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Studies are underway to “take a hard look” at putting eight mothballed Oliver Hazard Perry frigates back into service as well as extending the life of existing Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers to help the Navy reach its goal of a 355-ship fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said on Tuesday. Speaking before an audience at the U.S. Naval War College, Richardson said service leaders were looking at “every trick” to put more platforms into the fleet including bringing back some Perrys into service. “We’re taking a hard look at the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. There’s seven or eight...

Although the nine future frigates are to be optimised for anti-submarine warfare, confirmation that their armament will include SM-2 missiles means they will also be providing a valuable contribution to the Royal Australian Navy’s task group protection. The SM-2, along with the CEAFAR2 S/X/L band active phased- array radar systems under development by Canberra-based CEA, has been directed by the government to be essential rather than desirable for the $35 billion SEA 5000 Phase 1 purchasing that is expected to begin replacing the RAN’s eight Anzac-Class frigates from about 2027. Equipping the ships of the Future Frigate program with the...

Germany's much-delayed new frigates, built by ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE) and Luerssen for at least 650 million euros (£551.4 million) apiece, are overweight and float with a persistent list to starboard, according to a confidential report seen by Reuters. The ships, designed to need a crew of only 120, less than half their predecessors, are a crucial element in Germany's plans to beef up its military to face an increasingly uncertain European security landscape and a more assertive Russia. Designed to remain at sea for far longer than the German armed forces' existing fleet, the new F125 frigates need extensive servicing only...

[UPDATED with Sec. Stackley comments] WASHINGTON: The Navy is seriously considering derivatives of foreign designs and the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter for its new frigate, after three years pursuing an upgraded version of its current Littoral Combat Ship. The shift has shaken up the industry, panicking some players, while others quietly reposition: Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine, which currently builds the 3,500-ton Freedom variant of the LCS, may instead offer an Americanized version of the FREMM, a 6,000 to 6,700-ton frigate built for the French and Italian navies by Marinette’s parent company, Fincantieri. If so, Marinette would probably part ways with...

A major military defeat can unexpectedly turn into a victory. Indeed, the actions of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov operating off the Syrian coast could easily be qualified as a failure (see EDM, October 27, 2016; November 15, 2016). The ship inched around the coast of Europe on its way to Syria, desperately puffing thick, black smoke due to a problem with its power plant. Then, during training operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Kuznetsov lost two warplanes, which fell into the sea due to technical faults, without any opposition from the enemy. However, the Navy won a decisive...

Austal USA frigate design. Austal USA image THE PENTAGON – The Navy is considering increasing its future frigate’s anti-air firepower and may open up the frigate design competition to hulls beyond the current two small surface combatant , the service told USNI News on Wednesday. An ongoing study will balance the original frigate requirements – to up-gun the existing Littoral Combat Ship designs with additional anti-surface and anti-submarine capabilities – with the desire for anti-air firepower equivalent to a guided-missile frigate. The study, set to be completed this spring, will also evaluate other design beyond the Lockheed Martin Freedom-variant (LCS-1)...

© Sputnik/ Russian Defense Ministry The Russian Black Sea Fleet's frigate Admiral Grigorovich will boost the Russian air defenses in Syria, Adm. Vladimir Valuyev told RIA Novosti, adding that the frigate's weapon systems are capable of shooting down the Tomahawk long-range subsonic cruise missiles. On April 8 the Russian Black Sea Fleet's frigate Admiral Grigorovich returned to the Mediterranean Sea. According to former Baltic Fleet Commander Adm. Vladimir Valuyev, the warship's firepower will strengthen the air defense of troops, forces and facilities in Syria. Earlier in April, the Admiral Grigorovich took part in the Russian-Turkish PASSEX naval exercise in the...

Putin tells the world - 'Attacking Syria again? You'll need to get through me': Russian battleship is positioned between US warships and runway hit by Trump's air strike as Vladimir makes his move The US military fired more than 50 tomahawk missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield at 8.45pm EDT Thursday Moves comes just hours after Trump said 'something should happen' following Tuesday's gas-attack atrocity Trump took action after more than 80 were killed and many more were injured in the Sarin poison gas attack 'Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,' he said after launching the...

South Korea's defense procurement agency Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) placed an order with Hyundai Heavy & Industries (HHI) on Tuesday to build two Daegu-class FFX-II frigates ahead of schedule to support the ailing local shipbuilding industry. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) launched the lead ship of the new Daegu-class FFX-II frigate for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) on June 2, 2016. Key updates of the Batch II over the ASW-focused Batch I include VLS and full electric propulsion system, as well as a larger hangar that can accomodate a 10-ton helicopter (Batch-I has hangar for lighter...

The ‘Independence’-class Littoral Combat Ship USS ‘Coronado’ in October 2016. U.S. Navy photo The Navy’s $29 billion Littoral Combat Ship program provides a step-by-step case study in acquisition failures and the costs and risks of unacceptable levels of concurrency. Its design requirements were poorly conceived, the manpower planning was wildly unrealistic, Navy leadership and program managers repeatedly circumvented acquisition rules — increasing concurrency and cost risk — and production was approved despite poor and rushed analysis. Production milestones were approved despite glaring program failures. Moreover, the program is an example of how unwilling Congress is to step in and hold defense acquisition programs accountable....

It’s been rough sailing for the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship. The speedy, warship has come under fire for being lightly-armed, weakly-built, undermanned, and prone to rusting—and yet, at the same time, way too expensive. And in recent months, four of the 400-foot-long warships—half of the Littoral Combat Ships currently in commission—have suffered serious engine breakdowns, possible signs of systemic problems with the ship’s design and operating procedures. As if that weren’t enough for the beleaguered vessel, David Giles, a prominent ship-designer, is accusing the Navy of stealing his concepts for a high-speed cargo ship and illegally applying them...

The Russian-built Project 29380 (NATO reporting name: Steregushchy-class) and Project 20385 corvettes and Project 22350 (Gorshkov-class) frigates will receive radar absorbing coating as part of their upgrade, says the press office of defense contractor Ruselectronics (a subsidiary of Rostec). The first ship of the new Russian Navy frigate project 22350 class "Admiral Gorshkov" at full speed "The characteristics of the [radar absorbing] materials [RAM] developed by the Ferrit-Domen Research Institute [a subsidiary of Ruselectronics] in St. Petersburg allow their use in the vessels of all classes, be it light, medium or heavy. Ferrit-Domen also is taking part in the governmental...

Work to build eight 'sub hunter' combat ships will begin in the summer of next year, it has been announced. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the construction of the 'next generation' Type 26 Frigate will secure hundreds of jobs on the Clyde for two decades. They will also be armed with the Sea Ceptor anti-missile system under a £100million contract confirmed by the government. But the cutting-edge project has already been blighted by delays, with the original intention having been for work on 13 ships to start earlier this year. Speaking during a visit to the Govan area of...

MOSCOW --- Russia has to focus on the construction of corvettes and frigates armed with high-precision guided missiles in the near future, a source in the military-defense complex told TASS. "First and foremost, we have to build corvettes and frigates and refrain from the construction of universal landing ships which mostly fulfil transport rather than combat missions. Corvettes and frigates are the maximum what we can build today. The current economic potential of the country cannot afford higher class warships, including destroyers," he said. There are few countries in the world which can afford the construction of fleet destroyers. They...

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) announced on 24 October that it had won a contract to build two frigates for the Philippine Navy (PN). The lot 1 contract covers the ship platform and launchers. This contract for the most advanced vessels the PN has ever operated was signed during a ceremony in Manila. A notice of award worth PHP15.7 billion (US$337 million) for these South Korean-built warships was delivered last month. HHI offered its HDF-3000 design as the basis for the PN requirement, upon which South Korean Incheon-class frigates are also based. The company said in a press release, ‘The frigates...

The French shipbuilder DCNS presented today the BELH@RRA frigate design – a new heavily-armed frigate made for the international market. The new design was unveiled today at the Euronaval Exhibition in Paris-Le Bourget. The new BELH@RRA class renews the heavily-armed 4,000-tonne frigate segment. It follows the company’s La Fayette-class frigates, of which over twenty units were built and are operational with four navies around the world. The BELH@RRA design is positioned between the 6,000-tonne FREMM multi-mission frigate segment and that of the 2,500- to 3,000-tonne GOWIND corvettes. This size class is suitable for navies looking for a compact frigate, capable...

A new fleet of frigates, described as “global combat ships” designed to play crucial roles, has been delayed indefinitely, the Ministry of Defence has said in testy exchanges with MPs over huge financial and technical problems facing the navy’s surface vessels. Delays in building the Type 26 frigates – a project promised by David Cameron before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum – is threatening shipbuilding jobs on the Clyde in Scotland. The project’s problems come on top of serious mechanical failures in the navy’s new fleet of Type 45 destroyers. Key tasks of the navy’s frigates and destroyers include protecting...

HMS Somerset escorted the brand-new Chinese frigate Xiangtan through the Dover Strait as the Far Eastern warship made for Germany. During the several hours in company together, the Brits provided the Xiangtan with a weather forecast to help them on their way to Kiel for that city’s annual maritime spectacular. Picture: LA(Phot) Guy Pool SO AS a Brit, what do you do when you encounter a stranger and need to pass the time? That’s right, you chat about the weather. HMS Somerset met up with brand-new Chinese warship Xiangtan and escorted the frigate through the Dover Strait as it headed...

Russian Admiral Grigorovich frigate. Sputnik Photo The first in a new class of Russian guided missile frigate arrived on Thursday to Sevastopol marking the first time the Black Sea Fleet has seen a new blue water warship since the end of the Cold War. The Project 11356-class Admiral Grigorovich arrived in Crimea, the first of several new surface ships the Russian Navy intends to base in the Black Sea. “This is the first vessel for distant water operation, which the Black Sea Fleet has received over the past 35 years,” fleet spokesman Vyacheslav Trukhachyov told the TASS news service. The...

The Navy said Thursday that it has launched a new guided missile frigate capable of hitting North Korean targets on the ground. The Navy held a launch ceremony for the 28-hundred ton frigate named "Daegu" on Geoje Island at 2 p.m. The ship boasts formidable firepower to conduct antiaircraft, antiship and antisubmarine operations and even ground warfare. It is also South Korea's first warship with a hybrid propulsion system using both gas turbines and diesel generators. Gas turbines will be used to shore up speed in combat situations while diesel generators will operate in normal patrol missions. The frigate will...