NAVAL SPYGLASS – MARCH 2010: selected abstracts.

Here's a brief look at the topics covered in a recent edition of Naval Spyglass. To subscribe to the publication please click on the link at the bottom of this page

India’s first N-sub is a missile ship
India has revealed that its first domestically-designed nuclear submarine, the INS Arihant, is a ballistic missile ship (SSBN) while her sister ships may become cruise-missile platforms.

LCS team in shock split
Austal USA and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works have decided to end their teaming arrangement on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme.

Carrier deal due
A formal agreement to end the long running dispute between India and Russia over refitting the aircraft carrier RFS Admiral Gorshkov will be signed during Prime MinisterVladimir Putin’s state visit.

Look at littoral dangers
Defence IQ are organising a two day conference on Littoral Ship Defence at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London from March 22 followed by a post-conference workshop.

Malacca Straits terror warning
The Republic of Singapore Navy issued an advisory to shipping companies on March 3warning of a potential terrorist attack against oil tankers in the Malacca Straits.


Naval Spyglass - European News

Kockums gets A26 design award
The Swedish Defence Materiel Organisation (Försvarets Materielverk or FMV) has awarded Kockums AB a contract for the overall design of the A26 next generation submarine.

Caspian navy plan
Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has approved a programme to create a navy. It is planned to acquire two large warships and more patrol boats.

Paris supply ship study
France will begin design studies this year for new underway replenishment ships.

Bergen to power JSS
The Royal Netherlands Navy has awarded a contract to Rolls- Royce to supply Bergen diesels for the Joint Support Ship (JSS). Under the contract, Rolls-Royce will equip the vessel with four Bergen ....

NPOs will get new guns
Portugal’s Navio de Patrulha Oceânica (NPO) patrol boats are to receive a more powerful gun armament.

Russia’s Mistral deal faces hurdle
Although it is generally accepted that Russia will buy Mistral class amphibious assault ships a contract possibly worth Ⓤ1 billion ($1.35 billion) is unlikely to be signed before the summer.

FSC design award sue?
British press reports suggest that £100 million ($145 million) contract to design the Future Surface Combatant (FSC) C1 is imminent. The contract will be awarded to .....

NATO in ASW drill
NATO has conducted its largest annual anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Ionian Sea south east of Sicily. Exercise ‘Noble Manta 10’ lasted …....

Dutch aim to bring minesweeping back
The Royal Netherlands Navy intends to reintroduce minesweeping into its counter-measures arsenal and is also drafting a requirement for a new mine counter-measures ship.

Cadet cruise sets sail
The French Navy’s newest training squadron has departed from Brest on its first cruise.The squadron consists of the .....

Malta gets Austals
Malta has received four Austalbuilt patrol boats. The 21-metre inshore patrol vessels were delivered by a merchant ship just nine months after the contract for them was signed.

Eire ’needs patrol boats’
The Irish Defence Ministry has published a White Paper which stresses the need for replacing the Irish Navy’s aging patrol vessels.

Russians in missile success
After numerous failures the Russian Navy has successfully launched a ballistic missile.However, the weapon launched in the Barents Sea from the RFS Tula was a Sineva or SS-N-23 ‘Skiff’ and not the much-troubled......

Oto’s new gun almost ready
Oto Melara’s plant at La Spezia has almost completed the first 127/ 64mm Light Weight gun mounting. The first should be completed …....

Swedish USV bid to fight mines
Sweden is developing new unmanned surface vessels (USV) for mine counter-measures.

Spot News – Second French Aircraft Carrier
President Nicolas Sarkozy is reported to have quietly cancelled plans for a second French aircraft carrier. The Port d’Avion 2, which was scheduled to be based upon the British Queen Elizabeth class.

Spot News - Karel Doorman (M) Class Ugrade
The Royal Netherlands Navy will upgrade its remaining Karel Doorman (M) class frigates at its base in Den Helder and will also upgrade two ships of the same class sold to Belgium. Work on HrMs Van Speijk is due …......

