Naval Combat Systems News

Business Korea reports that Hanwha Ocean plans to invest an additional minimum of $70 million in Philly Shipyard.The aim is to increase productivity to 10 ships per year by 2035, up from the current rate of 1 to 1.5 ships per year.Hanwha Ocean acquired Philly Shipyard in December last year for $100 million and renamed it Hanwha Philly Shipyard.Hanwha seeks to build on the success of Philly Shipyard, established in 1997, that delivered around 50% of all large ocean-going U.S. Jones Act commercial ships since 2000…

The future tactical component of France’s Naval Aerial Drone (Système de Drones Aériens de la Marine - SDAM) program is being designed by DCNS and Airbus Helicopters, who have joined forces to pool naval and aerospace skills and expertise. The teaming of DCNS and Airbus Helicopters will be equipped to address all technical challenges arising from the naval integration of the drones through the creation of a robust system architecture that can evolve and adapt to meet every need, the developers said.

BAE Systems in the U.K said it will take on 710 apprentices in 2015, the highest intake in the company’s history. Next year's intake surpasses the record set in the previous year by 142 places and includes 45 places for apprentices who will eventually join companies in BAE Systems' supply chain or work in local engineering companies. The latter are funded under the government's Employer Ownership Program. The new recruits - two-thirds of whom will be employed in engineering-related roles - will work across 14 of BAE Systems’ aerospace, security and defense sites around the U.K.

By John J. After a wide-ranging tour of Naval District Washington (NDW) West in Dahlgren, Va., Senator John W. Warner, R-Va., told reporters at a news conference last week that the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) is transforming itself to face the present and future on many fronts by producing advanced technological products that have a crucial impact in the support and protection of deployed warfighters fighting the Global War on Terrorism. “I have seen some absolutely fascinating technology in the minds of the core of civilians and military that operate here…

The new Spanish military shipbuilder, Navantia, has been unveiled by Pedro Solbes, the Spanish government’s second vice-prime minister and economics minister, along with Enrique Martínez Robles, the Chairman of the state holding company Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), and the Chairman of the new company, Juan Pedro Gómez Jaén. The company, specializing in the design, construction and integration of military ships, is owned by SEPI and is the result of the desegregation of Izar’s military activities in line with the agreement reached in order to make publicly-owned shipyards viable. Mr. Solbes’ referred in his speech to the creation of this new company as the start of a new future for Spanish shipyards…

French defense electronics group Thomson-CSF will form a joint venture with naval shipbuilder DCN, reportedly to better positioning itself to compete internationally for major warship and naval combat systems contracts. The deal, which will take the form of a 50-50 joint venture between Thomson's naval systems business and DCN International, represents a deepening of the existing relationship between the two groups, which have cooperated in the past on frigates for Saudi Arabia and Taiwan and submarines for Chile. It also gives Thomson a share of the roughly $1.21 billion allocated to French contractors as part of the next generation Horizon anti-aircraft frigate program with Italy.

AMSEC LLC has completed the acquisition of Planning Consultants, Incorporated (PCI), a Navy combat systems engineering company with headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. AMSEC LLC, also headquartered in Virginia Beach, is a full-service Naval and marine engineering company providing life-cycle support services to the defense and shipbuilding industries in 30 cities across the United States, as well as overseas. The acquisition of PCI expands AMSEC LLC's capabilities in the Aegis and other Naval combat systems engineering programs. PCI's core Naval combat systems competencies include systems engineering, software development, test and evaluation, interoperability analysis and test support, and in-service operational technical support.