January 2020 news

Naval Forces, Defense Industry, Navy Technology, Maritime Security


The governments of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal have pledged their political support for the creation of a European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a joint statement released Monday on the website of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

India successfully tested its most ambitious weapon system - a long-range ballistic nuclear missile, codenamed K-4, which can strike targets up to 3,500 kilometres away. The missile test is being seen as a huge step forward for country's nuclear weapons programme. The K-4, a derivative of the famous Agni ballistic nuclear missiles which are already in service, will be the most potent part of India's nuclear deterrent.

Navy Recognition, the Online Defense Naval and Maritime magazine, a subdivision of Army Recognition Group, presents its media plan for 2020. Today, Navy Recognition is one the most popular online defense and security magazines with more than 1.2 million unique readers per year, up to 21,000 readers/day from more than 130 countries all over the world.

China will reportedly stop building its Type 056 corvettes after the navy shifted its focus to ordering bigger warships for high sea missions. China completed construction of the last Type 056 stealth-capable, guided-missile corvette, the Aba, in December 2019.

On January 16, 2020, Seaspan Shipyards and its more than 2,800 employees were proud to host the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Member of Parliament for North Vancouver, and Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, for a ceremonial keel-laying event for the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) future Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Protecteur.

Awed by the initial success of the Project BUHAWI or Building a Universal Mount for Heavy-Barrel Automated Weapon Integration, Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana of the Department of National Defense (DND) lauded the project's management team during the soft launching held on 7 January 2020 at the Force Reconnaissance Firing Range, Marine Base Gregorio Lim in Ternate, Cavite.

January 15, 2020 - The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia of long-lead items, engineering development activities, and other defense services to support the Australian Surface Combatant Program for an estimated cost of $1.5 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on yesterday.

Raytheon Company delivered its 10th AN/AQS-20C minehunting sonar system to the U.S. Navy. The sonar-towed body was officially transferred to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division. The system – which is the program of record for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasure mission package – is now fully qualified and will move toward initial operating capability.

The Spanish Navy will name one of five F-110 frigates that are to be built by the Navantia state-owned shipbuilding company after the Majorcan admiral, Antonio Barceló. The new ships will all have been delivered by 2031, but in the meantime, Barceló has been recognised on a new coin.

Patria has delivered the first modernized Hamina class missile boat Tornio to the Finnish Defence Forces. In the Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) project four vessels will be overhauled and modernized, and all the new capabilities will be in use in the Finnish Navy during 2021. Patria acts as the prime contractor, designer and the lead system integrator.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will continue supporting engineering and fielding efforts for the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) AN/SLQ-32(V)6 under a $13.9 million Design Agent engineering services contract awarded by the U.S. Navy. Services include engineering efforts to perform analysis and design, document engineering baselines; and modification of systems, subsystems, and components for test and evaluation.

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