Maritime Security Vessel News Roundup | December 15 – Patrol boats for Mozambique and Ivory Coast, Singapore’s future submarines and more

Deliveries include patrol boats for an Ivory Coast marine police force and the Mozambican Navy.  Some notable vessels that are under construction are two submarines for Singapore and a submarine and two surface ships for the US Navy.

Patrol RIBs delivered to Ivory Coast maritime security force

Photo: Asis Boats

UAE-based Asis Boats has delivered two new rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) to the Ivorian Maritime and Port Affairs, the central maritime law enforcement agency of the Ivory Coast.

The 7.5-metre-long boats are each fitted with jockey seats for eight people, tow posts, diving notches, and two outboard engines. A Garmin electronics package includes a radar, a sonar, GPS, and a VHF radio.

The RIBs will also be used for search and rescue missions in port, inland, and coastal waters.

Future US Navy destroyer Carl M. Levin completes acceptance trials

USS Carl M. Levin (Photo: Bath Iron Works)

The future US Navy destroyer USS Carl M. Levin has successfully completed acceptance trials and has since returned to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard in Maine after spending two days at sea.

During acceptance trials, the ship and its crew performed a series of demonstrations for review by the navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). These demonstrations are used by INSURV to validate the quality of construction and compliance with navy specifications and requirements prior to delivery of the ship.

Many of the ship’s onboard systems – including navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems, combat systems, communications, and propulsion applications – were tested to ensure the performance met or exceeded navy specifications.

As an Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA destroyer, the future Carl M. Levin is equipped with the Aegis Baseline 9C2 Combat System, which includes integrated air and missile defence capability and enhanced ballistic missile defence capabilities. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability against a variety of threats.

German builder launches two new submarines for Singapore

Photo: ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems

German defence company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems launched two new submarines at its Kiel shipyard on Tuesday, December 13.

In the same ceremony with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as guests of honour, the two submarines slated for the Republic of Singapore Navy were christened RSS Impeccable and RSS Illustrious. The boats will undergo further testing before their delivery in 2023.

The future Impeccable and Illustrious are the second and third boats of a planned four Type 218SG or Invincible-class submarines, which are derived from the Type 214 developed by Germany for the export market.

US donates patrol boat to Mozambican Navy

Photo: US Embassy in Mozambique

The US government has provided a 10-metre coastal patrol boat to the Mozambican Navy as part of an ongoing security cooperation agreement between the United States and Mozambique.

The boat was built by Bremerton, Washington-based Safe Boats International, which also provided training for the navy crews.

The vessel will be used for interdiction and maritime boarding operations.

Future US Navy amphibious assault ship to be named USS Fallujah

The America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (Photo: US Navy)

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro confirmed earlier this week that a future America-class amphibious assault ship (LHA) will be named USS Fallujah.

The future Fallujah will commemorate the First and Second Battles of Fallujah, American-led offensives during the Iraq War. The name selection follows the tradition of naming amphibious assault ships after US Marine Corps battles, early US sailing ships, or legacy names of earlier aircraft carriers from World War II.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding will commence construction of the LHA before the end of December 2022.

Construction underway on two US Navy submarine, destroyer

Photo: General Dynamics Electric Boat

General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton, Connecticut, recently laid the keel of the future Virginia-class attack submarine USS Arizona.

The submarine will be the first US naval vessel to bear the name Arizona since the battleship USS Arizona, which was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The future Arizona will be the 30th Virginia-class submarine. Boats in this class can strike shore-based targets with highly accurate Tomahawk cruise missiles and are capable of long-term, stealth surveillance of sea forces, littoral waters or ground targets.

The Virginia-class design also provides for special operations forces delivery and support, mine delivery and minefield mapping, and anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare.

The submarine’s Virginia Payload Module will comprise four large-diameter, vertical payload tubes in a new hull section inserted into the existing Virginia-class submarine design. The tubes enable the submarine to deliver a variety of capabilities, including weapons, unmanned undersea vehicles, and other undersea payloads.

Meanwhile, Huntington Ingalls Industries has begun fabrication of the future Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Sam Nunn.

The ship is named for Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr., a United States Senator who represented Georgia from 1972 to 1997 and served as Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The future Sam Nunn is an Arleigh Burke Flight III guided missile destroyer centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 air and missile defence radar.


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