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The Department of the Navy plans to add enlisted women crewmembers to seven Ohio-class submarines starting in 2016 and to four Virginia-class attack submarines beginning in 2020. "I think this is just the next step in a process that started a number of years ago to tap into a talented part of the Navy to help run very sophisticated vessels, and to me that's a real huge advantage that the Navy is capitalizing on," said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. "... Women sailors do a great job on surface ships. They have been doing it for a long time,...

(Reuters) - An Italian-Russian project to build a new generation small submarine has been suspended because of the "political situation" following Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, Itar-Tass news agency said on Friday. The decade-old deal between Russian company Rubin and Italian shipmaker Fincantieri to build a 1,000-ton diesel submarine, the S-1000, is part of President Vladimir Putin's plans to revamp Russia's fighting force. "To our regret, due to the well-known political situation this project has been suspended," Itar-Tass quoted Igor Vilnit, the head of Rubin's Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering, as saying. Rubin declined immediate comment...

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced Washington will be selling India submarine-launched Harpoon missiles. On Tuesday, the U.S. announced its intention to sell India submarine-launched missiles. The announcement was made in a press release by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to India for UGM-84L Harpoon missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $200 million,” the press release said. It noted that it sent a certification of delivery to Congress on July 1, 2014. DSCA elaborated on the sale: “The Government...

Estonian divers have discovered a watercraft in the Baltic Sea that they believe to be one of Russia's first battle submarines, Estonian media reported. The Shark, which was first launched in 1911, disappeared in 1915 at the height of World War I. It was carrying a crew of 35 at the time, whose fate has since remained unknown.

The Russian Navy launched a new and improved Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine today in St. Petersburg. Named the Rostov-on-Don, the sub will join the Black Sea Fleet and further bolster Moscow's naval presence in the region. "We expect that the Rostov-on-Don, following sea trials in the Baltic and Barents seas under its own power, will come to Sevastopol at the end of the year," a Black Sea Fleet representative said at the ceremony. "In the next two years, six submarines of this type will be built for the Black Sea Fleet," he added. Russia has shown a renewed strategic interest in...

‘Severodvinsk’ is too expensive for mass production It’s official. K-560 Severodvinsk, Moscow’s newest and most advanced nuclear attack submarine, has joined the Russian navy. That’s bad news for most countries that could conceivably face Russia in a conflict. The expensive, quiet, 13,800-ton Yasen-class submarine is arguably one of the most sophisticated in the world—and she’s just the first of her class. But the one country that doesn’t have much reason to worry is the United States, which has a significantly larger and more modern submarine force. The Yasen class is also an exception to the rule in Russia, where most...

Within the space of a few weeks the Abbott government has presided over a shake-up of the options for a fleet of submarines to replace the ageing ­Collins class. While an evolved Collins class was a short-price favourite at the end of the Labor era, an almighty spat between the Swedish government and German industrial giant Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems means a German design could now fall over the line. The nuclear option remains off the table despite the US indicating it would be amenable to an Australian approach on the Virginia class submarines. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s enthusiasm for...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a new weapon at his disposal: a top-secret nuclear submarine named Severodvinsk. The fourth-generation vessel, the first Yasen K-560 nuclear submarine, was christened Tuesday, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported.

State media report that China’s new Type 032 Qing-class submarine was displayed at an expo last week. China’s state-run media is reporting that Beijing publicly displayed what is believed to be the largest conventional submarine in the world last week. According to Want China Times, which cited a Chinese-language report in the state-run Guangming Daily, China’s new Type 032 Qing-class test submarine was on display last week at the Sixth Shipping Expo held in Guangdong province in southern China from June 6 to June 8. IHS Jane’s also noted the report was carried in China’s state media outlets. The Type...

TOKYO — Japan and Australia agreed Wednesday to jointly develop stealth submarine technology, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushes his country toward a more assertive global military role. The submarine technology was a top item at talks among the nations' foreign and defense ministers in Tokyo and was included in an agreement to step up cooperation in defense equipment and technology. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told a joint news conference after the talks that the ministers agreed to begin the research next year. It will focus on technology that is applicable to any vessel including submarines, he said, but...

Brazil is constructing five new submarines, including one atomic-powered vessel, to boost patrolling across the South American country's 8,500km coast. The $10bn project is being undertaken by a joint venture comprising the Brazilian Navy, construction firm Odebrecht and French state-defence firm DCNS, reported AFP. The new submarines are expected to replace the navy's existing ageing fleet of five conventional vessels. "The new submarines are expected to replace the navy's existing ageing fleet of five conventional vessels." Construction on the nuclear submarine, named SNBR, is expected to commence in 2017 with its launch targeted for 2025. Brazil Navy official Gilberto Max...

