VARD and Fincantieri launch Resilience ship family to fill target Norway’s standardised vessel needs
VARD and Fincantieri’s announcement to launch the VARD Resilience series came only weeks after Norway’s new long-term 2025–36 defence plan.
Public Services and Procurement Canada is set to acquire eight new SAR lifeboats from Chantier Naval Forillon and Hike Metal Products for the Canadian Coast Guard.
The companies are already producing six SAR lifeboats each under contracts signed in 2015. Under the amended contracts, each shipyard will build four additional vessels at a total cost of $61.8 million.
With the ability to operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore, these new high-endurance lifeboats will enhance the coast guard’s SAR capabilities.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, said: ‘Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy and Oceans Protection Plan, we are providing members of the Canadian Coast Guard the equipment they need to keep Canadian waters and those who use them safe. The addition of these new lifeboats will also create more jobs for Canadians and enhance the coast guard’s capacity as a leader in maritime safety.’
VARD and Fincantieri’s announcement to launch the VARD Resilience series came only weeks after Norway’s new long-term 2025–36 defence plan.
Under Project Land 8710 Phase 2, Australia has been seeking to acquire an undisclosed number of Littoral Manoeuvre Vessels to replace the Balikpapan-class. The programme has an estimated value of AU$1.4 billion (US$910 million), with IOC slated for 2032.
The Royal Navy’s Type-23 Duke-class frigates for the UK Royal Navy were designed as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships but now have a multi-role function. Of the 16 Type 23s built, 12 remain in service with the Royal Navy and will be replaced by the Type-26 frigates before 2035.
The work took place under the Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT), which has been a collaboration between Austal, Greenroom Robotics, the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre and the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Warfare Innovation Navy Branch.
The era of southeast Asian submarine modernisation has been in full swing fuelled by growing tensions in the South China Sea.
On 24 March 2022, Greece and Naval Group have signed a contract for three defence and intervention (FDI) frigates. Two warships will be due for delivery in 2025 and the third expected the following year, with the deal including an option to add a fourth frigate to be ready in 2027.