An artist's impression of the French Navy's PA-NG next-generation carrier. (MO Porte Avions)  The French defence procurement agency (Direction Générale de l'Armement: DGA) has placed the first order for long-lead items for the country's future Porte-Avions Nouvelle Génération (PA-NG) next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN), the French Ministry of the Armed Forces has confirmed.  In a 30 April announcement, the French defence ministry said the DGA had awarded a contract worth EUR600 million (USD642.7 million) to the PA-NG progra...

US lawmakers are criticising the US Navy's decision to cut a Virginia-class submarine, similar to the one shown here, from the recent budget request. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  US lawmakers are continuing to question the US Navy (USN) fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget request that cuts a Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN) from its funding proposal.  Initially, the USN had planned for two Virginias for the fiscal year, but now the service is asking for only a single submarine in the FY 2025 request submitted earlier in 2024.  In recent hearings on t...

Japan has delivered the TPS-P14ME air surveillance radar (pictured), manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, to the Philippine Air Force. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation )  The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has received a mobile radar system from Japan to strengthen air surveillance.  Japan has delivered the TPS-P14ME radar manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Melco) to the PAF, the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) announced in late April.  “[The TPS-P14ME radar] will provide high-resolution surveillance of a...

India's SMART system, seen here during its first test in 2020. The DRDO carried out the third known test of the system on 1 May 2024. (DRDO)  India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has carried out another test of its missile-based torpedo delivery system after a lull of more than two years.  The latest test of the weapon known as the Supersonic Missile-Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) system was carried out on 1 May, the DRDO disclosed in a statement on the same day.  It was fired from a truck-based mobile launcher t...

China's third aircraft carrier, seen here as it embarked on its maiden sea trials on 1 May 2024. (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)  China's third aircraft carrier has embarked on its maiden sea trials, state-controlled Xinhua News Agency announced in its report on 1 May.    The carrier,  Fujian  , left the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai at around 0800 h local time on the day of the announcement. These trials will primarily focus on testing the “reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier's propulsion and electrical systems...

RFA  Cardigan Bay  will support the US military personnel by providing temporary offshore accommodation as they build a new temporary pier to deliver aid directly into Gaza.  (UK MoD/Crown Copyright)    The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Bay-class landing ship dock auxiliary (LSD(A)) vessel Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA)  Cardigan Bay  (L 3009) has been deployed to the coast of Gaza where it will provide support to US military building a new temporary floating pier that will facilitate the delivery of humanita...

The US Navy has begun to improve its current public shipyards, such as the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, shown here. (US Navy)  A new labour agreement signed on 29 April that seeks to build a rotational workforce of skilled welders could eventually serve as template for a national workforce arrangement for work on naval ships, according to Edward L Bartlett Jr, founder and CEO of Bartlett Maritime Corporation (BMC) – the company that brokered the deal.  The impetus for the rotational welders was a plan to use such a workforce to work on naval sh...

The Belgian Navy's Modernised M (Karel Doorman)-class frigate BNS   Louise-Marie  (F 931) will join the EU's maritime security mission ‘Aspides' in the Red Sea in the coming week.  (Guy Toremans)  The Belgian Navy's Modernised M (Karel Doorman)-class frigate BNS Louise-Marie (F 931) has been declared operationally ready to participate in the European Union's (EU's) maritime security missions in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz following a period of extended preparatory training in the Mediterranean, the service h...

A model of the South Korea-developed CIWS-II on display at MADEX 2023. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)  South Korea's defence procurement agency has announced programmes to bolster its navy's ability to intercept ballistic missiles and unmanned vehicles.  These include a programme to improve the country's indigenous close-in weapon system (CIWS) project undertaken in consideration of recent changes in warfare techniques, said the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in its announcement on 26 April.  South Korea's indigenously conceived C...

Virginia-class submarine  New Jersey  was delivered to the US Navy.  (Janes/Michael Fabey)    HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit confirmed on 25 April it had delivered Virginia-class fast-attack submarine  New Jersey  (SSN 796) to the US Navy (USN) in a release, noting the SSN is scheduled to be commissioned later in 2024.   The submarine delivery comes at a time when the USN shipbuilding is coming under scrutiny – with the Virginia-class programmes being one of the efforts coming under...

