The United States, Canada and Finland have announced a new partnership focused on producing polar icebreakers and workforce development in the shipbuilding industry. The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Pact, unveiled on the sidelines of a three-day NATO summit in Washington D.C., comes as the U.S. Coast Guard builds new heavy icebreakers to ensure access to the...
Irving Shipbuilding has started construction on the production test module for the new fleet of Canadian Surface Combatants, which according to a Canadian government announcement will be known as River-class destroyers. The PTM will enable testing and streamlining of the shipbuilding processes to gear up the project for full-rate production starting in 2025, according to...
Richard Spencer, former U.S. secretary of the Navy, has been selected to replace John Rothwell as chairman of Perth, Australia-based Austal. Rothwell will step down on Monday after nearly four decades in the role. As Austal’s new chair, Spencer said he will build on Rothwell’s yearslong work, which enabled the company to achieve its current...
L3Harris Technologies will supply Lockheed Martin Canada with the integrated communication system for the Royal Canadian Navy’s planned new warships. Lockheed Martin Canada and Irving Shipbuilding are leading a consortium tasked to build the vessels under Ottawa’s Canadian Surface Combatant program. According to Anthony Nigara, maritime sector president at L3 Harris Technologies, the contract award...
Abu Dhabi-based defense and technology company Edge Group and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri have signed an agreement to form a shipbuilding joint venture called Maestral, which has already booked a contract from the United Arab Emirates Coast Guard. The order, worth $435 million, calls for the delivery of 10 offshore patrol vessels. Edge, which holds a...
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas toured HII’s Virginia operations on Friday to support the AUKUS trilateral partnership of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Malinauskas visited the U.S. company’s Newport News Shipbuilding site to advance his government’s deal with HII to prepare South Australia for big shipbuilding projects under AUKUS. A memorandum of...
The United Kingdom plans to build six additional warships to support Royal Marines’ special operations. According to a government press release, the new vessels will expand the number of multirole support ships developed under the Royal Navy shipbuilding program to 28, backed by increased defense spending. The MRSS units in the pipeline include Type 26...
Austal, a global shipbuilding company and defense prime contractor based in Australia, has rejected a $2.82-per-share acquisition offer from Hanwha Ocean. According to Austal, it considered the proposal with its advisers and concluded that Hanwha may encounter difficulties securing regulatory approvals as part of the acquisition process. In a press release, Austal explained that the...
The Advance Verification Team of the AUKUS trilateral security alliance of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States has completed a two-week tour of the British Royal Navy’s Faslane, Scotland, nuclear submarine base to support Australian nuclear submarine maintenance capability buildup. According to the UK government, the AVT’s Faslane familiarization followed a similar visit...
U.S.-based HII and Australia’s Babcock Australasia are working with top universities to establish the AUKUS Workforce Alliance to develop the workforce needed to strengthen the Australian defense industry. The AWA, which counts the University of Adelaide, Curtin University and the University of NSW as academe partners, will combine knowledge, skills and experience from Australia, the...
