26 May 2023
by Neil Dee
Lastunul , one of three Zborul (Tarantul I)-class corvettes, approved to undergo modernisation. (Romanian Navy)
The Romanian parliament has given the approval for the purchase of two new submarines and two second-hand minehunters for the Romanian Navy as well as modernisation of the service's corvettes, local media reported.
According to a report by Romania's national press agency Agerpres on 18 May, the Romanian parliament approved a request from the Ministry of National Defence for the procurement of two Scorpène-class conventionally powered diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) from French shipbuilder Naval Group. The programme is estimated at EUR2 billion (USD2.14 billion) and is expected to take place over a period of eight years.
The submarine procurement is intended to provide the Romanian Navy with improved anti-surface, anti-submarine, and intelligence-gathering capabilities, both in Romanian territorial waters and in international waters further afield.
Romania currently has one ‘Kilo'-class submarine, Delfinul , which has been out of service since 1995.
18 March 2024
by Richard Scott
Naval Group's Black Sword Barracuda design has been selected as the basis for the Netherlands' Walrus-class replacement submarine programme. (Naval Group)
The Netherlands has selected France's Naval Group as its preferred bidder for a new class of conventional submarine to replace the Royal Netherlands Navy's (RNLN's) current Walrus-class boats.
Naval Group, offering its Black Sword Barracuda design, was chosen ahead of rival proposals from Saab (bidding the C718 expeditionary derivative of Sweden's A26 design) and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (pitching the Type 212CD E expeditionary variant of the German/Norwegian Type 212CD). The Black Shark Barracuda is a scaled, conventionally powered derivative of the French Navy's Suffren-class nuclear-powered attack submarine.
Announcing the provisional award on 15 March, State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat described the French offer as “a balanced, versatile, and realistic bid”, adding, “Dutch industry has a strong role to play, [which is] an important requirement in this award.”
15 March 2024
by Michael Fabey
With the keel being laid in 2022 for carrier Enterprise , the expected delivery date for the ship was scheduled for March 2028. The ship is now to be delivered in September 2029. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
Industry supporters caution that any delays in the previously planned acquisition schedules of aircraft carriers could have a cascading effect on cost and schedule in the wake of proposed carrier schedule changes in the proposed US Navy's (USN's) fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget, released on 11 March.
“Overall, changes to a shipbuilding plan do not help the industrial base, they harm it,” Lisa Papini, president and CEO of Dante Valve Company and chair of the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition (ACIBC), told Janes on 13 March.
“They inject inconsistency and uncertainty that cause companies to rethink their existing shipbuilding plans,” she said. “They cause a company to rethink whether they want to invest in navy shipbuilding because the work may or may not occur. It disincentives investment.”
14 March 2024
by Cem Devrim Yaylali
TCG Istanbul seen transiting the Bosphorus Strait enroute to the test site on 2 March. (Cem Devrim Yaylali)
The Turkish Navy performed its first Hisar-D missile launch from the Midlas vertical launch system (VLS) installed onboard the TCG Istanbul in the second week of March.
The event marked the first launch from the indigenous VLS on the high seas. The frigate was observed sailing northbound through the Bosphorus Strait to the test site on 2 March.
Haluk Görgün, the president of the Defence Industry Agency (SSB), shared a video of the firing on social media. The video showed the loading of the canisters with the missile on TCG Istanbul while the ship was at Karadeniz Ereğli naval base.
A single Hisar-D air-defence missile was launched from the Midlas VLS. The Hisar-D radar-guided missile used during the test is a naval version of the Hisar-O air-defence missile being developed for the Turkish Land Forces. The imaging infrared seeker of the original missile was replaced with an radio frequency seeker for the naval version. The missile has a dual-pulse engine with an approximate range of 25 km.
The Romanian parliament has given the approval for the purchase of two new submarines and two second...
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