Deliveries include a frigate for the Hellenic Navy and an offshore patrol vessel for the Philippine Navy. The French Navy's newest warship has meanwhile begun a long-term deployment prior to entering operational service while construction has begun on a Finnish Navy corvette. Lastly, the US Marine Corps has placed orders for new amphibious combat vehicles.
The Hellenic Navy's newest warship arrived in Greece upon the completion of her delivery voyage from France on Thursday, January 15.
HS Kimon is the first ship in a new class of three multi-role frigates ordered from by the Hellenic Navy from French defence shipbuilder the Naval Group.
The vessel is a variant of the defence and intervention frigate (frégate de défense et d'intervention; FDI) designed by the Naval Group for the French Navy. She belongs to the FDI HN class, alternately known as the Kimon-class, which was developed specifically to satisfy the Hellenic Navy’s operational requirements.
Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) has started construction on the final one of four Pohjanmaa-class multi-role corvettes ordered by the Finnish Navy.
The steel-cutting ceremony for the fourth corvette occurred on the same day that RMC laid the keel of the third ship in the class.
Upon completion, the corvettes will each have a length of 117 metres, a beam of 16 metres, a draught of five metres, and a crew complement of 70.
The Philippine Navy's newest offshore patrol vessel (OPV) has departed South Korea and is now sailing for home waters.
The future BRP Rajah Sulayman is the first in a planned class of six OPVs that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is building for the Philippine Navy.
The first OPV is scheduled to be commissioned in March 2026 while her sister the future BRP Rajah Lakandula will soon begin undergoing sea trials.
The French Navy's newest warship recently departed on her initial long duration deployment, which would provide an opportunity to test her capabilities in the open sea.
The navy said the defence and intervention frigate (frégate de défense et d'intervention; FDI) Amiral Ronarc'h will spend several months in the North Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea for her military capabilities to be validated under conditions nearly similar to those encountered during actual operations.
The ship will be commissioned into French Navy service following the completion of the deployment, which is expected in the middle of 2026.
BAE Systems has received a $184 million contract from the US Marine Corps for the production of 30 additional amphibious combat vehicles (ACV). This award, designated as FRP 6A, is part of a previously awarded full-rate production (FRP) Lot 5/6 contract and brings the total number of ACV-30s ordered to over 100.
According to BAE, the platform is designed to handle missions ranging from open ocean to inland operations. The vehicle is ready for integration with advanced systems, including the 30mm turret manufactured by Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace.
In addition to the ACV-30, BAE Systems is under contract for the ACV-Personnel (ACV-P) and ACV-Command (ACV-C) variants. The ACV-P carries combat-loaded Marines, while the ACV-C provides workstations for situational awareness.