Spot News - USS John L. Hall (FFG 32) Observes Russian Black Sea Fleet
The frigate USS John L. Hall (FFG 32) has observed a Russian Black Sea Fleet amphibious exercise on the Abkhazia coast. Officially the ship was conducting joint drillswith Georgian vessels but on February 27 was able to watch the drills.


Naval Spyglass - Western Asian News

$438m renews India sub plan
India’s submarine arm is receiving a double boost with a firm delivery date for a nuclear fleet submarine and a massive investment in diesel-electric submarines.

Pakistan bid for two FAC
The Pakistani Navy issued an invitation to tender for two new fast attack craft (FAC). The new ships will have a full load displacement of 500-600 tons, an overall length of 60 meters, and …....

Naval boost for Seychelles
Indian shipbuilder Alcock Ashdown, based in India’s western Gujarat state, has launched two new navy hydrographic survey ships.

Survey ships join fleet
The European Union is to provide the Seychelles with a patrol boat as the island country faces a greater threat from Somali pirates while the US Navy has stepped up itspresence.

Pakistan in Perry deal
Pakistan is seeking an Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG 7) class frigate from the United States.

First tanker is launched
The first of two fleet tankers being built for the Indian navy in Italy has been launched by Fincantieri. The 27,500 tonne INS Deepak According to unconfirmed reports in the Indian press, the first launch test of the BrahMos missile from a submerged submarine was carried out on January 29.

Spot News – US donates five 13-metre (42 foot) FPBs to Pakistan
The United States government donated five 13-metre (42 foot) fast patrol boats to Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency (MSA). Four more will be donated to the MSA later this year to complete a $10 million package.

Spot News – Battery explosions kills one sailor
A battery explosion and fire in the submarine INS Sidhurakshak at Visakhapatnam on the Indian east coast killed one sailor and injured two others.


Naval Spyglass - East Asian and Australian News

Thais want two surplus subs
The Thai navy is seeking government backing to purchase two second-hand boats to re-establish a submarine fleet.

Carrier visits Hong Kong
Despite amid heightened tension between Washington and Beijing over arms sales to Taiwan and President Barack Obama’s plan to meet the Dalai Lama, China permitted US warships to visit Hong Kong.

Manila’s ships drill with US
The Philippines Navy is conducting an exercise with the US Navy. Exercise ‘Balikatan 2010’ began on March 9 and will last for 10

Jakarta seeking corvette
The Indonesian Navy has identified its 2010 procurement priorities as corvettes, submarines, fast attack craft and a new sail training ship.

Malaysian sub can now dive
A defect which appears to have prevented Malaysia’s submarine from diving appears to have been overcome. The Scorpène (Stone Fish) class KD Tunku Abdul Rahman had been unable to dive for three months due to technical defects involving the water-cooling system and a high pressure water valve inside the submarine’s ballast tanks. The defect forced the submarine .....

Tsunami fear scatters ships
Fears of a tsunami generated by the Chile earthquake caused warships hastily to leave harbours in the Pacific.

Double boost for Kiwis
One of New Zealand’s two Anzac class frigates has returned to service after completing a major refit. HMNZS Te Kaha went into the yard in July for a planned maintenance and mid-life engine upgrade, which included the .....

Taiwan wants subs
Taiwan is still seeking submarines but has decided not to press the United States on the issue. Press reports suggested the ......

Canberra refund bid over Collins problems
The Australian government is demanding compensation from ASC, which built the boats, over mechanical problems which have kept submarine HMAS Collins in port. The compensation demanded, amounting to.........

Sub build-up vexes China
China is concerned by the buildup of Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) submarine fleets, claims a Chinese admiral ….....

Pact to ease sea crises
The Indonesian and Malaysian navies reached an agreement to reduce tensions along their sea boundaries, particularly in the Sulawesi region.

