The new multi-purpose vessel, which will be named   D João II  , is planned to enter service in the second half of 2026.  (Damen)  Damen Shipyards Group has been awarded a contract for the design, construction, and outfitting of a new multi-purpose vessel for the Portuguese Navy.  Announcing the contract award on 24 November, Damen said the 107 m-long vessel had been designed to meet the Portuguese Navy's requirement for a platform that combined oceanic research with unmanned systems deployment capabilities.  The...

The Sting Ray torpedo is to be integrated aboard the RAF's fleet of Poseidon MRA1 aircraft. (Crown Copyright)  The United Kingdom is to arm its fleet of Boeing P-8A Poseidon MRA1 maritime multimission aircraft (MMA) with the domestically developed Sting Ray torpedo.  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the decision on 30 November, saying the British-built Sting Ray will be used alongside the US-built Mk 54 torpedo that was delivered as part of the US government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) package.  “The programme to integrate Sting Ray...

A still from media coverage of the commissioning of  Bani Yas  , the first of the UAE's two Gowind corvettes, on 29 November 2023.  (WAM news agency)  The first of the two Gowind corvettes the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ordered from France's Naval Group was commissioned into service on 29 November, the UAE Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced.  Bani Yas  (P110) was commissioned by Vice-President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan at the Mina Zayed naval base in Abu Dhabi just under two years after it was lau...

Deylaman  formally entered service on 27 November.  (Islamic Republic News Agency)  The Northern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) officially received its new frigate on 27 November, nearly six years after its previous one sank in an accident.    IRINS   Deylaman  (78) was formally inducted into service in Bandar-e Anzali on the Caspian, with photographs showing the event took place at one of the port's grain terminals, not at the IRIN base where it was built.   Deylaman  replaces...

Firing of the Brahmos-ER. (Ministry of Defence, India)  India has carried out another test fire of its extended-range (ER) BrahMos PJ-10 supersonic cruise missile from a Kolkata/Visakhapatnam (Project 15A/15B)-class guided destroyer, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) disclosed on 27 November.    The missile was fired from the programme's sixth hull, which will be in service as INS   Imphal  once it is commissioned. It was fired as part of the vessel's pre-commissioning trials, the ministry added.   India's BrahMos PJ...

Graphic depiction of the French Navy's new offshore patrol vessel. (Naval Group)  The French defence procurement agency, Directorate General of Armament (DGA), has ordered seven new multi-purpose offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the French Navy.  Announcing the milestone on 23 November the DGA said the acquisition covered three contracts totalling EUR900 million (USD985.03 million), which were signed on 17 November.  Under the contract awards, the ships will be built by a temporary shipbuilding consortium comprising Constructions Mécaniques...

The 3SM Tyrfing missile is expected to utilise solid-fuel ramjet propulsion. (Kongsberg)  Norway has disclosed plans to jointly develop a new long-range, high-speed naval strike weapon with Germany.  Announcing the move on 24 November, Norwegian Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said the projected SuperSonic Strike Missile (3SM) – given the name Tyrfing (a magic sword in Norse mythology) – was entering preliminary development pending a more substantive investment decision next year. Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, which has previously develope...

Rohde & Schwarz unveiled a compact version of its Ardronis family of C-UASs. The system was seen operating at NATO's Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System Technical Interoperability Exercise (C-UAS TIE23). (Janes/Olivia Savage)  Germany-based Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) has unveiled a new counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) called Ardronis Locate Compact.    Ardronis Locate Compact is a small, ruggedised system designed for the detection and localisation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), especially over large areas such as military bases, a...

A mock-up of the Sky Sword II missile – locally known as the TC-2 land-based missile – is pictured at TADTE 2023. The missile structure consists of the active radar seeker, followed by the electronics section, proximity fuze, warhead, and rocket motor, ending in the exhaust. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)  Taiwan's state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) has started the mass production of its land-based short-to-medium-range air-defence capability known as the Sky Sword II (locally termed Tien Chien II), a Republic o...

Israeli MoD Director General Eyal Zamir signed the final contract for the AWS sale to Germany on 23 November. (IAI)  The Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on X (formerly Twitter) on 23 November that its Director General, Eyal Zamir, signed the final contract for the USD3.6 billion sale of the Arrow Weapon System (AWS) to Germany earlier the same day. In addition to the AWS and Arrow 3 missiles, the contract includes an initial package of spare parts and training of Luftwaffe crews.  German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his Is...

