The Indian Army has inducted six Swathi Mark II mountain-variant WLRs under a contract awarded to manufacturer Bharat Electronics in December 2021. (Bharat Electronics Limited)  The Indian Army has announced the induction of six units of a mountain variant of the Swathi Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) to enhance battlefield surveillance.  The WLR, also known as the Swathi Mark II, was delivered to the Indian Army by state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in early August.  A BEL spokesperson told Janes on 9 August that the company received...

The US Coast Guard is relying on cutters such as icebreaker   Healy  to provide a presence in the high latitudes.  (Michael Fabey)  The joint Chinese-Russian surface action group (SAG) of about 10 naval vessels in early August that transited in waters near the Alaskan Aleutian Islands underscores the need to develop greater persistent US naval presence in the region, Admiral Linda Fagan, US Coast Guard (USCG) commandant, told Janes.  During a 7 August interview, Adm Fagan noted the importance of developing such p...

INS   Nahshon  was handed over to the Israeli Navy in Pascagoula on 8 August.   (Israel Ministry of Defense)  The Israeli Navy received the first of two landing ships that are being built for it at Pascagoula in the United States, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on 9 August.    The IDF said the first ship, INS   Nahshon  , was handed over to the commander of Haifa naval base on the previous day. It is about 95 m long, 20 m wide, and weighs about 2,500 tonnes, the IDF said. It added that t...

An artist's rendering of the F-110 design. In terms of role and capability, the ship is intended to fit between the 2,500 tonne, 94 m BAM offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and the 5,800 tonne, 147 m F-100 frigates. (Navantia)  Spanish shipbuilder Navantia held a keel-laying ceremony for the first F-110-class frigate for the Spanish Navy in Ferrol, Spain, on 9 August.  Almirante Bonifaz (F 111) is the first of five new frigates on order for the navy. A EUR4.325 billion (USD4.746 billion) contract for the five ships was signed in April 2019, and c...

Romanian navy's improved Tetal-class corvette   Rear Admiral Eustatiu Sebastian  (264). The multifunction corvette programme was intended to replace the Tetal and improved Tetal classes.  (Romanian Navy)  Romania has cancelled its multifunction corvette programme, the Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced on 8 August.  Under the programme, in July 2019 a consortium of French shipbuilder Naval Group and Romanian shipyard Santierul Naval Constanta (SNC) was selected to build four Gowind 2500 corvett...

Belarus is seeking to establish an indigenous Shahed production facility. An Iranian-made Shahed-136 is seen in an underground facility, in a video released by Iran's IRGC in March 2022. (IMA Media)  Belarus is likely seeking to establish an indigenous Iranian Shahed loitering munition production facility, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on 31 July.  Belarusian Defence Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin and his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani met in Iran on 31 July to sign a memorandum of und...

The hull of the Bulgarian Navy's first MMPV (artist's impression),   Hrabri  , was launched in front of the MTG Delfin shipyard in Varna on 4 August.  (NVL Group)  The hull of the Bulgarian Navy's first multipurpose modular patrol vessel (MMPV), Hrabri, was launched in front of the MTG Delfin shipyard in Varna on 4 August, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website later the same day. The ministry noted that the keel of the Hrabri was laid 14 months ago (in June 2022).  The Bulgarian MoD signed a BGN82...

Hensoldt has launched a deployable variant of its Twinvis family of passive radars called Twinvis Military Sheltered. (Hensoldt)  Hensoldt has launched a new deployable variant of its passive radar Twinvis.  Known as ‘Twinvis Military Sheltered', the variant – initially only available as an upgrade – is fully integrated into a containerised shelter for military users that is designed for long-range aerial surveillance, the company said on 4 August.  It can be easily deployed on military carrier vehicles and set up and dismantled in the field...

First-in-class TCG   Istanbul  will feature 16 VLS cells.   (STM)  Follow-on Istanbul-class frigates,İzmir, İzmit, and Içel, will feature additional vertical launching systems (VLSs), a TAIS Shipyards official confirmed to Janes.  Speaking at the IDEF 2023 exhibition in Istanbul, the official, however, declined to comment further on how many additional VLS cells the three frigates would be equipped with.  TCG Istanbul, the first vessel of the class, will feature 16 cells of Turkey's locally produced National Vert...

The UK Royal Navy's HMS   Prince of Wales   aircraft carrier returned to its home port of Portsmouth on 4 August 2023 following preparations for deployment across the Atlantic.  (Crown Copyright)    The UK's HMS   Prince of Wales  aircraft carrier returned to its home port of Portsmouth on 4 August following post-repair trials and preparations for deployment across the Atlantic, the Royal Navy (RN) announced on its website later the same day. The carrier will participate in the ‘Westlant 23' deploy...

