The US is making investments in its submarine industrial base to help meet AUKUS and US Navy needs. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  Country members of the AUKUS security pact – Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – have begun to work towards Pillar 2 of the pact, according to US officials.  “We have begun efforts associated with Pillar 2,” Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to the president and co-ordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council, said on 26 June during an AUKUS discussion at the Center for Strategic an...

Illustration of the LPD Flight II-class amphibious warfare ship LPD 31, the future USS Pittsburgh. (US Navy )  Should the US Navy (USN) decide to end its amphibious shipbuilding pause to buy more San Antonio-class landing platform dock (LPD) vessels, the service should quickly return to the production pace for the current ships being built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, according to George Nungesser, company vice-president – Program Management.  The navy is now studying its amphibious building and operational needs while...

An artist's concept of a notional patrol ship design. (OMT)  The Danske Patruljeskibe K/S consortium – comprising Terma, Odense Maritime Technology (OMT), and PensionDanmark – has been awarded a contract to design a new class of flexible patrol ship for the Royal Danish Navy (RDN).  Signed on 23 June by the Danish Ministry of Defence's Materiel and Procurement Agency (Forsvarsministeriets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse: FMI) and Danske Patruljeskibe K/S, the contract represents the first stage of a long-term co-operation intended to deliver the...

The French and Italian navy's four Horizon-class anti-air warfare destroyers in formation. (Italian Navy)  A formal contract for the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the four Franco-Italian Horizon-class anti-air warfare (AAW) frigates is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, Fincantieri and Naval Group, operating under their 50/50 joint venture (JV) partnership Naviris, announced.  The pending deal follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by representatives from Italy and France at the Paris Air Show 2023 on 20 June.  Built under a...

The Independence-class Littoral Mission Vessel, RSS   Fearless  . Its sister vessel, RSS   Dauntless  , has carried out the class' inaugural firing of the VL MICA anti-air missile at Exercise ‘Pacific Griffin' 2023.  (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)  A Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) Independence-class littoral mission vessel (LMV) has fired an MBDA VL MICA missile for the first time, validating the vessel's anti-air capabilities.  Janes understands that the inaugural firing was conducted during the US Navy (...

The USN awarded HII a contract modification to fund the new delivery schedule for carrier   John F Kennedy  .  (Michael Fabey)    The US Navy (USN) awarded HII a USD274 million fixed-price incentive (firm target) modification and a USD119.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee modification for the Ford-class aircraft carrier,   John F Kennedy  (CVN 79), on 23 June to help fund the carrier's new delivery schedule changes.     Officially, the contract modifications are mea...

It will cost more than planned to upgrade shoreside facilities, such as those in Kodiak, Alaska, to support the proposed US Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutters. (Michael Fabey)  The expected costs for new or upgraded facilities to accommodate the proposed US Coast Guard (USCG) Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) fleet has more than tripled over the last decade, according to a recently released US Government Accountability (GAO) Office report.  “[The] OPC's facilities acquisition cost estimate – including home ports and shore facilities – increased f...

The AN/WSN-12 Inertial Sensor Module, which provides accurate positioning data with or without Global Positioning Systems for US Navy ships and submarines. (Northrop Grumman)  US Navy (USN) leaders have approved full-rate production for the newest variant of the sea service's Inertial Sensor Module (ISM), which will provide surface and underwater combatants with precision positioning data, even in the absence of Global Positioning Systems (GPSs).  Low-rate initial production (LRIP) variants of the Northrop Grumman-built AN/WSN-12 ISM had alre...

Raytheon Australia has conducted a flight test of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System at the Woomera Test Range in South Australia. The above picture shows NASAMS from a live-fire exercise in the US. (Kongsberg)  Raytheon Australia has conducted a flight test of a short-range ground-based air-defence (SRGBAD) system at the Woomera Test Range in South Australia, the company said in a press release on 20 June.  According to Raytheon, the “successful” flight test demonstrated the SRGBAD system's “accuracy and capability” to detec...

JS Atago, USS Benfold, and ROKS Yulgok Yi seen here conducting a trilateral BMD exercise in the Sea of Japan. (JMSDF)  Japan's Aegis-equipped destroyers that are presently deployed for ballistic missile defence (BMD) duties will revert to air-defence roles once the country operates dedicated BMD vessels.    This is according to information provided by the Japanese Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) press office in response to questions from   Janes  on the country's future sea-based BMD capabilities.   The Japan Maritime Self-D...

