A screen capture of a video footage showing the merchant vessel, M/V   Gaja  , transiting northbound through the Bosphorus Strait from Saint-Nazaire, in western France, loaded with two FPB 98 MKI patrol boats, on 23 May.  (Yoruk Isik)  French shipbuilder OCEA has despatched the first two of 20 FPB 98 MKI patrol boats on order for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.  Video imagery captured by a Turkish independent ship spotter showed the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged merchant cargo ship, M/V Gaja, transiting n...

A Chinese SAC J-16 fighter flies in front of a USAF RC-135V Rivet Joint aircraft over the South China Sea on 26 May 2023. This is a screen-grab from a video of the incident. (US Department of Defense)  The United States has said that a Chinese Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) J-16 fighter aircraft conducted an unsafe manoeuvre near a US Air Force (USAF) Boeing RC-135V Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft on 26 May.  US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said in a statement on 30 May that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) J-16 “performe...

The US Capitol building in Washington, DC. (Janes/Marc Selinger)  The US Professional Services Council (PSC) is urging its member companies to prepare for the possibility that the US government could delay payments to contractors if it fails to resolve its debt limit crisis.  Contractors should stockpile cash and consult with their credit providers to ensure they can continue operations if the government suspends payments, David Berteau, PSC president and CEO, told reporters on 25 May.  The government is expected to run out of money in early...

HMS   Vanguard  is expected to return to operations later in 2023 following the completion of its post-refit trial period.  (Crown Copyright)    The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), HMS   Vanguard  (S28), has finally departed Babcock International's Devonport Royal Dockyard facility in Plymouth following the completion of a much-delayed deep maintenance and refuelling programme.     An RN spokesperson confirmed to   Janes   that   V...

Lockheed Martin builds GPS III satellites for the US Space Force. (Lockheed Martin)  Lockheed Martin's Space business area plans to consolidate its five lines of business into three as part of a reorganisation, according to a 4 May announcement.  The new National Security Space business line will bring together the classified and defence programmes of the Military Space, Mission Solutions, and Special Programs units. No changes will occur in the Strategic and Missile Defense Systems business line, which works on strategic deterrence, missile...

USCGC  John Scheuerman  (WPC 1146) transits the Strait of Hormuz with an L3Harris Arabian Fox Mast-13 unmanned surface vessel on 19 April.  (USCG)  A US Navy (USN) unmanned surface vessel (USV) has transited the Strait of Hormuz for the first time, marking another milestone in the service's efforts to integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence (AI) into maritime operations in the Middle East.  The USV, an Arabian Fox Mast-13 vessel operated by the US Fifth Fleet's Task Force 59, completed the transit o...

UK shipbuilder Babcock is engaged in a dispute resolution process (DRP) with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) over who should pay for unforeseen cost increases regarding the Type 31 frigate programme.  In a fiscal year (FY) 2023 pre-results stateme...

USCGC   John Scheuerman  (WPC 1146) transits the Strait of Hormuz with an L3Harris Arabian Fox Mast-13 unmanned surface vessel on 19 April.   (USCG)  A US Navy (USN) unmanned surface vessel (USV) has transited the Strait of Hormuz for the first time, marking another milestone in the service's efforts to integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence (AI) into maritime operations in the Middle East.  The USV, an Arabian Fox Mast-13 vessel operated by the US Fifth Fleet's Task Force 59, completed the transi...

The UK Royal Navy's eighth Type 23 frigate HMS   Montrose   is formally decommissioned from service during a ceremony held at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, on 17 April 2023.  (Royal Navy)  The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) eighth Type 23 Duke-class frigate, HMS Montrose (F 236), has officially retired after 29 years of active service.  The ship was formally decommissioned during a ceremony held at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, on 17 April.  Montrose was laid down in November 1989, launched on 31 July 1992, and commissioned int...

Japan's new OSA scheme will provide funding for allied countries to procure defence equipment such as radars, transport aircraft, and surveillance ships. Pictured above is Japan's third Hibiki-class ocean surveillance ship on its commissioning in March 2021. (Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force)  Japan has said it will launch a new credit facility to support defence exports. The Official Security Assistance (OSA) scheme – the first of its kind in Japan – will be aligned with the country's national security interests, the Ministry of Foreign...

