The Israeli Navy has taken delivery of its newest submarine while construction is underway on surface ships for the navies of Vietnam, Malaysia, and Finland. An Indonesian builder has meanwhile cut the first steel to be used for a new submarine class.
Vietnamese newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan has reported that construction recently began on a new anti-submarine frigate for the Vietnam People's Navy.
The frigate will be built at the Da Nang facilities of Song Thu, a shipbuilder operating under the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence, Most of the ship's weapons and essential equipment will either be manufactured completely or assembled in-country.
The report stated that the vessel will be the largest anti-submarine frigate to be constructed in Vietnam.
Turkish defence shipbuilder STM has launched the final vessel in a new class of three warships that the company is building for the Royal Malaysian Navy.
The future KD Tunku Osman Jewa and her sisters, which have been officially designated as littoral mission ships (LMS), will be built in Turkey with STM as the prime contractor responsible for all phases of the project from design to delivery. Her sisters KD Tunku Laksamana Abdul Jalil and KD Raja Laut were launched at STM's facilities in May and June of this year, respectively.
STM will undertake ship design, project management, construction management, material/system procurement, integration design and installation, tests, and integrated logistics support (ILS) activities. The company will also be responsible for the preparation of design and ILS documents related to the project.
Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PAL has begun construction of a new diesel-electric submarine to be operated by the Indonesian Navy.
The submarine is the first of two that will be variants of the Scorpene-class boats originally developed by French defence shipbuilder the Naval Group. The submarines will belong to what the Naval Group calls the "Scorpene Evolved" class and will be built within PAL's facilities.
"Thanks to a transfer of technology, the management, operation and maintenance of the force will be conducted in Indonesia, by Indonesian actors, ensuring both Indonesian sovereignty and the creation of thousands of long-term high skills jobs," the Naval Group had said in an earlier press release.
The Israeli Navy recently took delivery of its newest submarine, Israeli financial newspaper Globes has reported.
The future INS Drakon (דרקון; "Dragon") is the sixth and final diesel-electric submarine in the Dolphin-class, which was developed with Israeli assistance. All six boats in the class were built entirely in Germany (initially by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, later and currently by TKMS) exclusively for the Israeli Navy.
The future Drakon has a length of 68.6 metres, a beam of 6.8 metres, a draught of 6.2 metres, a maximum speed of 25 knots, and a crew complement of 35. The submarine's armament includes torpedoes and mines, though the fitted torpedo tubes may also be used for the deployment of swimmer delivery vehicles.
Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions has laid the keel of the final one of four Pohjanmaa-class multi-role corvettes ordered by the Finnish Navy.
The keel was laid during a ceremony on Tuesday, August 4.
Upon completion, the corvette will have a length of 117 metres, a beam of 16 metres, a draught of five metres, and a crew complement of 70. A combined diesel-electric and gas propulsion arrangement of one GE LM2500 gas turbine and four MAN 1,920kW generators will propel the ship to a maximum speed in excess of 26 knots.
