Weapons Systems News

Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark has unveiled Prowler, its new autonomous, amphibious, and semi-submersible military craft engineered to meet the current and near future warfighting requirements of the U.S. military and its allies. The company is also debuting Frenzy, a high-performance, low-cost, amphibious micro-USV (uncrewed surface vehicle) with a payload carrying capacity of up to 14 pounds.“Prowler represents the sum total of everything we’ve learned while building 400-plus autonomous and remote operated vessels for our military customers over the past decade…

Defense company Babcock International has delivered Type 23 frigate HMS St. Albans back to the Royal Navy for sea trials three months ahead of the planned schedule, following a refit operation.Once the current sea trials are completed, HMS St. Albans, with her 178-strong crew, will return to sea as the most advanced, equipped, and capable Type 23 frigate in the Royal Navy’s fleet, boasting next-generation weapons systems and radar, according to Babcock.During her time in dock…

Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, to strengthen deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines, the head of the program said.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous sub program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty.President Tsai Ing-wen…

When Ukraine successfully deployed self-driving “drone” boats for a major attack on the Russian navy at Sevastopol in Crimea in September 2022 it was a defining moment that changed the future of naval warfare. Uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) have been used before, but this was the first instance of multiple, armed USVs, used simultaneously in combination with aerial drones for a successful, offensive naval operation on a military target.Several Russian ships were damaged in the attack…

When Hurricane Michael slammed the Florida Panhandle in October 2018, the deadly category 5 storm inflicted billions in damages to the region, tearing apart homes and businesses in its path. Among those severely impacted was Eastern Shipbuilding Group, which suffered a nearly direct hit at its Allanton shipyard, located about 15 miles east of the company’s headquarters and main yard in Panama City.Eastern, which had been scheduled to begin building the first of up to 11 Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) for the U.S.

The United States is providing Ukraine with a range of defense articles, including 23 welded-aluminum military vessels built by Louisiana-based Metal Shark, to help Ukraine to better protect its coastline, waterways and ports.Last week it was announced that six of the U.S. Navy’s new 40 PB maritime combat vessels would be sent to Ukraine as part of a $450 million security assistance package. Built by Metal Shark and delivered to the Navy in 2021 as part of a currently active defense contract for 50 vessels…

My first visit in 2007 to the American Society of Naval Engineers’ (ASNE) Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) was an eye-opener. Having built a naval architecture career with frigates, destroyers and other large naval and commercial ships, I was eager to learn of the smaller craft used by the U.S. Navy and other government and military bodies. As my flight into Norfolk, Va. descended over Chesapeake Bay, I gazed in amazement as a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) raced toward Virginia Beach, slowed, glided up the beach and into its shore base.

The Navy is known for its big ships. It has a lot of smaller boats and craft, too—3,200 of them.The three primary stakeholders for these craft are the Surface Fleet, Commander Navy Installations Command and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. Other stakeholders include Submarine Forces; Air Forces (which own the aircraft carriers); Naval Special Warfare; the Coast Guard; Naval Facilities Command and the Naval Warfare Centers.Boats and craft are procured and managed by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Program Executive Office for Ships (PEO Ships)…

Combat systems were recently installed and tested aboard the second of the Indonesian Ministry of Defence’s SIGMA 10514 Perusak Kawal Rudal (PKR) guided missile frigates, the KRI Gusti Ngurah Rai (332).The PKR frigates are constructed via a modular process operating simultaneously at Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) in the Netherlands and the PT PAL shipyard in Indonesia.This method, which allows the Damen Shipyards Group to build vessels anywhere in the world, enables…

Shipbuilder Metal Shark and the US Navy are nearing the end of the operational test and evaluation (OT&E) trial period for the Navy’s incoming standardized “40 PB” patrol boat platform.Developed as the replacement for up to 160 patrol vessels deployed worldwide with Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s Coastal Riverine Forces (CRF), Metal Shark’s 40 Defiant design was selected in late 2017 from a field of seven competing shipbuilders.Metal Shark produced two of the 40-foot, welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse patrol boats for test and evaluation purposes…

The Internet of Maritime Things (IoMT) is coming! Start planning now.The Internet of Things (IoT) is already with us. You can get a doorbell camera that allows you to see on your smartphone who is at or approaching your front door. You can also get a refrigerator that keeps track of items inside and will advise you when you are running low (maybe on beer). It can also automatically place orders with your local grocery store for replenishment. Your automobile will attempt to keep you in your lane and avoid collisions while keeping track of where you are…

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) completed her necessary repairs and extensive, accelerated upgrades over the last two years, following a fatal 2017 collision.The ship and her crew, now underway to conduct comprehensive at sea testing, will perform a series of demonstrations to evaluate onboard systems to ensure they meet or exceed Navy performance specifications. Among the systems that will be tested are navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems…

President Vladimir Putin calls improving the Russian navy's combat capabilities a priority.The unfinished husks of three guided-missile frigates that have languished for three years at a Baltic shipyard show that is easier said than done.Earmarked for Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the frigates fell victim to sanctions imposed by Ukraine in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, prompting Kiev to ban the sale of the Ukrainian-made engines needed to propel them.With Moscow unable to quickly build replacement engines for the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates, construction stopped.

