UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has awarded QinetiQ a contract under which the company is to lead a new collaborative enterprise that will simplify maritime research and development for the UK defense ministry. Under the Progeny Maritime Research Framework contract, QinetiQ wil
Looking for new technologies to improve the operation of unmanned underwater vehicles, the Royal Navy used the Maritime Enterprise Innovation Scotland Conference (MEISC) to set challenges for developers. During the conference, held at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow on January 24, two speci
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developer UMS SKELDAR has joined the European Defence Fund’s OCEAN2020 autonomous systems project with its Skeldar V-200 UAV, the company announced on January 22. UMS SKELDAR is joining the naval surveillance technology project alongside its partner Saab. OCEAN2020 is t
The Spanish Navy-operated polar research ship B.I.O. Hespérides has started the second phase of the 31st Spanish Antarctic Campaign after a three and a half-month voyage from her homeport in Cartagena. After making port calls in Mar de Plata and Ushuaia, the ship proceeded towards the Antarctic cont
Italian defense company Leonardo was selected to lead the first European Defence Fund’s initiative project which will see the integration of unmanned platforms in surveillance and interdiction missions. OCEAN2020, as the project is called, is issued by the European Union under the ‘Preparatory Actio
The Russian Navy’s diesel-electric icebreaker ‘Ilya Muromets’ arrived at its Northern Fleet homeport on January 2, the Russian Navy announced. The ship’s crew made their first crossing from the Baltic Sea to the Kola Bay and were welcomed in Severomorsk by Northern Fleet commander Admiral Nikolay Ev
The Russian Navy commissioned the Project 21180 icebreaker ‘Ilya Muromets’ in a ceremony at the Admiralty Shipyards on November 30. Though it is likely to remain the only vessel in its class due to high construction costs, Ilya Muromets is the first icebreaker built for the navy in 40 years. The ves
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 joined NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, to take part in a series of experiments and trials last week. Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond, Turkish Navy’s TCG Barbaros and Spain’s ESPS Blas de Lezo visited Italy after
Orkney researchers have found the vessel used by HMS Royal Oak sailors to escape the sinking battleship in Scapa Flow. While the whereabouts of the wreck of HMS Royal Oak, which sank in the first weeks of the World War II, are known, researchers struggled to locate the battleship’s steam pinnacle in
Researchers believe they have found the wreck of the first ship to be sunk in World War 2 – the SS Athenia. The wreck was located 650ft down around 50 miles south of Rockall by shipwreck hunter David Mearns as he was helping to provide the most comprehensive map of the waters for Irish Government [&
The wreck of what is believed to be the Royal Navy’s WWII submarine HMS Narwhal has recently been found by hydrographers off the coast of Scotland. HMS Narwhal was last seen in late July 1940 when she left her base to lay mines off German-occupied Norway during the Battle of Britain. Sitting upright
Taking part in the submarine escape and rescue exercise Dynamic Monarch for the first time, NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) supported the exercise using a new digital underwater acoustic communications capability providing more effective command and control to escape a
A multibeam survey conducted as part of a maritime archaeology project has confirmed the exact location of the Royal Navy’s WW1 destroyer HMS Pheasant. Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and SULA Diving said they are now a
UK company SEA (Systems Engineering & Assessment) has unveiled its new and improved thin line KraitArray towed Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) sonar at this year’s DSEI exhibition in London. Compared to the current 50m, the KraitArray now extends up to 150m in length, offering operators greater detecti
