01 December 2021
by Santiago Rivas
A first H225 helicopter was delivered to the Argentine Coast Guard in 2015. (Airbus Helicopters)
On 26 November the Argentine government issued ‘Decree 809/2021' that provided additional funding for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Ministry of Security, adding about USD220 million for defence.
The Ministry of Security received an allocation of approximately USD17 million dollars for “offshore heavy helicopters”, which a coast guard source told Janes is for two H225s that are being negotiated with Airbus Helicopter. The deal includes modernising an extra Dauphin helicopter for the Argentine Coast Guard, and overhauling Ecureuil helicopters for that force and the Gendarmerie, and H145s for the Federal Police.
MoD funds are allocated to reopening ‘Petrel Base' in Antarctica, which is expected to become one of the main Argentine bases on that continent.
The extra budget for the armed forces includes a first payment of USD2 million for the recently purchased RBS-70NG missiles (for a total of about USD45 million), according to annexes in the decree.
27 March 2024
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.”
27 March 2024
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
26 March 2024
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.
On 26 November the Argentine government issued ‘Decree 809/2021' that provided additional funding fo...
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