05 December 2022
by Jeremy Binnie
Al-Jubail , the first of five corvettes Navantia is building for the RSNF, arrives at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah on 25 August. (SAMI)
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia and Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering the design and construction of additional combat ships for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) on 30 November.
Both organisations released statements describing the new vessels as multimission combat ships. While GAMI did not give a number, the Spanish version of Navantia's release said the MOU would result in a contract being awarded in 2023 to build five ships.
Navantia is building five Al-Jubail-class corvettes for the RSNF based on its Avante 2200 design, the third of which is scheduled to be handed over on 4 December.
GAMI said Navantia had agreed to localise up to 100% of shipbuilding, maintenance, and combat systems integration in line with Saudi Arabia's policy of localising 50% of its defence spending by 2030.
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.
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia and Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) sig...
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