On 2nd November 2021, the House of Commons Defence Select Committee held a session covering a wide range of issues relevant to the current and future state of the Royal Navy. Here we summarise the key issues that were discussed.
On 16th October, a Wildcat helicopter conducted the first operational firing of the Marlet missile. The aircraft, 219 flight from 815 Naval Air Squadron and based on HMS Defender launched the missile, successfully hitting the target while flying in the Bay of Bengal.
The announcement of the shortlisted options for the Royal Navy’s Interim Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon (I-SSGW) competition should be made soon. Here we assess the background to the procurement and the likely candidates.
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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 expected.
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.More
It was announced in the House of Commons earlier this week that initially the Type 26 frigate will be armed with just a helicopter and a short-range missile system (plus a medium calibre gun and CIWS, although this wasn’t mentioned). In this article, Tom Sharpe provides a basic analysis of how RN weapons fit compares to similar warships in other navies.
On 6th January the MoD announced it had placed a contract for production of SPEAR-3 missiles which the RN described on its website as “the principal strike weapon” of the F-35 flying from the aircraft carriers. Here we look at this weapon and the timetable for its entry into service.
The 30mm Automated Small Calibre Gun is carried by the majority of vessels of the RN surface fleet. Here we look in detail at this ubiquitous weapon system.More