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At risk: The new Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute The £10billion project to create a fleet of seven Royal Navy submarines is in yet more troubled waters, a watchdog has warned. Its report on the Astute-class attack boats reveals costs are still rocketing. The subs have been plagued by a string of technical hitches and delays since the first vessel was ordered 18 years ago. And the mammoth project was expected to cost another £87.5million more than planned last year - up from £558.1million to £645.6million. The watchdog, the Major Projects Authority, has issued an amber/red alert, meaning there are...

On August 4, 2015, the French Navy (Marine Nationale) took over full responsibility and the effective command of ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) Le Triomphant (S616). This transfer of responsibility is an important milestone following the refit period started in May 2013 for maintenance, repairs, modernization and adaptation to the M51 new generation submarine launched ballistic missile (SLMB). Le Triomphant will now start some trials at sea before returning in the operational cycle. An NH90 NFH Caiman transfers personnel on board French Navy Le Triomphant class SSBN. Picture: V.Guyoton © Marine Nationale Le Triomphant, head of the class commissioned in 1997,...

Fifteen years after one of the worst disasters in Russian naval history — the sinking of the Kursk submarine in the Barents Sea in which all 118 crew members died — the number of Russians who blame the authorities for not doing enough to rescue the sailors has dropped. The tragedy occurred on Aug. 12, 2000, making it one of the first serious challenges faced by Russia's new president Vladimir Putin. While at the time and in the immediate aftermath, the president's actions were criticized, a poll published Monday by the independent pollster Levada Center showed that 40 percent of...

A Navy sailor assigned to a nuclear-powered submarine has been accused of using his cellphone to snap revealing photos of the sub’s top-secret inner spaces. Prosecutors say Machinist Mate 1st Class Kristian Saucier took the photos aboard the attack submarine Alexandria, the Navy Times reported Saturday. He has been charged with unauthorized retention of defense information and destroying his laptop and a camera to thwart an FBI probe.

The Dragon is breathing fire under water. And, Pakistan is close on India’s heels. Over the years, India has lost ground on the submarine front. Hence, the need for more subs, and fast They do it every time. Before the Chinese send their president or prime minister to visit a neighbouring country, they send a few troops across the border—just to test the neighbour’s military and political will. Thus, ahead of Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s May 2013 visit, a few People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops forayed into western Ladakh and stayed there for close to a month. They moved back...

A wrecked mini-submarine was found last week in waters off of Sweden’s eastern coast, media in Sweden reported on July 27. Authorities believe it is a Russian model, primarily because of Cyrillic letters on the hull. They have not disclosed the exact location of the wreckage, but say it is around 1.5 nautical miles from the Swedish coast. “We are 110 percent sure that it is within Swedish waters” said Dennis Åsberg, a member of Ocean X Team which made the discovery. Reports say the sub is some 60 feet long and 10 feet wide, and holds a crew of...

The Akula-class nuclear submarine is the biggest in the world. Source: Oleg Kuleshov At the end of June the Dmitry Donskoi nuclear submarine left Severodvinsk, the principal base of the Northern Fleet. It entered the White Sea on a mission, one objective of which is to interact with Russia's antisubmarine forces. This is a unique vessel. The submarines of this series (Project 941, or Typhoon, according to NATO's classification) are considered the biggest in the world. Their length of 124 meters is comparable to two football fields, while the height of this naval predator is that of a nine-story building....

China is to provide eight submarines to Pakistan in a multi-billion dollar deal, which is touted to be the largest-ever defence contract signed by Beijing with any nation so far. According to The Express Tribune, the Pakistani government did not provide any details and even declined to confirm the size of the transaction, despite the magnitude of the agreement. However, the composition of the Chinese delegation, with whom the agreement was reached, suggested that the accord involved purchase of eight submarines. Sources in the finance ministry said that the payments would be made to China in four instalments and the...

A Japanese government team is in talks with at least two top British firms to help a Japanese consortium land one of the world's most lucrative defence contracts, sources in Tokyo said, a $50 billion (£32 billion) project to build submarines for Australia. Germany's ThyssenKrupp (TKMS), a rival bidder, is wooing anxious members of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ruling Liberal Party with the economic and political benefits of its proposal. Two Japanese government officials and a company source in Tokyo said Babcock International Group and BAE Systems had approached the consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries with...

Justifying the docking of Chinese submarines in Karachi and Colombo, a Chinese think tank questioned criticism in India of the presence of Chinese naval ships in the Indian Ocean, saying China has a right to protect its interests and India should be "broad-minded" to accept it. "But even if Chinese naval ships and submarines appear regularly in the Indian Ocean, so what?," an article in the state-run China Daily questioning the criticism of Chinese vessels in the Indian Ocean said. Written by Zhou Do, an honorary fellow with Centre for China American Defence Relations of Beijing-based Academy of Military Science,...

