Indonesia commissions next KCR-60M missile boats and constructs new OPVs
Indonesian is building two OPVs, and two additional missile boats were recently commissioned as well.
Armed Iranian boats attempted to seize a British tanker in strategic Gulf waters on 10 July but were driven off by a Royal Navy frigate, international media reported.
The Iranians ordered the British Heritage oil tanker, which was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz area, to change course and stop in Tehran's nearby waters, according to CNN, citing two American officials.
A US aircraft shot video of the incident, which ended when HMS Montrose - which was escorting the tanker - trained its guns on the boats and successfully warned them to back off, the channel said.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had warned Britain of ‘consequences’ on 10 July over the detention of one of the country's oil tankers off the coast of Gibraltar.
‘I point out to the British that you initiated insecurity (on the seas) and you shall grasp the consequences of it later on,’ Rouhani said in comments to the cabinet broadcast by state TV.
The 330m Grace 1 tanker, capable of carrying two million barrels of oil, was halted on last week by police and customs officers in Gibraltar - a British overseas territory on Spain's southern tip - with the aid of a detachment of British Royal Marines.
Iran condemned the detention as an ‘illegal interception,’ but Gibraltar officials said that the cargo was believed to be destined for Syria, which is subject to European sanctions.
Iran denied this, saying that the destination ‘was somewhere else.’
The latest reported incident comes after Iran said it had lost patience with perceived inaction by European countries more than a year after US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of a landmark 2015 international agreement curbing Tehran's nuclear program, and started to impose punishing sanctions, raising tensions between the US and Iran.
Indonesian is building two OPVs, and two additional missile boats were recently commissioned as well.
The new missile, which incorporates land-attack capabilities, is the latest evolution of the Otomat/Teseo anti-ship weapon family and is set to replace the legacy Mk2/A version in service with the Italian Navy.
Another twist has occurred in India's tortuous pathway to obtaining six AIP-equipped submarines, as Germany seeks pole position.
The Norwegian Chief of Defence has recommended the Scandinavian country procure more submarines in a report to the government about the future shape of its armed forces.
Apart from making progress with its troubled LCS programme, the priority for Malaysia's navy right now is the next three Littoral Mission Ships.
On 6 June at Fincantieri's Muggiano shipyard, steel was cut for the Italian Navy's second U212 Near Future Submarine (NFS).