First Lady Michelle Obama has agreed to sponsor a future submarine named after her home state that will be staffed by an all-female crew. The White House has announced that Mrs Obama has accepted an invitation to be the backer of the USS Illinois, a Virginia-class submarine being built in Groton, Connecticut, and Newport News, Virginia. The new nuclear-powered boat is expected to join the fleet in late 2015.

Experts have predicted that China is likely to increase the number of its type 041 conventional submarines to 60 or 70 over the next decade. The Japanese navy also plans to increase the number of its Soryu-class diesel-electric powered submarines from 16 to 22 in response to a perceived threat from China, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily. Soryu-class diesel-electric powered submarines are the latest model of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The vessel has a displacement of 2,000 tonnes and is equipped with an air-independent propulsion system. Japan will purchase another five of the submarine and will get...

THERE are only a few companies in the Western world that have the capacity to successfully design and build conventional submarines. That number will soon increase by one, with a dramatic demerger of Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Kockums of Sweden being played out in Europe. This has major implications for the Collins-class and SEA 1000 as both companies jostle to take advantage of their changed circumstances even before the dust has settled. While the European defence industry went through a phase of consolidation in the 1990s, this seldom extended into the naval domain and rarely across national boundaries. A...

One of the world's most capable deep-sea research subs has been lost.The robotic vehicle Nereus went missing while exploring one of the ocean's deepest spots: the Kermadec Trench, which lies north east of New Zealand. Surface debris was found, suggesting the vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion as a result of the immense pressures where it was operating some 10km (6.2 miles) down. Nereus was a flagship ocean explorer for the US science community. "Nereus helped us explore places we've never seen before and ask questions we never thought to ask," said Timothy Shank, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI),...

PH1 (AW/NAC) Michael Moriatis/Wikimedia Commons The U.S. military is relying on sub-hunting tech that’s decades old. Meanwhile, the targets they’re trying to find are getting quieter and more invisible by the day. Submarines are getting quieter, stealthier, and better armed. And that could mean major trouble for the U.S. Navy and its aging fleet of sub-hunters. The tactical balance between the surface warship and the submarine has strategic impact. The submarine is not made for a show of force. Its principal weapon is designed not to damage a ship, but to sink it—rapidly and probably with much loss of life....

SWEDISH defence giant Saab is making a bold, secret play for a slice of Australia’s $30 billion future submarine project. As Federal Government placed all options for the navy’s future submarine back on the table this week, News Corp Australia can reveal that Saab and the Swedish Government have been engaged in secret talks with the Defence Department about the design of the new boats. A Swedish delegation travelled to Canberra in March for first round talks. Sweden has along history in submarines but it moved away from the business about 15 years ago when its shipbuilder Kockums — the...

Known as the “ninja of the seas,” Japan’s Hakuryu submarine carries enough firepower to knock out an aircraft carrier with a single blow. But the Type 89 torpedo is not the vessel’s most effective feature in strengthening Japan’s warning and surveillance operations in its waters. “A submarine’s greatest weapon is stealth,” Maritime Self-Defense Force Capt. Kaoru Yoshida said. “Our mere presence that makes (the enemy think) ‘there might be a powerful submarine out there’ is a deterrent.” In the National Defense Program Guidelines formulated at the end of last year, Japan decided to increase its submarine fleet from the current...

When the periscope of the USS Montpelier rose from the water during training off the coast of Florida on Oct. 13, 2012, the submarine crew saw a Navy cruiser approaching a mere 100 to 200 yards away. The cruiser USS San Jacinto tried to reverse, but it was too late. The Montpelier-San Jacinto collision was one of 906 submarine accidents from late 2004 through 2013, according to data obtained from the Naval Safety Center by The Day through a Freedom of Information Act request. The submarine's commanding officer was relieved of duty, and the costly mistake also led to changes...

STOCKHOLM—A dispute between the Swedish armed forces and ThyssenKrupp AG TKA.XE +1.39% threatens one of the German industrial giant's most-profitable operations and could shake up the growing global submarine business. The row, which is partly over export possibilities, has prompted Sweden to yank contracts for the next generation of Swedish submarines from ThyssenKrupp, the world's largest exporter of nonnuclear submarines. Sweden has signaled that it instead is considering giving the work to Swedish defense company Saab AB. Currently, Saab doesn't build manned submarines, but it acknowledges it is trying to poach engineers from ThyssenKrupp's submarine unit, which is based around...