Name confirmed for US Navy’s sixth Constellation-class frigate

Rendering of a US Navy Constellation-class guided-missile frigate

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has confirmed that a future US Navy Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG) will be named USS Galvez. The ship honours Conde Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, who provided supplies, intelligence, and military support to the American colonists during the...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/security/naval/naval-ships/name-confirmed-for-us-navys-sixth-constellation-class-frigate/

COLUMN | A brave new world for aircraft carriers? [Naval Gazing]

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford steams the Atlantic Ocean during a simulated straits transit with the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG), October 9, 2022.

Many maritime pundits these days express the view that aircraft carriers are doomed. The ships are too large, too vulnerable, and increasingly irrelevant, they say. Others, however, opine that with their long range, sustainable high speed, endurance, hitting power, and surveillance and command and...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/security/naval/naval-ships/column-a-brave-new-world-for-aircraft-carriers-naval-gazing/

COLUMN | Beijing’s evolving multi-pronged strategy in the South China Sea [Naval Gazing]

A China Coast Guard patrol ship blocks the passage of the Philippine Coast Guard multi-role response vessel BRP Malabrigo while the latter is escorting a resupply effort to forward-deployed Philippine troops on the disputed Spratly Islands, June 30, 2023. (Photo: Philippine Coast Guard)

China’s headlong maritime expansionism depends heavily upon achieving dominance of the South China Sea (SCS) and its environs. This dominance demands the establishment of control of many areas of the sea that are currently claimed by other nations. Beijing’s chosen tools to negate such claims are...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/maritime-security-world/non-naval/column-beijings-evolving-multi-pronged-strategy-in-the-south-china-sea-naval-gazing/

Construction begins on lead boat of new French Navy ballistic missile submarine class

French shipbuilder the Naval Group has begun construction of the lead boat of a new class of nuclear-powered, ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) ordered by the French Navy. Designated as third generation nuclear ballistic missile submarines (Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d’Engins de Troisieme Génération; SNLE 3G), the four new SSBNs will feature a number of improvements over […]

The post Construction begins on lead boat of new French Navy ballistic missile submarine class appeared first on Baird...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/maritime-security-world/naval/submersibles-naval/construction-begins-on-lead-boat-of-new-french-navy-ballistic-missile-submarine-class/

Dutch defence ministry selects French design for replacement submarines

The Dutch Ministry of Defence has awarded French shipbuilder the Naval Group a preliminary contract for the design and construction of new expeditionary submarines for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The submarines will be diesel-electric powered variants of the nuclear-powered Barracuda-class boats...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/maritime-security-world/naval/submersibles-naval/dutch-defence-ministry-selects-french-design-for-replacement-submarines/

COLUMN | Winner takes it all: Boskalis binges with record profits, as Boluda takes silver and McDermott gets sued (again) [Offshore Accounts]

Whilst the first big consolidator of this offshore upcycle was Tidewater, rapidly followed by ADNOC and AD Ports of Abu Dhabi, Europe is also experiencing a quiet wave of consolidation. Driving this is the biggest of the “Big Four” lowlands dredging and offshore companies, Boskalis. But whereas the gains in Tidewater have been open to […]

The post COLUMN | Winner takes it all: Boskalis binges with record profits, as Boluda takes silver and McDermott gets sued (again) [Offshore Accounts] appeared...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/offshore-world/column-winner-takes-it-all-boskalis-binges-with-record-profits-as-boluda-takes-silver-and-mcdermott-gets-sued-again-offshore-accounts/

COLUMN | The rise of the UAV carrier [Naval Gazing]

Both the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the current attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are graphically illustrating the efficacy of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) in the maritime domain. UAVs offer economical, high-endurance search, surveillance, and attack capabilities. Therefore, their use by naval...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/maritime-security-world/naval/ships-naval/column-the-rise-of-the-uav-carrier-naval-gazing/

Red Sea: French frigates take out Houthi drones

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#MerRouge | Cette nuit, interceptions de drones aériens en provenance du Yémen par les frégates .
Contributions à la sûreté maritime de Suez à Ormuz et à la liberté de navigation, objectif déclaré de l’opération #ASPIDES, lancée le 19/02, sous commandement . pic.twitter.com/CnPfKrB4hF

— Armée française – Opérations militaires (@EtatMajorFR) February 20, 2024

The EU’s EUNAVOR ASPIDES naval mission, formally announced only yesterday, is already up and running with French FREMM frigates...

https://www.marinelog.com/legal/safety-and-security/red-sea-french-frigates-take-out-houthi-drones/