Japan to aid coast guards
Malaysia’s Marine Operations Force (MOF) is receiving equipment from Japan and Australia to combat terrorism. The MOF, the marine division of the Royal Malaysian Police, will receive another five multi-purpose patrol boats in June.

Hugin trials by Korea
South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has been evaluating a Hugin 1000 portable autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Trials took place at Busan and covered both search for ….....

Kiwis join drill off Australia
The Royal Australian Navy conducted a five-week fleet exercise off the east coast. The Fleet Concentration Period exercise is held annually ......

Two exercise off Singapore
Singapore and Malaysia have completed a joint naval exercise. The exercise, Exercise Malapura’, which began on February 22 and was concluded on March 4, was hosted by Singapore.

Spot News – Philippine Navy Strategic Support Vessel
The Philippine Navy is attempting to find funding for the procurement of a Strategic Support Vessel. It is likely Manila will seek a vessel from …….

Spot News - Russian and Chinese navies off the Horn of Africa.
The Russian and Chinese navies are reinforcing the forces deployed to the pirate infested waters off the Horn of Africa. Russia has sent the destroyer ..

Spot News – Indonesian Patrol Boat Sunk
A patrol boat belonging to the Indonesian Customs and Excise Office has sunk off the coast between Karang Selatan and Tanjung Tondang, near Tanjung


Naval Spyglass - North America News

New ASDS may come from UK
The US Navy is trialling a new sea, air and land (SEAL) special forces delivery system built in the United Kingdom.

Drug bust by LCS
The US Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) departed on its first deployment and with a week had stopped a drug smuggler.

Patrol boats for Trinidad
The Trinidad and Tobago coast guard have received six high-speed patrol craft from Austal. The 30-metre vessels can exceed 40 knots and are armed with a 20mm gun.

Robot frigate is planned
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is planning to develop unmanned frigates for long missions shadowing diesel-electric submarines.

LCS operating cost warning
The cost of operating the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) could be more than the $84 billion US Navy estimate over the next 40 years.

Guard ‘needs icebreakers’
The US Coast Guard is in desperate need of new icebreakers if the country is to maintain its presence in the Arctic.

Patrol boats for Haiti
SeaArk Marine has delivered the first two of a five patrol boat contract for the Haiti Coast Guard. The vessels were purchased …....

Atlantic Fleet Burkes will get upgrade
BAE Systems Ship Repair has been awarded a five-year contract to modernise 11 Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class Atlantic Fleet destroyers.

Littoral war centre opens
The US Navy’s new Littoral Warfare Systems Facility in Panama City, Florida has opened. The $12.5 million centre will be used to test mission modules for the new Littoral Combat Ships as well as research and development.......

New tugs at Puget
The US Navy has begun operating a new class of tugs in the Puget Sound in Washington State.The Valiant (YT-802), the first of a new series of Z-Tech 4500-class

Spot News – New bases for JHSVs
The US Army is considering five locations as potential bases for its Joint High-Speed Vessels (JHSVs), which are being built both for the Army and the U.S. Navy. The army is conducting an environmental analysis of the....

Spot News –Retiral of Sea-based Nuclear-tipped Tomahawk Cruise Missiles
Japanese officials say the United States has informally informed Tokyo that Washington plans to retire its sea-based nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles. The retirement of the missiles is ……

Spot News – USN delivery of USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9)
The US Navy has received latest Lewis and Clark-class (T-AKE 1) cargo ship, the USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9), in San Diego from General Dynamics NASSCO. The tenth ship, USNS Drew, has ….....

Spot News –Northrop Grumman awarded contract for Shipboard Radar Systems
The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for full-rate production of shipboard radar systems. The Raytheon have received a $143,882,042 contract for the FY2010 Standard Missile 2 option for production of ......


Naval Spyglass - Latin America News

Panama boats in clashes
Panamanian patrol boats have been involved in two clashes during February with one man wounded. In the latter the coastal patrol boat …....

