Antares  , the Spanish Navy's remaining Castor-class survey ship, was decommissioned on 16 February.  (Spanish Navy)    The Spanish Navy has retired its remaining operational Castor-class survey ship   Antares  (A 23) after 50 years of service. A formal decommissioning ceremony was held at Puntales Naval Station in San Fernando, Cádiz, on 16 February, the Spanish Navy announced the same day.     Built by Bazán (now Navantia) and commissioned into service in 1974,   Antares  is the third of an o...

An Italian FREMM multimission frigate, similar to what Indonesia is seeking for its own navy. (Fincantieri)  The Indonesian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has submitted a proposal to the country's Ministry of Finance, requesting to cancel the foreign loan approvals allocated for an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft and 15 other smaller procurement programmes.  Instead, the MoD wants these allocations to be diverted to a long-delayed effort to equip the Indonesian Navy with Frégate Européenne Multi-Mission (FREMM) frigates, accord...

NATO forces conducted amphibious landings during ‘Cold Response 2022'. The alliance's ‘Nordic Response' will build on these operations. (Janes/Michael Fabey)    Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS   Gunston Hall  (LSD 44) arrived in Harstad, Norway, on 21 February to embark Finnish and Swedish forces, which will combine with the French forces that joined the ship in Portsmouth, UK, to conduct amphibious training exercises in Norway, the US Navy (USN) said in a release.   Gunston Hall  will be joined by Italia...

The Spanish Navy decommissioned   Tramontana  on 16 February 2024.  (Spanish Navy)  The Spanish Navy's fourth S 70 (Galerna)-class conventionally powered diesel-electric submarine (SSK) has been retired from service.  Tramontana (S 74), the youngest of four Galerna-class SSKs, was officially decommissioned during a ceremony held at the Spanish Navy's submarine base in Cartagena on 16 February.  Announcing the milestone the same day, the Spanish Navy said that since entering service in 1985, Tramontana has sailed...

The Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge, unveiling the UK's Defence Drone Strategy at Malloy Aeronautics factory in Maidenhead in February 2024. (Crown Copyright)  The UK unveiled its Defence Drone Strategy on 22 February to accelerate the adoption and development of unmanned systems across air, sea, and land for the armed forces.  Backed by GBP4.5 billion (USD5.6 billion) worth of investment over the next decade, the strategy aims to enable rapid experimentation and development of unmanned systems, unify the front-line commands...

HII has started testing the catapults on aircraft carrier  John F Kennedy  with dead-load launches.  (HII)    HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit has started testing of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) on aircraft carrier   John F Kennedy  (CVN 79), marking a major milestone for the ship, HII confirmed on 21 February.     After testing catapults one and two – the bow cats – with no-load launch movements, NNS workers and   Kennedy  sailors started the d...

The preliminary design of the future aircraft carrier was visible in photos shared by the Turkish Navy. (Turkish MND)  The Turkish Naval Forces has initiated design activities to advance efforts towards acquiring a domestically built aircraft carrier.  In early January the Turkish government gave the green light during a meeting of the Defence Industry Executive Committee (SSİK), chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to progress plans for an indigenous aircraft carrier to the design phase.  During a visit to the Design Project Of...

The Portuguese Navy is progressively introducing unmanned systems. Shown here are the OGS42VN VTOL UAV for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, and a UAV mobile ground control station. (Victor Barreira)  As part of its ambitious effort to widen the use of unmanned systems, the Portuguese Navy has established a squadron-sized unit for the operation of military-grade unmanned systems.    The new unit, called ‘X31', was officially stood up on 9 February. It is subordinated to naval command and will be responsible for ope...

Sweden and Denmark have agreed to co-finance the 50 Swedish CV90s donated to Ukraine and for the production of additional IFVs. (Hägglunds)  The Swedish government announced its largest military support package for Ukraine on its website on 20 February. The SEK7.1 billion (USD683 million) package includes a maritime package, ground equipment, and financial support for bilateral projects and funds.  The latter includes financial support for Ukraine to buy more CV90 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).  The ground equipment Sweden is donating com...

HMS   Vanguard   is the lead boat of a four-strong class of Trident-armed SSBNs whose role is to provide the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent.  (UK MoD)  The test firing of an unarmed Trident II D5 missile from one of the UK Royal Navy's (RN's) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) has failed, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.    During the test launch, which took place from HMS   Vanguard  (S28) off the US eastern seaboard on 30 January, an “anomaly” occurred, an MoD s...

