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...

RNMB   Harrier  's    deployment to Bahrain for operational evaluation represents a significant step in the RN's journey towards autonomous minehunting operations.  (UK MOD Crown copyright)  The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) autonomous minehunter RNMB Harrier has arrived in Bahrain to start operational evaluations, as part of the service's Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) programme.  Harrier, a modular 11 m ARCIMS mine countermeasures (MCM) unmanned surface vessel (USV) developed by Atlas Elektronik UK (AEUK),...

The CIRRUS MoD cloud delivery model from the Cloud Strategic Roadmap that seeks to join the dots within Defence Digital and across the wider defence landscape. (MoD Crown Copyright 2023)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has published the first edition of its ‘Cloud Strategic Roadmap for Defence'.  Released on 2 February, the road map outlines the vision, deliverables, and outcomes for achieving a “hyperscale cloud ecosystem” designed to span across all MoD “functions, commands, and enabling organisations”. This is intended to provide the fou...

The UK's newly acquired future Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance ship sails into Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, Liverpool, on 19 January. (Royal Navy)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has purchased a second-hand commercial offshore patrol vessel from P&O Maritime Logistics' subsidiary Topaz Energy and Marinefor conversion into a specialist ship dedicated to protecting the country's critical subsea infrastructure.  The vessel, which is currently named MV Topaz Tangaroa, arrived at Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, Merseyside, for refitt...

An aerial view of the Pentagon, the headquarters building for the US Department of Defense. (Getty Images)  The US Department of Defense (DoD) should increase its efforts to help small businesses protect their technology from foreign adversaries, according to the Pentagon's new “Small Business Strategy”.  Many small businesses do not realise that adversaries might try to gain access to their technology through joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, or cyber espionage, the report says. The document recommends that the DoD offer education and t...

Raytheon Technologies' products include the sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missile. (NAVAIR)  Raytheon Technologies (RTX) plans to streamline its organisation by combining its two defence-focused business units into one, the US-based company announced on 24 January.  Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RIS) and Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD) will become a single business called Raytheon. Aircraft parts maker Collins Aerospace and aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney will remain individual businesses within RTX.  RTX chief operating office...

The UK's newly acquired future Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance ship sails into Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, Liverpool, on 19 January. (Royal Navy)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has purchased a second-hand commercial offshore patrol vessel from P&O Maritime Logistics' subsidiary Topaz Energy and Marinefor conversion into a specialist ship dedicated to protecting the country's critical subsea infrastructure.  The vessel, which is currently named MV Topaz Tangaroa, arrived at Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, Merseyside, for refitt...

Israeli company Xtend will supply its robotic operating system, which enables unmanned swarming, to the Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD).  The USD20 million multi-year contract is part of a joint project with the Israeli MoD called ‘Urban Capsule',...

L3Harris Technologies completed the first flight of the US Army Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES) aircraft – that will help modernise and enhance the army's ISR capabilities – on 27 August 2021 in Melbourne, Florida. (L3H...

Soldiers from South Korea's V Corps operate a Chun Ma surface-to-air missile during training to counter and destroy enemy small UAVs. (Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea)  South Korea has conducted a drill with manned and unmanned aircraft to improve its response to incursions by small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).  South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced on 29 December that the training was “to respond to and destroy enemy small drones”. During the exercise, about “20 manned and unmanned assets [including KAI KA-1...

The US Navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is a militarised version of the commercial Boeing 737. (US Navy)  US-based aircraft maintenance provider AAR Corporation could benefit from a provision in the recently enacted fiscal year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that requires the US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy (USN) to consider buying used parts for their commercial-derivative aircraft, according to the company's chief executive.  While AAR has “had success here and there” selling used aircraft parts to the US g...