Converting the Bay-class auxiliaries into littoral strike ships
The Defence Command Paper published in the wake of the March 2021 Integrated Review promised: “more than £50m will be spent converting a Bay class support ship to deliver a more agile and lethal littoral strike capability”. Here we take a speculative look at the options for the conversion.
Royal Navy frigate programme update
Here we summarise recent news and developments concerning the Royal Navy’s future frigate programmes.
Passenger Transfer Boats for HMS Prince of Wales to be delivered this year
AEUK has sub-contracted the construction of three SEA-class Passenger Transfer Boats (PTB) that will equip HMS Prince of Wales to Diverse Marine, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and the vessels will be delivered to the RN later this year.
HMS Diamond suffers serious defect during Carrier Strike Group deployment
It has emerged that one of the two Type 45 destroyers accompanying the Carrier Strike Group, HMS Diamond has suffered a defect and remains alongside in a Mediterranean port, having not transited the Suez Canal with the rest of the ships.
Royal Navy’s Type 26 Frigates to be equipped with cruise missiles by 2028
In an encouraging statement to Parliament this week, it was revealed that the Type 26 frigates will be equipped with the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FCASW) from 2028. This confirms there has been positive progress with the FCASW project and the RN will be able to field a ship-based land-attack and much-improved anti-shipping capability sooner than […]
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers – reaching their full potential with addition of Sea Ceptor missiles
MBDA announced today that the Type 45 destroyers will be enhanced with 24 Sea Ceptor missile cells. Here we consider the implications of this significant upgrade to the Royal Navy’s primary air defence platform.
Mediterranean interlude – the Carrier Strike Group on its defence diplomacy mission
After just over two weeks of conducting missions against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, the ships of the Carrier Strike group dispersed to ports in the eastern Mediterranean for a series of visits.
Satellite-based maritime surveillance provided to the Royal Navy by Airbus
After a successful ‘proof of concept’ phase, the Royal Navy has awarded a 12-month contract to Airbus for the provision of satellite-based maritime surveillance services to the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC).
In focus: the Souda Bay naval facility
When NATO warships deploy to the eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea or go east of Suez, they frequently visit Souda Bay, a harbour on the northwest coast of Crete. Here we look at this facility and its importance to Royal Navy operations.
