The US Coast Guard says it will need more icebreakers for polar operations. (VT Halter Marine/Technology Associates)  As the US Coast Guard (USCG) is planning for a bigger fleet of new icebreakers, the service is facing continued uncertainty about the delivery schedule for its proposed new Polar Security Cutters (PSCs), the Congressional Research Service (CRS) noted in a recent report.  “The coastguard testified in April and June 2023 that it had recently signed out a new fleet mix analysis that concluded that the coastguard will require a to...

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on 12 July. North Korea fired a Hwasong-18 ICBM earlier that day. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)  North Korea has confirmed that the missile it fired on 12 July was a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), marking another milestone in the country's strategic weapons capabilities.  The confirmation was provided by state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a statement published on i...

The first two of four ex-USCG Island-class cutters, ex-  Adak  and ex-  Aquidneck  , have been delivered to Greece.  (Hellenic Navy)  The Hellenic Navy has taken delivery of the first two of four ex-US Coast Guard (USCG) Island-class cutters.    The two vessels, ex-  Adak   (WPB 1333) and ex-  Aquidneck  (WPB 1309), were towed to Salamis Naval Base on 4 July following their arrival at Piraeus port the previous day on board the heavy-lift ship M/V SLNC   Magothy  ....

The US Coast Guard acknowledged its Fast Response Cutters have a bridge-window view blind spot. (US Coast Guard)  A “blind spot” in the bridge-window view “hindered” the overall helm view of a Sentinel-class US Coast Guard (USCG) Fast Response Cutter (FRC) before the vessel collided with a fishing vessel on 8 August 2022, resulting in an injury and fatality aboard the civilian craft, according to a USCG investigation report of the accident, released on 7 July.  The report also noted that the FRC was travelling at relatively high speeds to emb...

An Ocean Eagle 43 patrol vessel is seen with an unusual weapon during the inauguration of Angola's Soyo Naval Base. A 12-tube launcher mounted on the deck behind the bridge is obscured by the sailors standing in front of it. (Centro de Imprensa da Presidência da República de Angola)  Angola's President João Lourenço formally inaugurated the expanded naval base at Soyo on 10 July, the 47th anniversary of the Angolan Navy.  Located at the mouth of the Congo River in the far north of Angola, the Soyo base is far better located than the main nava...

Lockheed Martin completed another milestone in its efforts to integrate the PAC-3 missile with Aegis. (Lockheed Martin)  Lockheed Martin's Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor successfully communicated with the AN/SPY-1 radar, a key component in the Aegis Weapon System, for the first time, the company confirmed on 10 July.  “This successful test is a major step forward to fully integrate PAC-3 MSE into the Aegis Weapon System,” Tom Copeman, vice-president, Naval Systems, Lockheed Martin Missile...

Computer graphic of the Avante 1800 OPV on order for Morocco. (Navantia)  Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia has started manufacturing activities for a new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) on order for the Royal Moroccan Navy.  A steel-cutting ceremony for the new OPV, which is based on Navantia's Avante 1800 design, was held at the shipbuilder's San Fernando shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, on 3 July.  Navantia is building the OPV under a contract announced in January 2021. The scope of supply includes a technical-logistical support package that...

An artist's impression of the S-80 submarine that L&T and Navantia have offered for India's P-75(I). (Navantia)  Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has formed a teaming arrangement with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia to offer the latter's S-80 submarine design for India's Project-75 (India) or P-75(I) programme.  India has a longstanding requirement for six new air independent propulsion (AIP)-equipped diesel-electric submarines (SSKs), and the contract for these boats is expected to be India's largest defence acquisition project giv...

NVL Group will build three new Type 424 SIGINT vessels for the German Navy. (NVL Group)  Germany's Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) and Naval Vessels Lürssen (NVL) Group have signed a contract amendment covering the construction and delivery of three new Type 424 intelligence-gathering vessels (AGIs) for service with the German Navy.  Intended to replace the three Type 423 Oste-class AGIs, all of which entered service in the late 1980s, the Type 424 design has been developed to...

The new BAM-IS is intended to replace the Spanish Navy's ageing salvage and rescue ship   Neptuno  (pictured).  (Spanish Navy)    Navantia staged a steel-cutting ceremony for the Spanish Navy's new submarine rescue ship (Buque de Acción Marítima Intervención Subacuática: BAM-IS), to be named   Poseidon  , at its yard in Puerto Real on the south coast of the Bay of Cádiz on 3 July.   The new vessel is based on the Spanish Navy's Meteoro-class BAM offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) but adapted for un...

