UK’s new defence plan envisions the commissioning of new Type 26 Global Combat Ships from the mid-2020s, upgraded maritime helicopters and the new aircraft carrier in operating capability by 2020. This plan is backed with a £178 B budget which represents a £12 B increase on previous plans. The Natio
The UK Ministry of Defence awarded Bae Systems a £1.3 billion contract to build the fifth Astute-class submarine for the Royal Navy on November 19. The full contract covers the design and remaining build, test and commissioning activities on Anson, the fifth of seven technologically-advanced submari
BAE Systems, a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company, in an update on its business announced a “further headcount reductions” at its Australian shipyard. Despite Australia’s intention to launch a naval shipbuilding strategy, BAE Systems said that “it is unclear whether this i
Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond is to return to her home city of Aberdeen this week for a four-day visit. The Clyde-built Type 45 Destroyer, one of the Royal Navy’s newest ships, will open to the public on Saturday (November 7) from 10am to 3pm. HMS Diamond will arrive in its affiliated port on Friday afte
UK’s Portsmouth-based minehunter, HMS Cattistock returns to service after a major life-extension upgrade. The re-dedication ceremony marking this occasion took place in Portsmouth Naval Base yesterday, Nov. 2. The upgrade, carried out by BAE Systems in Portsmouth, includes new engines and means that
Royal Navy’s HMS Monmouth returned to operational service after refits and upgrades on October 29. The upgrade in Plymouth, performed by Babcock Marine, has included 17 tonnes of steel covering 220 square metres of steel and over 1km of welding. Also, 29 different equipment updates were conducted in
The UK Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, affirmed the Government’s commitment to the Successor submarine programme at a reception in the House of Commons yesterday, Oct 21. Speaking at the House of Commons, Fallon announced that the government is committed to building four Successor ballistic missi
BAE Systems demonstrated new unmanned technology, in partnership with ASV, for the first time at a site near Portsmouth Naval Base. The new system will allow crews to carry out vital tasks such as high speed reconnaissance and remote surveillance while keeping sailors out of harm’s way. The modified
Servowatch has completed BAE System’s Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) of the fully integrated platform management system it has built for the Royal Navy’s offshore patrol vessels. Servowatch is a supplier of advanced integrated ship control systems and will now integrate the IPMS package at BAE Syste
Ducommun Incorporated received a multi-year award from the Boeing Company to produce position sensors, also known as resolvers, for the U.S. Navy’s and U.K. Navy’s Trident Navigation System (Electrostatically Supported Gyro Navigator) used on U.S. Ohio-class and U.K. Vanguard-class submarines. Ducom
The new-look, souped-up HMS Diamond makes her way to sea for the first time since the summer of 2014. Some 15 months of work by BAE Systems have gone into the third of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers in Portsmouth Naval Base to get the ship ready for her third operational deployment. Since retur
The waters lap the hull of Britain’s ‘capital ship’ for the first time in 11 months as HMS Westminster passes a milestone in a major overhaul. Since November last year, the frigate has been sitting on blocks in the recently-refurbished No.15 dock in Portsmouth Naval Base while engineers from BAE Sys
A cutting-edge 3D radar system, capable of detecting objects as small as a tennis ball and travelling at three times the speed of sound more than 25km away, has been successfully installed to the Royal Navy’s future aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Known as Artisan 3D the radar system will be
Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Halifax departed Norfolk, Virginia, September 21, 2015, to join HMC ships Athabaskan and Montréal, as well as United States Naval Ships William McLean and United States Ship The Sullivans. The ships are currently transiting the North Atlantic Ocean and will be cond