Chile’s navy aids quake victims
Chile’s navy has played a major role in bringing relief to survivors aftera massive earthquake which damaged one of its major bases.

Start on last POVZEE
Construction has begun on the Venezuelan Navy’s last offshore patrol vessel, AB Kariña, has begun at Navantia’s San Fernando-Puerto Real shipyard. The four patrol vessels, officially ….....

New research ship
The Brazilian Navy has commissioned its first of two Aviso de Pesquisa research vessels the AvPq Aspirante Moura.


Naval Spyglass - Middle East and African News

Last Fatah class ships join Iraq
The last two Italian-built patrol boats have been commissioned by the Iraqi Navy in Umm Qasr.

New frigate for Iran
The Iranian Navy has commissioned its first indigenously built major surface combatant. Officially described as a destroyer’, the Jamaran appears to be a modified version of the Vosper Mk 5 (Alvand) class light frigates.

Germans drill with Boks
A German task group is conducting a month-long exercise with the South African Navy.

China ‘needs pirate patrol base
The Chinese navy should build supply bases overseas to support its anti-piracy efforts, says a retired Chinese admiral on the Defence Ministry web site.

Egypt builds Gaza watch base
Egypt is building a small base for patrol boats monitoring the country’s border with Gaza in an effort to further block the Palestinian enclave’s access to smuggling routes.

Boost for Libya
Italy has delivered to Libya another three coastal patrol boats as part of a controversial Rome-Tripoli pact to stem illegal immigration across the Mediterranean. The European-led portion of Africa Partnership Station West engagement began on March 1, with the Belgian navy command and logistical support ship BNS Godetia entering Djeujo, Cameroon.

Spot News - Boost in Combating Piracy
Member states of the East African Community (EAC) have agreed to boost their cooperation in combating piracy in the region. Communications ministers meeting in Arusha,

Spot News - Iranian Navy pays courtesy call on Doha
The Iranian corvette Naghdi and fleet supply ship Bandar Abbas have paid a courtesy call on Doha, Qatar. They had been invited by the Qatari Navy.

Spot News - Danish Navy sinks Somali pirate vessel
The Danish multi-role support ship HDMS Abasalon sank a Somali pirate vessel in the Indian Ocean on February 28. A boarding team from the ship....


Naval Spyglass - Business News

Babcock in a bid for VT
The Babcock International Group, which maintains the British nuclear submarine force, is involved in a take-over bid for the VT Group. The VT Group rejected Babcock’s second approach, even after the company raised its direct bid to shareholder to £1.29 billion ($2.02 billion).

Elta’s new ship shield
Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) subsidiary Elta Systems has unveiled a new naval self-protection system. The EL/M-2222S Nav-Guard is …...

Avio to control Todaros
Avio has received a contract from Fincantieri’s Naval Division for the development and manufacture of two autopilot systems for the Italian Navy’s second batch of Todaro (Type 212A) class submarines.

$27.2 m to support MSC
General Dynamics American Overseas Marine (Amsea) has been awarded a $27.2 million operations and maintenance services contract by the US Navy’s Military SealiftCommand (MSC).

Sales are up for Paris and Moscow
France sold Ⓤ6.58 billion ($9.5 billion) of defence equipment last year, a 13% increase on 2008. A breakdown of the sales figures ….....

L-3 merge groups to meet market
L-3’s Henschel and Marine Systems divisions have been combined to form L-3 Maritime Systems.

Thales’ new Vigile
Thales has launched the Vigile LW, a lightweight, naval radar electronic support measures (RESM) system. Vigile LW detects, identifies and …....

Tomahawk 2k delivered
The US Navy has received its 2,000th Tomahawk Block IV surface-to-surface cruise missile from Raytheon.

New head for FMG
Mr Fred P. Moosally has become president and chief executive officer of Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG), a subsidiary of Fincantieri- Cantieri Navali Italiani.

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