While several Chinese security-scenarios are discussed in defense circles, China’s Taiwan dilemma is still the primary driver for Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) acquisition. Resolving China’s Taiwan issue has been the PLA’s justification for double-digit budget increases over decades. The force needed to deal with a U.S. military intervention during a Taiwan contingency far outweighs that required to handle China’s other external security goals. The Taiwan issue is reflected in the PLA Navy’s (PLAN) undersea force structure, which in recent years has heavily prioritized the construction of Type-39A Yuan-class conventional submarines (SSK). According to Naval War College professor and PLAN watcher...

Saab has unveiled what it claims is the world's most advanced stealth submarine. The A26 sub is 207 feet long, and features a 'ghost mode' to make it virtually undetectable when underwater. It also features a unique pod that allows special forces divers to enter and exit the sub while it is underwater. The firm has already signed a $1 billion deal to build two of the new submarines for the Swedish Navy. 'Extreme stealth is at the heart of the Kockums A26 submarine,' the firm said. 'Sweden is unleashing its GHOST (Genuine HOlistic STealth) technology, thus making the Kockums...

BANGKOK — The Thai navy has picked Chinese submarines costing 12 billion baht (S$447.5 million) each to be commissioned in the force, a source on the procurement committee says. The majority of the 17-strong committee voted to buy three Chinese submarines, saying it was the “best value for money”. The rest were split between submarines from Germany and South Korea. The navy also received offers from Russia, Sweden and France. The source said China beat other competitors as it offered subs equipped with superior weaponry and technology. Its subs are also able to stay underwater longer. Deputy Prime Minister and...

A second submariner pleaded guilty Wednesday to sharing videos of female officers undressing for a shower, continuing a case that a prosecutor calls a "black eye" for the Navy's integration of women into the nation's sub fleet. Electronics technician Joseph Bradley entered his guilty pleas in a court-martial and was sentenced to 30 days' confinement and a reduction in rank. Bradley received the videos after they were secretly recorded by another sailor aboard the USS Wyoming nuclear submarine based at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia, prosecutors say. Bradley admitted in a plea agreement to sharing the images with...

EXCLUSIVE: A former senior government adviser who enjoyed privileged access to top-secret information about the navy’s future submarine project has taken a high paid job with one of three foreign contenders for the $20 billion plus contract. Sean Costello was chief-of-staff to former Defence Minister David Johnston and left his $250,000-a-year government job in January this year. He began work in April — just four months later — as Chief Executive Officer with French Government shipbuilder DCNS Australia. The firm is engaged in a “competitive evaluation process” for the Navy’s future submarine contract alongside Germany’s Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS)...

In the North Sea, off the coast of Norway, Nato has been conducting its largest ever anti-submarine warfare exercise. It is seen as a response to the growing threat from Russian submarines which have stepped up their own patrols in these very same waters. It has also highlighted a gaping hole in Britain's own defences. For now though it is the hunt for U33, not Red October. The German U-boat is acting as the unseen enemy below the waves. 'Important training' U33's commander Kai Nicklesdorf and his 28 crew, who live in cramped conditions, are trying to avoid detection by...

Stockholm (AFP) - A Swedish peace group said Tuesday it has lowered a sonar device into the Baltic Sea off Stockholm to deter Russian submarines, emitting the message "This Way if You Are Gay". The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society's (SPAS) cheeky device emits the message in Morse code and is designed to scare off subs from Russia, which does not share Sweden's acceptance of homosexuality. The so-called Singing Sailor also features a flashing pink neon outline of a seaman clad only in white underpants and a boater's hat, gyrating his hips above the text "Welcome to Sweden -- Gay...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday it has successfully test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in what would be the latest display of the country's advancing military capability. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally attended the test launching of what he described as a "world-level strategic weapon," the official Korean Central News Agency said. The report did not reveal the exact timing and location of the launch. Kim praised the test launch as an "eye-opening success" and declared that the North Korea now has a weapon capable of "striking and wiping out in...

Japan will agree this month to give Australia classified submarine data, an unprecedented step signaling Tokyo’s intent to join competitive bidding to sell Canberra a fleet of stealth subs, said two Japanese officials familiar with the plan. The “competitive assessment” will see Germany’s ThyssenKrupp and France’s state-controlled naval contractor DCNS separately competing with a Japanese government-led bid for such contractors as Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Japan had been the front-runner in the planned sale of around 12 vessels, for as much as $40 billion, to replace Australia’s ageing Collins class submarines, sources have said, until...

The Finnish Navy acted appropriately and extremely resolutely in driving away a possible submarine from the territorial waters of Finland early on Tuesday morning, President Sauli Niinistö lauded on Wednesday after announcing the opening of the new parliamentary session. “The Navy, and captains in general, have been granted considerable powers, and I think they were used appropriately here,” Niinistö said. He underscored that all intrusions by military vessels are serious but admitted that the incident was not particularly surprising in light of growing instability in the Baltic Sea Region. “Such traffic has increased on the Baltic Sea. Whatever was under...