The Turkish Navy's first Istanbul-class frigate is pictured before its departure on initial sea trials on 20 June. (Turkish MoD)  The Turkish Navy's first Istanbul (TF-100)-class frigate started sea acceptance trials on 20 June – marking another milestone for the programme, the Turkish Ministry of Defence has announced.  The future TCG Istanbul was laid down at Istanbul Naval Shipyard in 2017 and launched in 2021. It is the first of four planned frigates in the class, which are planned to enter service by 2026.  The three follow-on ships are...

A file image of   Bunga Mas Lima  , which has been deployed to shadow the presence of the Chinese research vessel   Haiyang Dizhi 8  in the South China Sea.   (Royal Malaysian Navy)  The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has deployed its auxiliary support ship Bunga Mas Lima in response to the presence of yet another Chinese government vessel in what Putrajaya considers to be its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).  The deployment appears to be an attempt by the RMN to project a more proportionate response amid...

South Korea approved the deployment of the THAAD system at Seongju base. The picture shows a THAAD interceptor launching from the Republic of the Marshall Islands during a flight test in 2019. (US Missile Defense Agency)  South Korea's Ministry of Environment (MoE) has completed an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the US Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system temporarily deployed at the US military base in Seongju – nearly 215 km southeast of Seoul.  According to a press release by South Korea's Ministry of National...

The US Coast Guard is trying to extend the service lives of its Medium Endurance Cutters. (US Coast Guard)  The additional delivery delays for the US Coast Guard (USCG) Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs) could disrupt some USCG operations – even with the USCG attempts to lengthen the service lives of its ageing Medium Endurance Cutters (MECs) – according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).  As noted in its report, Coast Guard Acquisitions Offshore Patrol Cutter Program Needs to Mature Technology and Design, released on 20 June the i...

The HELMA-P LDEW prototype was housed in a containerised shelter installed on   Forbin's  fight deck.   (DGA)  France's Direction générale de l'armement (DGA), the French Navy, and CILAS (a subsidiary of ArianeGroup) have undertaken first at-sea trials of the High-Energy Laser for Multiple Application – Power (HELMA-P) laser directed-energy weapon (LDEW) demonstrator, the DGA said on 20 June.    Testing was performed from the Horizon-class anti-air warfare frigate   Forbin  in the Mediterranean fr...

Akash Prime – seen here on its flight test in September 2021 – has a maximum firing range of 30 km and can hit targets at a maximum elevation of 18 km. (Ministry of Defence, India)  India's Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has received an order worth INR39.14 billion (USD477 million) from missile manufacturer Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) to supply two improved Akash weapon systems for the Indian Army, BEL announced on 20 June.  According to BEL, the improved Akash system – also known as Akash Prime – comprises an “indigenously developed” act...

The lead ship of the US Coast Guard's Offshore Patrol Cutter fleet will face another delivery delay. (US Coast Guard)  The delivery of the lead ship of the new US Coast Guard (USCG) Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) fleet being built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) is delayed until at least near the end of 2023, USCG officials told Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators, according to a recently released GAO report.    “ESG is scheduled to deliver the lead ship in June 2023, but according to coast guard officials, this delive...

The third MANSUP test launch was carried out in July 2019. (Marinha do Brasil)  The Brazilian Navy and the United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) Edge Group signed an agreement on 14 June to co-operate on the development of a “family of anti-ship missiles”, the navy announced two days later.  Brazilian Navy Chief Fleet Admiral José Augusto Vieira da Cunha de Menezes said Edge would help form a sustainable business model for the sale and production of the National Surface Anti-Ship Missile (MANSUP).  “This memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Edg...

Commissioned into service between 1990 and 1994, the Royal Netherlands Navy's four Walrus-class submarines are planned to be replaced from around 2034. (Royal Netherlands Navy)  As the tender submission deadline for the Walrus-class submarine replacement programme approaches, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD) has provided further details on the awards process.  In a 15 June letter to the Dutch parliament's House of Representatives, State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat said the three candidate yards had been advised to s...

Singapore's first Type 218SG submarine seen here during its sea trials in 2020. The second-of-class has begun its journey home to Singapore from Germany. (Michael Nitz/Naval Press Service)  A Type 218SG diesel-electric submarine (SSK) destined for service with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has begun its journey home and is expected to arrive in-country by August 2023.  Janes has learnt that the vessel, which will be in service as RSS Impeccable once commissioned, was loaded onto the heavy-lift cargo ship Rolldock Storm in May 2023 at T...