Australia's DoD said it will assess potential defects of Guardian-class patrol vessels donated to Pacific Island countries. Ted Diro (pictured above) is the first of four vessels for Papua New Guinea. (Austal)

Australia's Department of Defence (DoD) and shipbuilder Austal are flying specialists to several Pacific Island countries to assess possible technical defects of Guardian-class patrol boats designed, built, and donated by Canberra, the DoD disclosed on 1 July.

The DoD said in a statement that the primary issue involved a potential fault in the vessels' exhaust systems. It said other issues that had emerged during the past 16 months included cracking in the coupling between the engine and the gearbox, and sickbay ventilation.

“Austal and [DoD] representatives will soon travel to Pacific Island nations to assess all vessels and work with Pacific Island countries on temporary rectification measures ahead of a longer-term solution,” the DoD statement said. Each country would make its own decision whether to operate its vessels or pause operations, it added.

HELIOS is being installed on the guided-missile destroyer USS Preble . (Lockheed Martin)

As the US Navy (USN) and Lockheed Martin work through the installation of the company's High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) on guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88), the service and the company are also working on integration and developing concepts of operations (CONOPS) for the new weapon system.

“What does integration mean,” Tyler Griffin, director of Lockheed Martin advanced product solutions strategy and business development, asked on 29 June during a roundtable update of the company's laser programmes.

“It's a question we are working on with the navy on how to efficiently train and develop CONOPS,” Griffin said.

The company and navy are working on how to optimise the new system, which is integrated with the Aegis Combat System, and works with other systems aboard the ship, he said. “That's the area we see us moving [towards] next.”

He spoke about where HELIOS could be developed, especially in the future. “The reason for those discussions is that this [HELIOS] is now the first [navy] tactically integrated laser weapon system,” he said.

Vestdavit will deliver eight TDBS 8000 systems to equip four Royal Danish Navy frigates. (Vestdavit )

Norwegian manufacturer Vestdavit has developed a new telescopic davit system that will be retrofitted onboard four of the Royal Danish Navy's (RDN's) Absalon- and Iver-Huitfeldt-class frigates.

Under a contract announced on 27 June, Vestdavit will supply eight of its TDBS 8000 advanced telescopic systems – two for each ship.

The TDBS 8000 system is designed to launch and recover multiple sizes of fast rescue craft and future boat types in harsh weather conditions up to Sea State 6.

It features a telescopic arm that can extend to 7 m and handle boats up to eight tonnes. The system is mounted on a slewing foundation that can swivel outwards from a longitudinal position in a confined space on the side of the vessel hull.