Three years after suffering serious damage caused by a fire while it was undergoing its final major overhaul, the French Navy's Rubis-class SSN   Perle  has been returned to active service.  (French Navy)  The French Navy's fire-damaged Rubis Améthyste-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) Perle (S 606) has been returned to active service following the successful completion of its refit, repair, and upgrade period, the French Navy has announced.  Perle, the youngest of the French Navy's four remaining Rubi...

Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue is presented with a model ship during a visit to CSSC on 5 July. (Vicepresidencia de la República Guinea Ecuatorial)  Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue visited China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSSC) twice during an official tour to China that began on 4 July.  His office announced the first visit to the company on 5 July, saying it “shows the commitment of the Equatorial Guinean government to the protection of its coasts and the fight against mari...

The USCG and the USN are deploying more cutters and other surfaces ships into Arctic waters. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  A new Arctic landscape being sculpted by climatic changes is recasting US naval concepts and the global geopolitical framework associated with the region, according to a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.    “The diminishment of Arctic ice is creating new operating areas in the Arctic for [US] Navy (USN) surface ships and [US] Coast Guard (USCG) cutters,” the CRS said in its updated report   Changes in the...

The RN's new minehunting mother ship, RFA   Stirling Castle  , conducts its first series of trials with the service's autonomous MCM USVs RNMB   Hydra  ,   Hazard  , and   Apollo. (Crown Copyright)  The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) new minehunting mother ship has conducted its first trials with autonomous unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in what has been hailed by the service as a landmark moment for the service's future mine-countermeasures (MCM) operations.  During the initial loading trial...

A still from surveillance footage released by the US 5th Fleet shows a naval vessel that can be identified as the Iranian corvette   Bayandor  . The 5th Fleet said it fired on the tanker   Richmond Voyager  .  (US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet)  The US Navy's 5th Fleet has accused the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) of firing on a civilian tanker in international waters in the Gulf of Oman on 5 July.  It released aerial surveillance footage showing a naval vessel that could be identi...

An Indian Navy Shishumar-class submarine, seen here during a 2011 fleet review. The country has recently awarded a contract to upgrade its second Shishumar-class submarine. (Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images)  New Delhi has taken another step towards bolstering its underwater warfare capabilities as the Indian Navy confronts the need to urgently position its fast-ageing fleet of attack submarines for increased security requirements in the Indian Ocean Region.  However, the tempo at which the country is modernising its fleet of in-service su...

UK Minister of State for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge and Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren are pictured signing an MOU on 30 June in Den Helder under which the two countries have agreed to further collaborate on future amphibious exercises and training. (Netherlands MoD)  The UK and the Netherlands have agreed to explore options for a collaborative programme to develop a future littoral strike platform for their respective commando forces.  Both countries are looking to replace a number of ships with a next-generation littoral st...

The new ASW frigates for the Dutch and Belgian navies will start entering service from 2029. (Damen Naval )  Netherlands-based RH Marine is the first Dutch supplier to receive a contract in support of the Dutch-Belgian anti-submarine warfare frigate (ASWF) programme.  Under a deal signed with Damen Naval on 4 July, RH Marine will equip the four new ASW frigates with its integrated mission management system (IMMS), integrated navigation bridge system (INBS), and integrated platform management system (IPMS).  The announcement follows the offici...

Viking Norsafe has delivered an initial batch of four S1200 Armored speedboats to the Hellenic Army. (Dimitrios Mitsopoulos)  Viking Norsafe Life-Saving Equipment Hellas delivered the first batch of S1200 Armored speedboats to the Hellenic Army on 3 July.  The four boats have been delivered under a framework agreement that was signed between the company and the General Directorate for Defense Investments and Armaments on 14 December 2021, for the procurement of 41 speedboats for the Hellenic Army Amphibious Raider Squadrons of Joint Special O...

Ultra Maritime has been contracted by the MoD to deliver an additional five Sonar 2150 systems for the Type 26 ASW frigate programme. (Ultra)  Ultra Maritime has been awarded a GBP30 million (USD38.06 million) contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply bow-mounted sonar systems for the five Type 26 Batch 2 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates on order for the UK Royal Navy (RN).  Disclosed in an MoD voluntary transparency notice published on 23 June, the eight-year contract covers the supply of five Sonar 2150 medium-frequency so...