US News
In a significant move in March, the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson made an historic port visit to Vietnam, the first by an American carrier since the end of the Vietnam War in 1973.
The carrier took part in multi-national exercises under the auspices of the Pacific Partnership mission which includes co-operation with Canadian, British, French, Peruvian, Japanese and Australian forces in the region.
The American organisation DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) handed over the first prototype of what the US Navy hopes will be an autonomous sub hunting surface ship on 30 January. Sea Hunter is the result of the US Navy’s Anti Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program and is likely to create a whole new class of naval vessels that could remain at sea for months at a time without humans onboard. Sea Hunter is a trimaran hulled vessel with a displacement of 140 tons and capable of speeds up to 27 knots. As a prototype, the vessel carries no weapons, but is capable of carrying out surveillance over a large ocean territory.
German News
The German Navy recalled the latest class of frigates after they failed first of class sea trials and had to be sent back to the shipbuilders. Baden-Wurttemberg class ships are designed to replace the 1980’s era Bremen class in service. Sadly, the ship is the first vessel ever to be refused to be accepted by the German Navy from its shipbuilders following the discovery of a large number of faults and problems.
Around ninety percent of the systems onboard the frigate are new as well as the computer software designed to control them. The Atlas Naval Combat System, built by Atlas Electronik GmbH of Bremen, has reportedly, been particularly troublesome. Furthermore, the ship lists to starboard slightly and is overweight and its propulsion systems cannot get the ship to its designed top speed.
Indian News
The third of a planned class of six French designed Scorpene class attack submarines for the Indian Navy, Karanj, was launched on January 31.
The submarine was built by Mazagon Dock Limited and the ceremony was performed by Reena Lanba, wife of the Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.
South Korean News
The first of the new FFX-II class guided missile frigates Daegu was delivered on 1 February.
At 122 metres long the new frigate was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. She is the first of eight such vessels on order and is an enlarged version of the earlier Incheon (FFX-I) class ships that entered service from 2013.