December 12, 2022 | International, Naval, C4ISR
Thales’s MTWAN operates at the critical core of the RAN’s maritime communication systems integration and implementation
March 7, 2023 | International, Land
The contract exercises existing contract options, which include $145.3 million for more than 25 ACV-P vehicles, and $111.5 million for more than 15 ACV-C vehicles
July 18, 2018 | International, Naval
By Stephen Carlson July 17 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin out of Baltimore, MD. has received a $450.7 million modification to an existing contract for production of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant ships for the the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Work will be performed in Crozet, Va., Iron Mountain, Mich., Milwaukee, Wisc., Sweden, Great Britain and other locations across the United States. The contract is expected to be completed by October 2025. Foreign military sales funding for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the amount of $225.6 million will be obligated at time of award . The Multi-Mission Surface Combatant is a highly maneuverable surface warfare ship capable of coastal and operations in the open ocean. The MMSC is equipped with the COMBATSS-21 Combat Management System. It is based off the AEGIS system used by air defense destroyers around the world. The vessel integrates the Mk110 57mm deck gun into the system as well, allowing for more accurate fires against incoming targets like aircraft and small boats. It can mount the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System which can mount various surface-to-air and surface-to-surface weapons like the Standard and the Tomahawk. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/07/17/Lockheed-awarded-4507M-contract-for-Saudi-patrol-ships/3721531833764
February 4, 2019 | International, Naval
By: Tom Kington ROME — A series of diplomatic rows between France and Italy, culminating in the exchange of insults between leaders, is casting doubt on naval industry cooperation between the countries. Moves by France's Naval Group and Italy's Fincantieri to integrate their shipyard work has coincided with a crescendo of acrimony between Rome and Paris following the election last year of Italy's first populist government. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and French President Emmanuel Macron have battled over who should take responsibility for migrants that sail to Europe from Africa, with Salvini last month calling Macron a “terrible” president who deserved to be voted out of office. Italy's second deputy prime minister, Luigi Di Maio, who leads the anti-establishment Five Star party, has meanwhile openly backed the so-called Yellow Vest protesters who have rioted on the streets of France in protest at Macron's government and its policies. Asked about the verbal attacks from Rome on Jan. 27, Macron replied: “Italy is a great people; the Italian people are our friends and deserve leaders worthy of their history.” Underlying the row is the Italian government's new nationalism, which has put it at loggerheads with the European Union and Macron, who is seen by Rome as a pro-globalism politician. The spat is expected to increase as both Italy's ruling parties — Five Star and Salvini's League party — get on the campaign trail ahead of European parliamentary elections in May. Pierside troubles Analysts fear fallout for defense industry collaboration between the countries, which starts with the well-established satellite and space joint venture between Italy's Leonardo and France's Thales. But the main concern is the naval deal, which was signed last October, under which Fincantieri and Naval Group created a 50-50 joint venture to build and export naval vessels. Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono said he hopes the deal is the start of wider collaboration. Speaking at the launch of Italy's ninth FREMM frigate on Jan 26, Bono played down the frictions with France, telling reporters, “We are part of the same alliance, we have common history,” and adding that the diplomatic tensions “will not influence the work we are doing with Naval Group.” But one analyst was less sanguine. “It's a complicated deal, and as it gets more complicated, external events become more influential,” said Jean Pierre Darnis, scientific adviser at Rome's IAI think tank. “If ministers from the two countries don't meet, and we are waiting for [the] next bilateral [meeting], problems won't get resolved. Right now the Italian-French business community is very concerned,” he added. The naval deal was spurred by an earlier accord for Fincantieri to take control of French shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique. That deal, too, was up in the air when France and Germany referred the agreement to the European Commission for anti-trust scrutiny last month. “What has happened is extremely serious, France and Germany behaved wrongly. It throws into doubt all accords,” Italy's Salvini said. Bono said he was confident the EU would not oppose the deal, given it is “in the interests of Europe,” echoing claims that a consolidated European shipbuilding industry would enable competition since it could compete with large players outside Europe. But Europe's ability to consolidate industry was again thrown into doubt in January when Macron and German leader Angela Merkel agreed to forge closer ties between Germany and France to head off the political challenge in Europe from populist governments like Italy, Hungary and Poland. One consequence, warned Italian IAI analyst Michele Nones, was that closer Franco-German ties could squeeze Italy out of access to defense industry funding provided by the new European Defence Fund. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/02/01/italian-row-with-france-unsettles-naval-industry-cooperation