A decade-long programme of upgrade work on the UK Royal Navy’s ageing Type 23 frigates is nearing completion, with one ship left to complete the process. At the end of February 2024, the UK Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans returned to sea after what the Royal Navy described as a “massive revamp” at Devonport […]
In February 2024, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) confirmed that its Newport News Shipbuilding division (NNS) had initiated topside testing of the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on the US Navy’s aircraft carrier John F Kennedy (CVN 79). EMALS, first integrated into USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), replaces the existing steam catapults currently in use on the US Navy’s Nimitz-class […]
The Netherlands Ministry of Defence has provisionally selected Naval Group – offering its Black Sword Barracuda design – to deliver a replacement submarine capability to succeed the Royal Netherlands Navy’s current Walrus-class boats. Announcing the decision on 15 March 2024, State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat said that the French naval shipbuilding, support […]
The Australian government has selected BAE Systems and ASC Pty Ltd to jointly build Australia’s new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in the latest significant development in the AUKUS trilateral security pact. SSN-AUKUS is a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) being developed in partnership with the US and Australia to satisfy the needs of […]
A British company, Submarine Manufacturing and Products (SMP), a manufacturer and supplier of diving and subsea rescue equipment, has been awarded a contract to provide its new submarine rescue system to the Indonesian Navy. The rescue system will be hosted on a mothership designed by independent design and engineering consultancy Houlder and delivered by its Indonesian strategic […]
GE Vernova’s Power Conversion business in the UK has been selected by Team Resolute to provide hybrid propulsion technology for three Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships for the UK Ministry of Defence. Team Resolute is a consortium created by Spanish shipbuilder and defence company Navantia, shipbuilder Harland & Wolff and naval architects BMT to deliver […]
In February 2024, the Australian Government announced an increase in the number of warships in the Royal Australian Navy to what will be its largest fleet since the end of World War II. But it is not only investing in more ships: it is also investing in naval shipbuilding and in new technology, in the […]
What is described as a ‘revolutionary’ propeller hub vortex cavitation-eliminating boss cap has successfully completed validation tests at a hydrodynamic research centre in Sweden. The propeller hub – which could provide gains in propulsive efficiency for a wide range of vessels, including warships – will now undergo ship model basin trials to verify the efficiency […]
Damen Naval and its partner NVL Group have commenced construction of the German Navy’s first F126 frigate. A steel cutting ceremony for the first F126 frigate took place on 5 December 2023 at NVL Group’s Peene-Werft shipyard in Wolgast. Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany Siemtje Möller said, “With the […]
Construction of the first of four Pohjanmaa-class multi-role corvettes has started at Rauma shipyard (Rauma Marine Construction, RMC), a major project for the Finnish Navy that has been significantly delayed. A contract was awarded to RMC to build the corvettes in 2019, but in late 2021 the yard announced that it would need up to […]
Trials of the largest uncrewed aircraft ever launched from a UK Royal Navy aircraft carrier could pave the way for the next generation of UK naval air power. The specially modified aircraft – operated remotely by a ‘pilot’ at a computer terminal, codenamed ‘Mojave’ – took off and landed safely on HMS Prince of Wales […]
Much has been accomplished since the US, UK and Australia announced plans to develop a new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines together, but much more remains to be done, as a November 2023 report published by the House of Commons Library explains. The report details many of the challenges facing the AUKUS nuclear submarine programme […]