The construction of a 600-tonne Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol ship by  the Taiwan-based shipbuilding company Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Corporation (JSSC) began in Kaohsiung.An official statement from Taiwan coast guard said that the ship is the first of a dozen to be produced by the company for the agency.According to Taipei Times, CGA Fleet Branch head Hsieh Ching-chin and JSSC Chairman Han Pi-hsiang presided over the initiation ceremony Friday to mark the start of the ship's construction.The report quoted Hsieh saying that the construction of the patrol ship symbolized a new milestone in the country's shipbuilding capabilities…

Norway has been forced to close the Sture Oil Terminal near Bergen and has started closing down the nearby Kollsness gas-and-condensate terminal — a lifeline of heating gas to Europe — after an early morning collision between a $440-million frigate and an oil tanker.The frigate Helge Ingstad, now listing heavily to its port side, is loaded with torpedoes and weapons systems said to be unstable as a result of the collision. Eight navy personnel are said to be injured, including two flown to regional hospital…

With effect on 2 April, François Dupont is appointed Director of the International Trade department at Naval Group. He will oversee all the areas in which Naval Group has prospective customers. He reports to Alain Guillou, Executive Vice President, Development. International development represents a major challenge for Naval Group, whose international sales should represent 50% of its revenues by 2020, compared to a third currently. François Dupont joined Naval Group at the age…

A pair of U.S. Navy submarines recently surfaced in the Arctic Circle as part of multinational maritime exercise north of Alaska. Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) and Seawolf-class fast attack submarine, USS Connecticut (SSN 22) surfaced in the Arctic Circle March 10 during the multinational maritime Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2018. Both submarines, as well the UK Royal Navy submarine HMS Trenchant (S91), are participating in the biennial exercise in the Arctic to train and validate the warfighting capabilities of submarines in extreme cold-water conditions. "From a military, geographic and scientific perspective…

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) entered dry dock at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton site, March 1, as part of the ship's scheduled 15-month docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) period following a six month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleets. Nimitz will receive upgrades and renovations to a variety of systems to include steering components, hull preservation, combat systems equipment, aircraft elevator doors, berthing areas and a new stern dock.

Metal Shark won the contract to produce the U.S. Navy’s next-generation patrol boat, the PB(X), the replacement for the fleet of force protection boats currently in use with Navy Expeditionary Combad Command’s Coastal Riverine Forces (CRF). Subject to annual appropriations, the Navy intends to replace approximately 100 to 160 of its existing 25-ft. and 34-ft. CRF patrol boats with the larger and more modern PB(X) platform over the next 15 years. The Navy has placed an initial, immediate order for eleven of the new vessels.

Indian Navy commissioned LCU L52 - a landing craft - which will be deployed for a variety of activities including transporting battle tanks and other heavy weapons systems. "Dr. Jagdish Mukhi, Lieutenant Governor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, commissioned IN LCU L52 into the Indian Navy on 21 August 2017 at Port Blair. IN LCU L52 is the second Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV class to be inducted into the Indian Navy," said a press release from the Navy. The ship has been indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. The commissioning of L-52 is yet another manifestation of the potential of the country’s indigenous design and ship building capability.

Capt. Michael R. Coughlin, commanding officer of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Newport, and James Russell, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the New Bedford Whaling Museum (NBWM), signed an education partnership agreement (EPA) for undersea acoustic research during a brief ceremony on Friday, March 31. Under the EPA, NUWC Newport will provide research, expertise, and material on the Navy's historic and current role in marine mammal research in conjunction with the museum’s recently acquired collection of historic marine mammal recordings, photographs and collection equipment. The William A. Watkins Collection of Marine Mammal Sound Recordings and the William E.

For much of the last week, the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has been patrolling the South China Sea. It is just the kind of display of Washington’s power and global reach that the U.S. Navy excels at – both to reassure allies and, in this case, send a message to potential foes. How much longer Washington will be able to perform such operations unchallenged, however, is an increasingly open question. Some military experts project that within a little more than a decade, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy may have more warships than Washington under its command.

China on Monday welcomed U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' suggestion that diplomacy should be the priority in the South China Sea, and that major U.S. military action was not being considered to contend with China's assertive behaviour there. Mattis, speaking in Tokyo on Saturday, blamed China for "shredding the trust of nations in the region", but also played down any need for U.S. military manoeuvres in the disputed waters of the South China Sea and instead called for open lines of communication. The comments, his most complete on the issue to date, came after analysts had said other remarks made by President Donald Trump's administration had suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade.