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Friday, December 19, 2025

Navy News

19 Dec 2025

HII to Build Small Surface Combatants for US Navy

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been selected by the U.S. Navy to design and build the future small surface combatant (SSC) ship, leveraging the proven design of the Ingalls-built Legend-class national security cutter (NSC). "We look forward to supporting the Navy on this critical program,” said Chris Kastner, HII president and CEO. “Speed matters, and the NSC ship design is stable and produceable and will lead to predictable schedules. I have great confidence in the Ingalls team to execute this program, and in our ongoing efforts with our partners to successfully expand the U.S.

10 Dec 2025

GE Aerospace Secures Orders for LM2500 Marine Gas Turbines to Power Arleigh Burke Flight III Destroyers

© GE Aerospace Marine Engines & Systems

GE Aerospace's Marine Engines & Systems has received orders to supply eight LM2500 marine gas turbine engines for the U.S. Navy's next two Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers: the future USS Intrepid (DDG 145) and USS Robert Kerrey (DDG 146). Each destroyer is powered by four LM2500 engines, providing the proven propulsion power that has made the Arleigh Burke class the backbone of the U.S. Navy's surface fleet for over three decades.As of January 2025, 74 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are active with GE Aerospace’s LM2500 engines being the prime mover for propulsion.

10 Dec 2025

JFD Global Awarded Contract to Provide Deep Saturation Diving, Submarine Rescue Capability to Polish Navy

Artist’s impression of Polish Navy’s Ratownik vessel. Provided by PGZ Naval Shipyard

James Fisher (JFD Global), a global provider of specialist marine and defense solutions enabling mission success at sea, has secured a contract with PGZ Stocznia Wojenna. The agreement will see JFD Global integrate a combined, hyperbaric and saturation diving system into the Polish Navy’s new salvage and rescue vessel, Ratownik.Scheduled to be completed in late 2029, Ratownik will become one of the largest ships in the Polish Navy’s fleet, playing a pivotal role in the protection of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI) in the Baltic Sea…

10 Dec 2025

Babcock Marks Keel Laying for HMS Formidable, Makes US Submarine Deal

(Credit: Babcock)

Babcock has marked two major milestones at its Rosyth shipyard in Scotland as the keel was laid for HMS Formidable, the third ship in the UK’s Type 31 frigate program, and the company announced an expanded partnership with U.S. defense contractor HII to support construction of Virginia-class submarines.The keel laying signals continued progress on the Type 31 program, under which five frigates are due for delivery to the Royal Navy within 10 years of contract signing. The ceremony saw the first modular section of the ship positioned over a coin…

09 Dec 2025

Damen Landing Ship Transport Design Selected for US Navy Landing Ship Medium initiative

© Damen Shipyards Group

Damen Shipyards Group has announced the selection of its Landing Ship Transport (LST) 100 design by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). According to the navy, up to 35 LST100 vessels will be constructed at shipyards in the United States for the Medium Landing Ship programme (LSM). This US Navy initiative aims to enhance capability to transport and land Marine Corps units in contested environments.Proven standard platformNAVSEA released the RFI (Request for Information) to the industry at the beginning of 2025.

09 Dec 2025

NUWC Division Newport’s AUTEC Range Performs Sensor Accuracy Test of German Ship for NATO FORACS

© NUWC

In October, a German navy ship completed sensor accuracy testing at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) for the first time, marking a milestone for both Germany and NATO’s long-running Fleet Operational Readiness Accuracy Check Sites (FORACS) program.The combat oiler Federal German Ship (FGS) Berlin (A 1411) arrived in the U.S. as part of the U.S. Navy’s 250th anniversary celebrations, but the visit also…

04 Dec 2025

China Massing Military Ships in East Asia

© zapper / Adobe Stock

China is deploying a large number of naval and coast guard vessels across East Asian waters, at one point more than 100, in the largest maritime show of force to date, according to four sources and intelligence reports reviewed by Reuters.China is in the middle of what is traditionally a busy season for military exercises, though the People's Liberation Army has not made any announcements of large-scale officially named drills.Still, the rise in activity is happening as China…

03 Dec 2025

Taiwan Says China Sometimes Stages Mock Attacks in Strait

© atdr / Adobe Stock

China's military sometimes simulates attacks on foreign naval vessels in the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan shares intelligence with international partners when they operate in those waters, a senior Taiwan security official said on Wednesday.China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, a major trade route for about half of global container ships.Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait is an international waterway, however.U.S.

02 Dec 2025

New Zealand's Offshore Patrol Vessel Otago to Resume Operations in 2026

Source: Royal New Zealand Navy

The New Zealand Navy will return to service in the third quarter of 2026 one of two offshore patrol vessels idle since 2021, the chief of the defence force said on Tuesday, at a cost running into millions of dollars.Tony Davies told a select committee of parliament the decision to bring HMNZS Otago out of care and custody arrangements followed the sinking of a specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, the Manawanui."Before you put it back to sea, it has to have quite a bit of work and money spent on it," Davies added.

02 Dec 2025

New $60m U.S. Defense Shipbuilding Facility Set to Open in 2027

Rendering of the planned defense shipbuilding facility across from Master Boat’s existing facility on Bayou Coden. Image Courtesy Master Boat Builders

Facility will include 150,000 square feet of covered manufacturing space optimized for serial productionNew yard will support 200 new jobs and expands shipbuilding capacity Master Boat Builders announced plans to build a new $60 million, 150,000 sq ft manufacturing facility dedicated exclusively to government and defense shipbuilding programs. The new 20-acre site is located directly across Bayou Coden from the company’s existing yard.“This new facility is about building more capability here at home,” said Garrett Rice, President, Master Boat Builders.

26 Nov 2025

US Navy Cancels Four Constellation Frigates, Keeps First Two Under New Deal

Fincantieri Marinette Marine rendering with completed construction and FFG-62 on shiplift (Credit: FMG/Archive

Fincantieri and the U.S. Navy have reached an agreement to redefine the future of the Constellation-class frigate program, ensuring work continues on the first two ships while cancelling four later units as part of a wider fleet review.The shift follows the Navy’s overhaul of its force-structure plans and aligns with new priorities aimed at accelerating next-generation ship designs and revitalizing segments such as icebreakers, amphibious platforms and special-mission vessels.Fincantieri…

24 Nov 2025

UK and Indonesia Strike $5.23B Maritime Deal

(Credit: Babcock International)

The U.K. and Indonesia have agreed a $5.23 billion (£4 billion) maritime deal that will secure around 1,000 jobs in Britain and strengthen defense and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.The new Maritime Partnership Programme, led by British defense firm Babcock, will see both countries jointly develop maritime capability for Indonesia’s navy and build more than 1,000 vessels for its fishing fleet to support food security.The vessels will be built in Indonesia using British shipbuilding expertise…

18 Nov 2025

From SEAL Team Six to Silicon Valley, Inside Saronic's Shipbuilding Mission

Design work is under way for Port Alpha, a greenfield “next-generation shipyard”.
Image courtesy Saronic Technologies

In a shipbuilding industry defined by tradition, one new entrant is seeking to rewrite the rules of how naval vessels are designed, built and delivered. Saronic Technologies, founded just three years ago, is racing to create what CEO Dino Mavrookas calls “a next-generation shipbuilding ecosystem” — one capable of delivering unmanned surface vessels (USVs) at the speed and scale the U.S. and its allies will need to compete on tomorrow’s seas.Saronic Technology’s ambition is staggering: a vertically integrated…

18 Nov 2025

Navantia, Thales to Upgrade Royal Thai Navy Fleet

(Credit: Thales)

Navantia and Thales have signed a partnership agreement to support the modernization of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN), including the supply of three Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems for two Pattani-class offshore patrol vessels and the HTMS Chang landing platform dock.The upgrade work will be carried out by Navantia and marks the first cooperation between the Spanish shipbuilder and Thales in Thailand. The IFF equipment will integrate with existing surveillance radars and…

02 Nov 2025

The Narrow Waterway at the Heart of U.S. Plans to Choke China’s Navy

© Peter Hermes Furian / Adobe Stock

Marilyn Hubalde still remembers the first time she heard the thunderous chop of military helicopters swooping over this northernmost outpost of the Philippines, less than 90 miles from Taiwan. It was April 2023, when Filipino and American troops descended on the cluster of 10 emerald green islands of Batanes province for amphibious warfare drills.“We were terrified,” the 65-year-old Hubalde recalled. “We thought China might attack when they learned there were military exercises in Batanes.” Hubalde’s helper…

03 Nov 2025

Pakistan Eyes 2026 Launch for First Chinese Submarine

© noraismail / Adobe Stock

The Pakistan Navy expects its first Chinese-designed submarine to enter active service next year, the country's top admiral told Chinese state media, bolstering Beijing's bid to counter regional rival India and project power toward the Middle East.A deal under which Islamabad will take delivery of eight Hangor-class submarines by 2028 is "progressing smoothly," Admiral Naveed Ashraf told the Global Times in an interview published on Sunday, adding the submarines would boost Pakistan's…

07 Nov 2025

China Commissions First Domestically Built Aircraft Carrier

(Credit: Screenshot/Video by China’s Armed Force)

The commissioning of China's latest aircraft carrier this week marks a new chapter in its military modernisation effort but security analysts and regional diplomats say tough challenges lie ahead before it can be made fully operational.President Xi Jinping attended the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the Fujian in Hainan province on Wednesday, and boarded the vessel for an inspection tour, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.The Fujian is China's third aircraft carrier…

02 Nov 2025

Philippines, Canada Deepen Defense Ties

Source: Philippine Department of Defense

The Philippines and Canada signed a pact on Sunday for their armed forces to train on each other's soil, boosting defense cooperation to tackle common security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region.Canada's first such deal in the region, the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) takes to five the number of accords on troops Manila has concluded with allies, in the face of China's increasingly assertive regional stance.The deal broadens the Philippines' network of security ties while complementing a long-standing alliance with its treaty partner…

23 Oct 2025

Pakistan Navy Confiscates Almost $1B Worth of Narcotics in Arabian Sea

© yurisuslov / Adobe Stock

The Pakistan navy said on Wednesday it seized narcotics worth about $972 million in the North Arabian Sea in an operation with a Saudi-led task force.The navy's YARMOOK ship, operating under the Saudi-led Combined Task Force of the Combined Maritime Forces, carried out the operation, the navy said in a statement.(Reuters - Reporting by Asif Shahzad)

03 Nov 2025

Australia: China's Military Build-Up Demands Response

© Peter Hermes Furian / Adobe Stock

The work of Australia's defence force to protect its sea trade routes, including through the South China Sea, is becoming more risky as Beijing undertakes the "biggest military build-up in the world today", Australia's defence minister said on Tuesday.Open sea lanes, including trade routes that go through the South China Sea and East China Sea, were at the core of Australia's national interest, Richard Marles said in an opening speech at a navy conference in Sydney."That work is challenging and in truth it is becoming increasingly risky.

03 Nov 2025

Austal Receives AiP for Autonomy Controller

Antony M DSouza, President and Director Southeast Asia, Pacific and Indian Subcontinent, DNV and Sam Abbott, Head of Research and Development at Austal celebrate the Approval in Principle for the AROS Controller at INDO PACIFIC 2025. (image: Austal)

Austal Australia has received Approval in Principle (AiP) from classification society DNV, for their Autonomous and Remotely Operated Ships (AROS) Platform Controller.The AROS Controller, designed and developed by Austal at Henderson, Western Australia, is a safety control system that provides a standardised and managed interface between the vessel’s complex engineering systems and the navigational autonomy system. Managing the transfer of information in both directions, constantly checking system health…

17 Nov 2025

ATDM Program Delivers Skilled Workers to the Maritime Industrial Base

Image courtesy Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) program

The U.S. Navy needs to dramatically increase the fleet, especially submarines, but the available pool of skilled workers is not keeping pace.Submarine construction is ramping up. The Navy continues to build Virginia-class submarines, striving for two per year, and is gearing up build the new Columbia-class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. At the same time, the industry needs to support the ambitious Australia-U.S.-U.K. AUKUS program to make the Royal Australian Navy a nuclear submarine navy.Qualified workers are not only needed to build submarines…

13 Nov 2025

Fincantieri, KAYO Form Naval JV to Build Vessels in Albania

Copyright bluebeat76/AdobeStock

Fincantieri has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KAYO, an Albanian company specializing in strategic industrial infrastructure, to establish a joint venture (JV) for the construction and maintenance of military vessels in Albania.The signing took place during the Italy–Albania Intergovernmental Summit in Rome, chaired by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, in the presence of Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero and KAYO CEO Ardi Veliu.Under the agreement…