• Air Warfare

  Two ready to tango in South Korean helicopter competition

  20th October 2023

  Two US-based OEMs will be vying for supremacy in a forthcoming competition for special forces heavy helicopters for the South Korean military.

• Naval Warfare

  Work starts on first Canadian Coast Guard Arctic patrol ship

  14th August 2023

  Construction on the first of two new patrol ships for the Canadian Coast Guard has started at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

• Training

  US Navy upgrades its red air aggressor F-16 Vipers

  4th August 2023

  Amentum will maintain US Navy adversary F-16 aircraft and provide full system maintenance and supply chain support to ensure seamless flight operations in all naval bases.

• Naval Warfare

  Brazil’s nuclear-powered submarine project reaches new milestone

  10th October 2023

  The first steel plates of a test section for the future nuclear-powered attack submarine ‘Álvaro Alberto’ have been cut during a ceremony organised by Itaguaí Construções Navais (ICN) and the Brazilian Navy.

• Digital Battlespace

  DSEI 2023: Northrop Grumman rolls out BattleOne integrated command and control package

  13th September 2023

  Northrop Grumman's BattleOne concept aims to transcend domain and national boundaries to produce an overarching command and control capability with integrated artificial intelligence.

• Land Warfare

  US Army orders 135 heavy dump trucks from Mack Defense

  24th August 2023

  Mack Defense has won an order for 135 additional M917A3 Heavy Dump Trucks (HDTs) for the US Army with the vehicles largely conducting construction and maintenance missions for infrastructure assets, such as airfields, roadways, landing strips, supply facilities and motor pools

• Naval Warfare

  Buy more subs, urges Norwegian Defence Chief

  7th June 2023

  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.

• Naval Warfare

  The Philippines has ended its flirtation with China – so what next for the country’s navy?

  11th September 2023

  For decades, largely as a result of historical ties, the US was the only Western country with a strong interest in the Philippines and its navy. Over the past year, other nations have turned their attention to the archipelago. The question is why now? And what is the impact of this shift on the Philippine Navy?

• Naval Warfare

  How serious a threat is North Korea's nuclear-armed navy?

  8th September 2023

  As well as splurging on ballistic weapons, North Korea has been developing submarines and surface combatants capable of firing nuclear-tipped missiles. Largely based on outdated designs, do they nonetheless pose a serious regional threat?

• Naval Warfare

  Dutch navy launches new rMCM vessel

  20th October 2023

  The first new Mine Countermeasures Vessel (MCMV) for the Royal Netherlands Navy was launched in a ceremony at the Kership Joint Venture shipyard in Concarneau on 19 October 2023.

• Naval Warfare

  Additional life-extension for Canada’s Kingston-class OPVs considered

  28th August 2023

  The Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN’s) 12 Kingston-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), ships which are already being improved, could receive an additional life extension upgrade package.

• Naval Warfare

  Delay to Irish Naval Service's new Multi-Role Vessel tender raises affordability questions

  11th September 2023

  An expected tender for the procurement of a new Multi Role Vessel (MRV) for the Irish Naval Service (INS) this year has yet to emerge.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Saildrone to produce USVs in Australia from 2024

  13th November 2023

  The use of long-duration Uncrewed Surface Vehicles for maritime surveillance and monitoring has become part of the fleet inventory as navies try to reduce the level of effort required to gather intelligence on areas of interest.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Leidos to manage US Navy uncrewed surface vessels under $95 million deal

  22nd August 2023

  Leidos has won a $95 million contract from the USN to manage and maintain the Overlord and Medium USVs, an effort which will accelerate the integration of autonomous vessel capabilities.

• Naval Warfare

  Taiwan reveals first indigenous submarine to much fanfare

  2nd October 2023

  Taiwan has made good progress with its submarine programme, revealing its initial boat in late September.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Frigates

  Constellation Class - FFG(X) (1-10)

  Programme Background The FFG (X) programme was first announced with a Request for Information (RFI) released by the US Navy in July 2017 with a ...

• Frigates

  Constellation Class Frigates Procurement [Greece]

  Programme Background Requirements The Hellenic Navy (HN) seeks to modernize its Fleet by 2032 with second-hand and newly built ships. The main goal is to ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Constellation Class Frigates Procurement [Greece]

  The Hellenic Navy seeks to modernize its Fleet by 2032 with second-hand and newly built ships. In January 2024, the Greek Minister of Defence announced the ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Constellation Class Frigates Procurement [Greece]

  The Hellenic Navy seeks to modernize its Fleet by 2032 with second-hand and newly built ships. In January 2024, the Greek Minister of Defence announced the ...

• Frigates

  FREMM Frigates [Morocco]

  Programme Background It was first reported by local Italian media that Morocco has been in talks with Fincantieri for the potential acquisition of two FREMM ...

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Medium Landing Ship (1-8) [USMC]

  Programme Background Development As part of the US Marine Corps' future force structure, it is developing a new platform under the Medium Lading Ship programme ...

