US Navy Conventional Prompt Strike platform scheduling

by Michael Fabey

A new US government report cites concerns about installing hypersonic missile equipment on the USS Zumwalt . (Janes/Michael Fabey)

Both US Navy (USN) vessel platforms lined up for the service's first Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) deployments face issues with scheduling and development, according to a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on 8 June.

The first USN platform lined up for the CPS weapon system is the guided-missile destroyer, USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000).

The navy requested about USD160 million in research, development, test, and evaluation funds across fiscal years (FYs) 2022 and 2023 to support the CPS hypersonic weapon system's incorporation into DDG 1000-class ships, the GAO said in its annual report on major Pentagon acquisition programmes.

“According to the programme, it continued engineering design planning to support CPS integration initiated last year,” the GAO reported. “This includes plans to replace the ship's advanced gun system with the CPS hypersonic weapon. The navy plans to install the hypersonic weapon system on the DDG 1000 during a maintenance period in fiscal year 2024.”


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CRS raises USCG Polar Security Cutter cost-estimate questions

by Michael Fabey

An artist rendering of the proposed US Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter, whose cost estimates are being questioned. (VT Halter Marine/Technology)

The accuracy of the estimated procurement cost of the proposed US Coast Guard (USCG) Polar Security Cutter (PSC), given its size and internal complexity, is a potential issue of concern, according to the US Congressional Research Service (CRS).

“The PSC's estimated procurement cost per weight is roughly half that of the [US] Navy's LPD-17 Flight II and LHA amphibious ships,” the CRS said in its report, Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (Polar Icebreaker) Program: Background and Issues for Congress , released on 25 March.

“These amphibious ships are equipped with expensive combat system equipment that is not included in the PSC design, but whether this would account for all of the difference in cost per weight between the PSC design and the two amphibious ship designs is not clear,” the CRS said. “If substantial cost growth occurs in the PSC program, it could raise a question regarding whether to grant some form of contract relief to the PSC shipbuilder.”


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Taiwan receives fifth, sixth Tuo Chiang-class corvettes

by Ridzwan Rahmat

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen seen here at the handover ceremony of An Chiang (625) and Wan Chiang (626) on 26 March 2024. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The Republic of China Navy (RoCN) has received its fifth and sixth Tuo Chiang-class guided-missile corvettes.

Presiding over the vessels' handover ceremony on 26 March at Yilan was Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen who in an official social media post on the same day described the handover event as “an important step forward for Taiwan's indigenous naval defence”.

The Tuo Chiang class is a catamaran-hulled corvette that features a wave-piercing form factor with reduced radar cross-section (RCS) exteriors. It was developed by the country's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST) with local shipbuilder Lung Teh.

First-of-class ROCS Tuo Chiang (618) was commissioned in December 2014. The programme's second-of-class onwards are based on an improved design with a longer overall length of 65 m and a higher displacement of 685 tonnes. The first-of-class displaces about 600 tonnes and has an overall length of about 60 m.

The vessels that were handed over on 26 March are named An Chiang (625) and Wan Chiang


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Myanmar equips second Kyan Sit Thar-class frigate with Indian-made radar

by Ridzwan Rahmat

Myanmar's second Kyan Sit Thar-class frigate, UMS Sin Phyu Shin , seen here as it arrives at Visakhapatnam, India, for Exercise ‘Milan' 2024. It can be seen here equipped with the Revathi radar. (Indian MoD)

Myanmar has equipped its second Kyan Sit Thar-class guided-missile frigate, UMS Sin Phyu Shin, with the Indian-made Revathi 3D air surveillance radar.

Janes can now confirm that the radar was fully incorporated in 2023, and a partial validation of its capabilities was carried out at the ‘Milan' multilateral naval exercise in Visakhapatnam, India. The exercise ran from 19 to 27 February 2024.

Images of Sin Phyu Shin arriving at Visakhapatnam for the exercise were released by the Indian Navy on 19 February, and they depict the frigate with what appears to be a new sensor on the pedestal above its aft superstructure.

The sensor that was previously found in this position was the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) RAWL-02 surface search radar.

Janes has since verified that BEL was contracted to replace this with the Revathi radar as part of its efforts to improve the frigate's air-defence capabilities.


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Both US Navy (USN) vessel platforms lined up for the service's first Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS...

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