The US Navy is moving ahead with plans to significantly reconfigure its DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers to meet changed operational requirements and a new warfighting concept of operations in the Pacific theatre. Central to this is the integration of a new hypersonic weapon system into the Zumwalt-class ships to confer a long-range prompt […]
The UK Ministry of Defence has acquired the commercial offshore support vessel, Topaz Tangaroa, for conversion to a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) seabed warfare platform. Purchased from Topaz Energy & Marine by the Ships Acquisition team at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) at a cost of £65 million (US$79 million), the vessel is now being […]
In October 2022, Austal Australia took possession of a decommissioned Armidale-class patrol boat, the former HMAS Maitland, from the Commonwealth of Australia, to commence planning, modification, and test and evaluation of autonomous and remotely operated systems. The Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT) is a collaboration between Austal, the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre […]
BAE Systems Naval Ships has provided Warship Technology with an insight into concept development activity intended to establish the key characteristics and attributes required for a future highly configurable, multi-mission warship optimised for littoral strike and lethality. Known as the Adaptable Strike Frigate, the concept has been evolved to deliver a flexible ‘system of systems’ […]
Unmanned surface and above-water units are changing the nature of naval classification. Novel technologies in the naval defence space, from uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to advanced offshore patrol vessels (OPV), are changing the game for classification societies, and require a more sophisticated approach to risk assessment and validation than ever, as Lloyd’s Register’s (LR) naval […]
On 31 August 2022, Fincantieri-owned Marinette Marine started construction of the US Navy’s first Constellation-class guided missile frigate. The future USS Constellation moved into the next stage of development as shipbuilders began cutting steel for the ship with representatives of the US Navy, elected officials and community leaders in attendance. Two years ago the US […]
Italy’s Guardia di Finanza took delivery of a new flagship on 22 September 2022, a Damen Stan Patrol 6009 patrol boat. The 60m vessel for the Guardia di Finanza – a law enforcement agency operating under the authority of the Ministry of Finance – was built at Cantiere Navale Vittoria Shipyard in Adria on Italy’s […]
Boosting the US Navy’s ability to maintain vessels whilst they are operational was the goal of an exercise that took place off the coast of California from 22 August to 2 September 2022. The Repair Technology Exercise (REPTX) took place on the US Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship, an asset operated by the Naval Surface […]
The Royal Navy’s new test and trials ship entered HM Naval Base Portsmouth for the first time on 27 July 2022. Named XV Patrick Blackett during a ceremony two days later, the vessel is due to begin its career as a platform for trials and autonomy development later in 2022. Built by Damen Shipyards by […]
China’s new aircraft carrier Fujian is a great leap forward in a number of respects, but the conventionally powered vessel does not match the capability of the US Navy’s flat tops. Fujian (a Type 003) is larger than its predecessors, but is also conventionally powered, so although it is closer in size to US Navy […]
June 2022 saw Huntington Ingalls Industries (HHI) successfully demonstrate the ability of an amphibious warship to launch, operate with and recover a large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicles (LDUUV). The research and development initiative between HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding and mission technologies divisions is one of a portfolio of internal research and development efforts aimed at advance new […]
General Dynamics Electric Boat conducted a keel-laying ceremony for the first Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine, USS District of Columbia (SSBN 826) at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, on 4 June 2022. District of Columbia will be the first of a 12-boat class, which will replace 14 US Navy Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic submarines from 2027 onwards. The transition […]