• Frigates

  Littoral Combat Ships [Egypt]

  Requirements The Egyptian Navy is in the process of replacing four O. Perry-class frigates, two Knox-class frigates and two Descubierta-class corvettes. Although the O. Perry-class ...

• Frigates

  Constellation Class - FFG(X) (11-20)

  Programme Background Timeline The FFG (X) programme was first announced with a Request for Information (RFI) released by the US Navy in July 2017 with ...

• Frigates

  Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)

  Programme Background The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme was developed in 2003 as a cheap and fast way to increase the size of the fleet ...

• Frigates

  Fridtjof Nansen Frigates Replacement [Norway]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Norwegian Navy has four Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. Five were originally built and delivered, but one sank in November 2018. Shephard forecasts that the ...

• Frigates

  Stop-Gap Frigate Procurement [Greece]

  Programme Background The Hellenic Navy is acquiring up to four new Frigates. This major equipment programme is the most discussed equipment issue on the Greek ...

• Frigates

  FREMM EVO (11-12) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirements As of October 2022, the Italian Navy operates a fleet of eight FREMM frigates, split equally between anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and General ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Navajo Class (T-ATS)

  Programme Background Requirements The US Navy (USN) are replacing the ageing three remaining T-ATF 166 class tugboats and two remaining T-ARS 50 class ships with ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  LCAC 100 Class (SSC) [USN]

  Programme Background Timeline The major role of the SSC will be deployment from landing ships in support of USN and USMC operations and the transport ...

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Medium Landing Ship (9-18) [USMC]

  Programme Background Requirements As part of the US Marine Corps' future force structure, it is developing a new platform under the Medium Lading Ship programme ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Frigates

  Constellation Class FFG(X)

  The USN has selected Fincantieri Marinette Marine to build up to ten frigates under the FFG(X) next-generation future guided-missile frigate programme. The new Constellation-class will replace ...

• Frigates

  Australian Light Frigate

  During Indo Pacific 2023, Gibbs & Cox Australia unveiled the Australian Light Frigate design. Based on the new frigates being built for Taiwan and the USN ...

• Sea: sonar systems

  Captas-4 Sonar 2087

  Captas-4 is a low-frequency active and passive variable depth sonar for platforms heavier than 3,000 tons. The Captas-4 is part of Thales' family of Captas ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  SPY-6(V)3

  The SPY-6(V)3 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) is a fixed-face surveillance radar manufactured by Raytheon. The system is designed to defend against cruise missiles, anti-surface ...

• Naval: Radio and SATCOM

  SURFSAT-L

  Produced by Thales, SURFSAT-L is a SATCOM terminal designed for medium to large surface vessels. According to the manufacturer, it is designed to achieve a ...

• Frigates

  Zulfiquar Class (F-22P/Sword Class)

  Pakistan’s Zulfiquar-class frigates are also known as the F-22P or Sword-class; they are a modernised version of China’s Type 053H3 frigate. The ships are built ...

• Frigates

  Jose Rizal Class (HDF-2600)

  The Jose Rizal-class frigates for the Philippine Navy (PN) are being built to the HDF-2600 design by Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries at its shipyard ...

• Sea: naval fire control radar

  AN/SPY-1 air search radar

  Aegis isan integrated missile guidance system used on USN and allied ships to performanti-air and ballistic missile defence missions. The S-band phased-array AN/SPY-1D(V) radar acquires ...

• Frigates

  Bergamini Class (FREMM)

  The Bergamini-class frigates for the Italian Navy are based on the Franco-Italian, European, multipurpose frigate design FREMM (European multi-mission Frigate/Fregata europea multi-missione). For Italy, the ...

• Sea: sonar systems

  AN/SQR-19

  The AN/SQR-19 is a Tactical Towed Array Sonar (TACTAS) produced by Lockheed Martin. The sonar is designed to detect and classify both submarines and surface vessels ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems, Sea: fire control systems

  Aegis Weapon System

  Aegis Weapon System is an integrated missile guidance system used on USN and allied ships to perform anti-air and ballistic missile defence missions.  The S-band phased-array ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  AN/SQQ-89

  The AN/SQQ-89 is an ASW combat system incorporates and processes all the sonar information and LAMPS sensor data. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, there are currently ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  SM-2 Block IIIC/Block IIICU

  The SM-2 Block IIIC and Block IIICU are medium-range, surface-to-air missiles with active radio frequency seekers. Both missiles are modifications to legacy SM-2 Block III/IIIA/IIIB ...

• Data links

  Network Tactical Common Data Link

  Developed by BAE Systems, the Network Tactical Common Data Link (NTCDL) is a multi-link CDL system being produced for the US Navy. NTCDL provides the ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar, Sea: navigation radar

  AN/SPS-67

  The AN/SPS-67 is a two-dimensional, short-range naval surface search and navigation radar manufactured by Leonardo DRS.  The system was designed to meet USN requirements for ...