JS   Mogami  seen here at an International Fleet Review commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the   Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force  at Sagami Bay.  (Issei Kato – Pool/Getty Images)    In mid-July 2023 Japan's Fleet Air Squadron 51, a unit of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Fleet Air Wing, announced that it had successfully conducted the first deck landing of the MCH-101 helicopter on a Mogami-class frigate. The trials involved the airframe with serial number 53...

Recent incursions by Chinese and Russian naval vessels have sparked interest in augmenting US Coast Guard and other US naval forces in Alaskan waters. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  Eleven military vessels from China and Russia operated in US waters near the Alaskan Aleutian Islands during the previous week, Alaskan senators confirmed on 5 August.  Similar flotillas from either China or both countries have been seen and shadowed by US naval vessels in the preceding two years. US Coast Guard cutters tracked and surveilled the foreign ships as the vess...

The Australian Department of Defence said the first firing of the MGM-140 ATACMS within the country – at Exercise ‘Talisman Sabre' 2023 – demonstrated logistical co-ordination between Australian and US forces to employ the missile over long distances. (Lockheed Martin Vought Systems)  The US fired an MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) for the first time in Australia as part of Exercise ‘Talisman Sabre' 2023, the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said on 3 August.  According to the DoD, the Lockheed Martin ATACMS surface-to-sur...

HII is working on workforce issues to help stabilise Virginia-class submarine construction. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  Meeting labour hiring and retention goals will help get the Virginia-class submarine (VCS) programme back on schedule, HII president and CEO Chris Kastner said on 3 August during a quarterly call with investment analysts.  Asked what HII will do to get VCS back on “path” now that it is “well behind the two-per-year delivery objective in Block V”, Kastner said, “The largest obstacle, the largest risk on the VCS programme right now...

A computer-generated image of the final configuration of the Polish Navy's first Miecznik frigate. (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa)  One month ahead of the start of construction of Poland's first Miecznik (Swordfish)-class multimission frigate, the Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa: PGZ) has revealed the final configuration of the lead ship.  The Miecznik programme covers the design and build of three new multimission frigates based on Babcock's Arrowhead 140 design for the Polish Navy at local shipyards through a transfer-of-technol...

Deseaver MK-4, Elbit Systems' latest EW dispensing system, successfully conducted sea trials with the Israeli Navy. (Elbit Systems)  The Israeli Navy and Elbit Systems have successfully completed sea trials with the company's new maritime electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures system.  According to the company on 1 August, the Deseaver MK-4 Countermeasure Dispensing System (CMDS) was involved in a series of sea trials onboard Israeli Navy vessels that tested its capability to respond effectively to complex missile attack scenarios. This invo...

An Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile launched from KRI   John Lie  in the Java Sea on 31 July.  (Indonesian Navy Armada I)    The Indonesian Navy has marked the first firing of an Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile from a Bung Tomo-class    frigate, validating the upgrade works that have been carried out on the ship.     The firing was carried out by second-of-class KRI   John Lie  as part of a sinking exercise (SINKEX) in the Java Sea on 31 July. The exercise involved three other Indonesian...

The US Navy (USN) Surface Warfare Division has approved service life extensions for four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USN confirmed on 2 August.  The extensions will enable each ship to operate beyond its estimated service life of 35 years, the USN noted in a statement.  As approved, the service lives of USS  Ramage  (DDG 61), home ported in Norfolk, Virginia, and USS  Benfold  (DDG 65), based in Yokosuka, Japan, have been extended by five years, to fiscal year (FY) 2035 and FY 2036, respectively, the USN said.   T...

A screenshot of Systematic's SitaWare Maritime command-and-control software, which is being procured for the German Navy. (Systematic)  Systematic has been contracted by the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) to deliver SitaWare Headquarters (HQ) add-ons – Maritime and Fusion – to the German Navy, the company announced on 1 August.  The contract is part of the German Mission Network Block 2 (GMN 2) project, the company said. The intention of GMN is to integrate and harmonise...

The four Horizon-class anti-air warfare frigates in service with the navies of France and Italy. (Thales)  Naviris and Eurosam have been awarded a EUR1.5 billion (USD1.7 billion) contract from the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) for the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of four Franco-Italian Horizon-class anti-air warfare (AAW) frigates.  The contract follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by representatives from Italy and France at the Paris Air Show on 20 June.  Built under a joint programme between Fincantieri and Nav...