Naval

Navies, shipbuilding, submarines and the contest for maritime power.

China Surrounds Scarborough Shoal With Patrols as Coast Guard Presence Hits Record

China Surrounds Scarborough Shoal With Patrols as Coast Guard Presence Hits Record

China's military and coast guard staged combat-readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal on 30 June, days after Philippine and United States forces drilled in nearby waters, in the latest turn of a confrontation cycle that has become routine at one of Asia's most contested reefs. The People's Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command said its naval and air forces had patrolled the territorial waters and airspace around the shoal, according to Reuters. The China Coast Guard said separately tha
Analysis Indo-Pacific
MGG Geopolitics

MGG Geopolitics
Rolls-Royce Breaks Ground on Derby Reactor Site to Power AUKUS Submarines

Rolls-Royce Breaks Ground on Derby Reactor Site to Power AUKUS Submarines

Rolls-Royce Submarines broke ground on Friday on a new manufacturing facility in Derby that will more than double the size of its reactor site, expanding capacity to build nuclear propulsion units for the Royal Navy and Australia's future attack submarines under the AUKUS pact. The work at the Raynesway site will add more than 100,000 square metres of manufacturing and office space and create 1,170 skilled jobs, the company said. It forms part of a plan first announced in June 2023 to double th
News Europe
MGG Geopolitics

MGG Geopolitics
Royal Navy Launches Combat-Proven Nyan Strike Drone From Warship for First Time
Photo courtesy of BAE Systems

Royal Navy Launches Combat-Proven Nyan Strike Drone From Warship for First Time

The Royal Navy and British Army have launched a domestically built strike drone from a warship at sea for the first time, a step towards a fleet that pairs crewed vessels with cheap uncrewed weapons. The trial saw the Nyan One-Way Effector, a small attack drone made by BAE Systems subsidiary Callen-Lenz, launched from the experimentation ship XV Patrick Blackett off the south coast of England last month. It formed part of Exercise Neptune Reach under Project Vantage, a Royal Navy programme set
Analysis Europe
MGG Geopolitics

MGG Geopolitics
UK Scraps Destroyer Plan for Hybrid Drone Warships in Naval Overhaul
Type 45 Destroyer HMS Dragon. UK Ministry of Defence.

UK Scraps Destroyer Plan for Hybrid Drone Warships in Naval Overhaul

Britain will build at least six new warships designed to command fleets of drones across the air, surface and seabed, moving away from earlier plans for a next-generation destroyer in favour of a “hybrid” navy built around crewed and uncrewed systems. The Royal Navy will procure a minimum of six Common Combat Vessels to replace its six ageing Type 45 air-defence destroyers, with the first ships expected from the early 2030s, the Ministry of Defence said on Monday. The decision shelves earlier p
News Europe
MGG Geopolitics

MGG Geopolitics
Why Japan's Warship Exports Are Reshaping Indo-Pacific Power

Why Japan's Warship Exports Are Reshaping Indo-Pacific Power

When reports emerged in late April that Japan had offered India the design plans for its prized Mogami-class frigate, the significance went well beyond a single contract. According to the South China Morning Post, Tokyo proposed letting India build the ships in its own yards using Japanese materials, with each hull costing about US$500 million and armed with anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It is also the clearest sign yet of a strategy that is reshaping naval power across the region. Japan is
Analysis Indo-Pacific
MGG Geopolitics

MGG Geopolitics