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.
The navies of Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal have set up a joint working arrangement with EID for the latest Integrated Communications Control System (ICCS6) system, the company announced on 23 January.
A contract with a maximum value of €15 million (US$17 million) is to be awarded by the Portuguese government for the supply of ten ICCS6 systems. Five systems will be installed on board Portuguese ships: two M-class frigates (Bartolomeu Dias and Dom Francisco de Almeida) and 3 Vasco da Gama class frigates.
Three systems will be fitted to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) M-Class frigates and the landing platform dock HNLMS Rotterdam. The two M-class frigates of the Belgian Navy (Leopold I and Louise-Marie) will also be upgraded.
The first vessel to receive ICCS6 will be a RNLN frigate whereas the last one will be a Portuguese MEKO200 in 2020.
ICCS6 features Internet Protocol technology and was designed specifically to provide an efficient ships communications management tool. With a high degree of automation, the system uses a modular and flexible concept, capable of being tailored and configured to meet the communications requirements of any type of warship.
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.