HNLMS  De Zeven Provinciën  pictured in the Atlantic in May 2021 during Exercise ‘At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield 21'. ASD/FS-21 served as a ‘graduation exercise' for the new MBMD capability.  (US Navy)  Some two decades after entering service, the Royal Netherlands Navy's (RNLN's) four De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command frigates (luchtverdedigings en commandofregatten: LCF) are receiving a package of improvements intended to sustain and enhance their operational capability into the 2030s.    Alo...

US Naval Forces Central Command transferred three Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships to the Egyptian Navy during a formal ceremony in Alexandria, Egypt, on 21 March. (US Navy)  The Egyptian Navy has taken delivery of three Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships from the United States.  The three boats, ex-USS Hurricane (PC 3), ex-USS Sirocco (PC 6), and ex-USS Thunderbolt (PC 12), were transferred from US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) to the Egyptian Navy during a formal ceremony held in Alexandria, Egypt, on 21 March.  As part of the tr...

HNLMS  Schiedam,   one of six remaining Alkmaar (Tripartite)-class minehunters in RNLN service.  (Michael Nitz – Naval Press Service)  The Ukrainian Navy's mine countermeasures (MCM) capabilities are set to receive another boost with the donation of Dutch Alkmaar (Tripartite)-class minehunters.  While visiting southern Ukraine during the third week of March, Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren confirmed plans to donate two Alkmaar-class minehunters as part of a military aid package that also included drone...

MHI will deliver at least one unit of its new laser system (pictured), developed to counter hostile UAVs, to the Japanese MoD in December. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has developed a new laser system to counter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and a manportable version of its cyber-security solution named Intersept.  Both the systems were displayed by MHI at the DSEI Japan 2023 show being held in Chiba from 15 to 17 March.  Company officials told Janes at the show that the laser system can destroy hostile UAVs w...

The US and Japan co-produce the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor. (US Missile Defense Agency)  William LaPlante, US undersecretary of defence for acquisition and sustainment, said on 14 March that he would like to see the US and its allies co-produce more weapon systems to speed up the availability of high-demand equipment.  Noting that US-based Raytheon Technologies and Japanese industry co-produce the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor, LaPlante said a similar arrangement could be establishe...

USAF MQ-9 Reaper in Afghanistan. The Reaper is equipped with what is believed to be the ‘Gorgon Stare' wide-area airborne surveillance system (WAASS). The MQ-9 downed in the Black Sea may have been equipped with a similar system. (United States Air Force)  A US Air Force (USAF) General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the Black Sea on 14 March, following what the Pentagon said was an aerial collision with a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter.  The collision occurred at 07:03 Central Europe...

A US Space Force radome receives data from satellites at Kaena Point Space Force Station, Hawaii, on 14 September 2022. (US Space Force)  The US Space Force (USSF) is poised to award several contracts to commercial satellite communications (satcom) companies, who will provide proliferated low Earth orbit (LEO) satcom capabilities to US armed forces and allies, the head of the service's commercial satcom office said.  Officials from the USSF's Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) are in the midst of wrapping up the source selectio...

UK Royal Navy commandos conduct cold weather training in the Arctic. (UK Royal Navy/Crown Copyright)  The UK has set up a military base in Northern Norway that will act as a hub for Royal Marines commandos operating in the region.  The purpose-built site, called Camp Viking, is located in Øverbygd, about 40 mile south of Tromsø, and will be used to support the UK's commando-led Littoral Response Group (LRG) (North), which is designed to operate alongside NATO and UK Joint Expeditionary Force partners in the High North and Baltic Sea regions....

An aerial view of the US Pentagon. (Getty Images)  Several recent or pending changes at the US Department of Defense (DoD) are intended to make it easier for small businesses to work with the large, complex organisation, according to a key DoD official.  Farooq Mitha, director of the DoD's Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP), during a National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) webinar on 21 February said that the department intends to revive funding for the Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF), which is supposed to help small businesses bridg...

US Coast Guard icebreaker   Healy  calls in Seward, Alaska, in July 2022, while embarking on a North Pole deployment. US Senator Lisa Murkowski wants to accelerate the acquisition of additional icebreakers.  (Michael Fabey)  Citing growing national security concerns in the Arctic, US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called for speedier acquisition of the proposed fleet of Polar Security Cutters (PSCs) and improvement of infrastructure for Arctic communications.    With their icebreaker capability, the PSCs w...