Australia's Birdon Group Pty Ltd has been selected as the preferred designer for the Landing Craft Medium capability. The above picture shows the design of Birdon's proposed Landing Craft Medium. (Birdon Group)  The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with shipbuilding company Austal Limited to establish a Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement (SSA) to manufacture ships in Henderson, Western Australia, the DoD said in a press release on 23 November.  According to the DoD, the HOA will set out the principles...

The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System – pictured above firing an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile at Woomera Test Range in South Australia in mid-November – provides air defence against a variety of aerial threats, including UAV, missile, helicopter, and aircraft attacks within 40–50 km. (Commonwealth of Australia)  The Australian Army has started inducting its new short-range ground-based air-defence capability known as the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), a spokesperson for the Australi...

An aerial view of Garden Island Precinct. (Thales Australia)  The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has signed a AUD2 billion (USD1.3 billion) contract with Thales to maintain and sustain Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessels in Sydney.  Under the agreement – announced on 22 November – Thales Australia was appointed as ‘regional maintenance provider' for the new Regional Maintenance Centre East (RMC East) at the DoD's Garden Island Precinct.    A Thales spokesperson told   Janes  that work on the contract will commence on...

Hyundai Heavy Industries marking the keel laying of the first 3,200 tonne corvette on order for the Philippine Navy. (Hyundai Heavy Industries)  Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has laid down the keel for the first of two 3,200 tonne corvettes on order for the Philippine Navy.  A ceremony to mark the occasion was held on 22 November at the shipbuilder's facilities in Ulsan, South Korea, the company disclosed on the same day.  At the event, a ceremony to mark the first steel cut for the second vessel was also carried out.  The Philippine Departm...

The German Navy's F126 frigates will be equipped with Systematic's SitaWare C2 suite. (Damen Naval)  Germany's F126 frigates will be equipped with Systematic's command-and-control (C2) software, the company announced on 20 November.  The project, called the National Maritime C2 Service Bundeswehr (NMC2S Bw), will involve adding SitaWare Maritime and Fusion to the Bundeswehr's SitaWare Headquarters (HQ) licences and installing this onboard the F126 frigates.    A Systematic spokesperson told   Janes   the licences are aimed to b...

An Indian Navy Sea King Mk 42B helicopter firing a Naval Anti-Ship Missile – Short Range as part of the weapon's guided flight trials. (Indian Navy)  India has carried out another test of an indigenously developed anti-surface guided weapon known as the Naval Anti-Ship Missile – Short Range (NASM-SR).  The latest launch was carried out as part of the weapon's ‘guided flight trials', the Indian Navy announced via an official social media channel on 21 November.  Similar to its maiden flight test in May 2022, the weapon was launched from a Sea...

An aerial view of Garden Island Precinct. (Thales Australia)  The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has signed a AUD2 billion (USD1.3 billion) contract with Thales to maintain and sustain Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessels in Sydney.  Under the agreement – announced on 22 November – Thales Australia was appointed as ‘regional maintenance provider' for a new regional maintenance centre (RMC) at the DoD's Garden Island Precinct.  The DoD said the seven-year contract will “ensure Australia has the sovereign industrial base to maintain and...

The BAAINBw has ordered 2,300 PARM off-route anti-tank mines from MBDA subsidiary TDW. (MBDA)  The Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr (BAAINBw), Germany's Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support, signed a contract with MBDA subsidiary TDW on 14 November for 2,300 Panzerabwehrrichtmine (PARM) off-route anti-tank mines, MBDA announced in a press release on 15 November. Thomas Gottschild, managing director of MBDA Germany said, “With the procurement, PARM is in...

Conceptual drawing of the ABBS Dragon mine-clearing UGV presented at FAVS 2023. (Janes/Sonny Butterworth)  United Kingdom-based company Advanced Blast & Ballistic Systems (ABBS) displayed its Dragon mine-clearing unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) concept at SAE Media Group's Future Armoured Vehicles Survivability (FAVS) 2023 conference held in London between 13 and 15 November.  Described as an “attritable autonomous ground vehicle for minefield breaching” by ABBS, the Dragon is a wheeled UGV designed to clear a path through minefields by using i...

The NDM   Bahia  LPD, formerly the Foudre-class FS   Siroco  LPD with the French Navy between 1998 and 2015, was acquired by Brazil in 2015.  (Victor Barreira )    The Brazilian Navy is acquiring a new satellite communications (satcom) system for NDM   Bahia   (G40) multi-purpose landing platform dock (LPD) to improve the satcom capability of the amphibious warfare ship.     A tender launched by the Brazilian Naval Commission in Washington, DC, on behalf of the Logistics Cen...