Australia's just selected a new build BAE Systems frigate to provide a new capability for the Royal Australian Navy. The projected cost is $35 billion to build nine high-tech, anti-submarine frigates. According to ABC Australia: The contract is a key building block in the Federal Government's defence industry plan, which…
According to an article published by USNI News written by Megan Eckstein and published on June 25, 2018, the USN plans to field unmanned vessels to supplement its future surface combatant. The Navy’s Future Surface Combatant will likely include both an unmanned and an optionally unmanned surface vessel as part…
The British Army has launched its Autonomous Warrior (Land) experiment at the RUSI Land Warfare conference. According to an article published by the UK Ministry of Defence on June 20, 2018: Autonomous Warrior, the 2018 Army Warfighting Experiment, will push the boundaries of technology and military capability in the land…
Ed Hill, Aerospace Manufacturing In this Q&A session Don Kinard, Lockheed Martin senior fellow F-35 production, discusses with Ed Hill how the defence giant is applying automation, robotics and additive manufacturing to production of the F-35 Lightning II. Q) At what stages have you introduced more automation in your aircraft construction. Is…
By Robbin Laird Last week, the Pentagon announced that Raytheon has won a $14.8 million contract to purchase the Naval Strike Missile for the Littoral Combat Ship and to put it in line to do the same for the new class of frigates which the US Navy is postured to…
MBDA is building a new generation of missile defense capabilities, built in part around a common missile. Recently, the UK MoD announced the arrival of the Sea Ceptor for its frigates. he Sea Ceptor is a sea-based supersonic missile defence system developed by MBDA for the UK’s Royal Navy. The…
We would like to thank Rear Admiral Nils Wang for bringing the development of the Arrowhead 140 design for the UK Type 31e frigate to our attention. We have looked at the Danish frigate in the past and have underscored our sense that the Danes had come up with a…
By Robbin Laird I had the chance to visit HMS Queen Elizabeth in Scotland as the carrier was being built. During a visit to Portsmouth in late April 2018, I had a chance to see the carrier again and to talk with senior UK Navy and industrial personnel involved in…