HMAS   Waller  sails through Sydney Harbour as the boat prepares to berth at Fleet Base East, Sydney. Commissioned in July 1999, HMAS   Waller  is the third of six RAN Collins-class submarines.   (Commonwealth of Australia)  Although planning is well-advanced for the Life of Type Extension (LOTE) planned for all six of the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) conventionally powered Collins-class submarines, some question marks hang over the schedule and implementation of the multibillion-dollar programm...

The US Coast Guard operates US icebreakers such as Coast Guard Cutter   Healy  .  (Janes/Michael Fabey)  The US Coast Guard (USCG) has established a Polar Coordination Office (CG-PCO) under the USCG Director of Marine Transportation Systems (CG-5PW), the service confirmed on 20 February.  CG-PCO was stood up as an office on 4 July 2023 and reached initial operating capability (IOC) on 7 November 2023.  Office duties include developing USCG Arctic and Antarctic strategy and policy, the service said in its official...

The German Navy's Type 124 Sachsen-class air-defence frigate FGS  Hessen  (F 221) departs Wilhelmshaven, bound for the Red Sea, on 8 February.  (Bundeswehr/Julia Kelm)  The European Union (EU) has officially launched its new maritime operation to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels.  The new mission, dubbed Operation ‘Aspides', was inaugurated on 19 February with the aim of providing EU naval presence to help restore and protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea...

A MANTAS T-12 USV, front, operates alongside Royal Bahrain Naval Force fast-attack craft RBNS   Abdul Rahman Al-fadel  during operations in support of Task Force 59 in the Gulf.  (US Navy)  Anxious to avoid gifting an operational advantage to China, the US Navy's senior officer in the Pacific said the service will maintain a veil of secrecy over the pace at which it is ‘operationalising' new unmanned systems capabilities and concepts in the Pacific Fleet.  In his 14 February keynote to the AFCEA International and...

An artist's impression of the future Hunter-class frigate for the Royal Australian Navy. Canberra has announced plans to reduce its procurement of nine of the type to six. (Commonwealth of Australia)  The Australian government has announced a major expansion of the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) surface combatant fleet. Under plans announced on 20 February in response to an independent review of RAN surface combatant capability, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the RAN will more than double the size of its warship fleet to meet future st...

The SAMAR air-defence system – seen here at Aero India 2023 – features two refurbished Russian Vympel R-73E infrared‐guided air-to-air missiles mounted on a Stallion 4×4 Mk IV BS-III truck. (Janes/Saketha Potlapalli)  The Indian Air Force test-fired its newly inducted Surface to Air Missile for Assured Retaliation (SAMAR) air-defence system during Exercise ‘Vayu Shakti-24', which took place in the Pokhran range near Jaisalmer on 17 February.  According to a press release by the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 17 February, the Indian Air F...

The US Navy plans significant investments for large unmanned surface vessel programmes. (US Department of Defense)  The US Navy's (USN's) most senior uniformed officer has outlined her planned timeline to transition the surface navy to a new hybrid force structure mixing manned and unmanned vessels.  Speaking at the AFCEA International and US Naval Institute WEST 2024 conference in San Diego, California, on 13 February, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Lisa Franchetti said the navy road map was looking out across three five-year Future...

India has cleared various defence equipment aquisitions, including the procurement of heavyweight torpedoes to enhance the attacking capabilities of Kalvari-class submarines, as shown in the above picture. (Ministry of Defence, India)  India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has approved the procurement of various defence equipment worth INR845.6 billion (USD10.19 billion) for the Indian Armed Forces and the Indian Coast Guard.  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on 16 February that...

Sentinel-class fast-response cutter USCGC   Clarence Sutphin Jr  interdicted missile, communications, and other military equipment in the Arabian Sea.  (US Navy)  A US Coast Guard (USCG) cutter recently seized advanced conventional weapons and other lethal aid originating in Iran and bound for Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen from a vessel in the Arabian Sea, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported on 15 February.    Sentinel-class fast-response cutter USCGC   Clarence Sutphin Jr  (WPC 1147), assign...

A graphic of the Sea Eagle-6 anti-ship missile that was launched by North Korea on 14 February 2024. (Janes)  North Korea claimed on 15 February that it successfully test-fired a new type of anti-ship missile known as the Padasuri-6 (Sea Eagle-6).  The test firing was conducted on the morning of 14 February and was witnessed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) disclosed in a statement the next day.  The weapon flew over the Sea of Japan (East Sea) for about 1,400 seconds before hitting a designat...