HMS   Diamond   shoots down a missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen over the Gulf of Aden using its Sea Viper missile system – the first time a Royal Navy warship has intercepted a missile in combat since 1991.  (Royal Navy/Crown Copyright)  The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Daring (Type 45)-class destroyer HMS Diamond (D 34) has successfully engaged an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched by Yemen-based Ansar Allah (commonly known as Houthi) rebels targeting a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, the s...

A file image of KM   Arau  , which collided into a Vietnamese fishing vessel on 22 April.  (MMEA)    Hanoi has issued a diplomatic note to Putrajaya after a Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) vessel collided into a Vietnamese fishing boat in disputed waters of the South China Sea, multiple sources close to the matter confirmed to   Janes  .     Vessels involved in the collision are the MMEA's sole Arau (Nojima)-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) KM   Arau  and an unnamed...

A Royal Australian Navy Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer fires a Harpoon surface-to-surface missile during Exercise ‘Pacific Vanguard' 2022. The class will be equipped with the Naval Strike Missile in the future. (Commonwealth of Australia)  The Australian government has released two more policy documents that outline its defence development intentions over the next few years. The two documents – National Defence Strategy (NDS) 2024 and Integrated Investment Program (IIP) 2024 – were unveiled by Australia's Minister of Defence Richard Ma...

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said the country needs more blue-collar workers to meet navy shipbuilding needs at yards like Newport News Shipbuilding, shown here. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  To address the shortage of workers needed to build the number of ships needed to meet US Navy (USN) fleet plans, the country should seek to bring in more legal immigrants from foreign shores, according to US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.  While acknowledging the impact of Covid-related issues on USN shipbuilding schedules on 23 April during...

A Spanish NASAMS anti-air defence unit (UDAA) has been deployed in Estonia since April 2023. (GBAD Task Force Estonia)  The Spanish government has announced the EUR410 million (USD438 million) modernisation and acquisition of additional National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMSs), Kongsberg announced in a press release on 19 April.  The Dirección General de Armamento y Material (DGAM), the Spanish Armaments Directorate, approved a contract for the modernisation of Spain's NASAMS on 19 April. Kongsberg expected the contract to b...

Sentinel  , the testbed for Australia's Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial project.  (Austal)  Australian shipbuilder Austal has completed the sea acceptance trials phase for the country's Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT), the company announced on 23 April.  The milestone, which included an endurance trial, was achieved by the project's testbed – a decommissioned Armidale-class patrol boat now known as Sentinel. The vessel was formerly in service with the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Maitland and retired in 2022.  The PBAT is an Austra...

The Brazilian Navy wants to improve the radar capabilities of its OPVs. (Victor Barreira)  As part of an effort to update its Amazonas-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the Brazilian Navy is acquiring a new air and surface search radar with identification friend-or-foe capability (IFF), according to the Navy Weapon Systems Directorate (Diretoria de Sistemas de Armas da Marinha: DSAM).    The Brazilian Naval Commission in Washington, DC, (Comissão Naval Brasileira em Washington: CNBW) on behalf of the DSAM has    requested a...

Cayor  , the third and final OPV 58S, was formally handed over to Senegal during a ceremony in Concarneau on 16 April.   (Senegalese Navy)  French shipbuilder Piriou has delivered the final missile-armed Walo (OPV 58 S)-class offshore patrol ship to Senegal, completing the three-ship programme.  The last vessel in the class, named Cayor, was formally handed over during a ceremony held in Concarneau, France, on 16 April, the shipbuilder confirmed the same day.  According to Piriou, the shipbuilding programme was completed on time...

MdCN is launched from the FREMM frigate   Aquitaine   on 18 April.   (French Navy)  The French Navy has successfully conducted its first simultaneous test launch of the Missile de Croisière Navale (MdCN)naval cruise missile from a frigate and a submarine.  The test-firing was carried out by the service's lead multimission (FREMM) frigate Aquitaine, positioned off the coast of Brittany, and one of its Suffren (Barracuda)-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), located off the coast of Biscarrosse, on 18 Apr...

Pilots from the French Navy surveillance frigate   Vendémiaire   (F734) practice landing aboard the amphibious command ship USS   Blue Ridge  (LCC 19) during an interoperability exercise.  Blue Ridge   is the flagship for Commander, US 7th Fleet.   (US Navy)  The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US military have begun the most complex iteration of Exercise ‘Balikatan', which is seeing the first-time participation of a French Navy warship and vessels from the Philippine Co...