Category: Magazine

Europe relies on Miricle

With the EU-funded Miricle project, European navies will benefit from high interoperability and new capabilities in the field of mine defence. Naval Group Belgium plays a key role in this. The Mine Risk Clearance for Europe project, Miricle for short, which was continued in the shadow of Russia's unexpected attack on Ukraine, is now even more important as not only the coastal regions of the Black Sea are now littered with sea mines of various kinds, including unanchored floating weapons from the Soviet era. The Miricle project, which addresses the trend away from traditional mine action with mine hunters towards a stand-off mine defence concept, is aimed at the...

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With flash-bang mode

New ideas for equipping maritime special forces were presented at a symposium. This will significantly expand their area of deployment. The annual conference organised by the US Joint Special Operations Command (Socom) was expanded for the first time this year to include additional interest groups. Called SOF Week 2023, the conference took place in Tampa, Florida, in May. More than 15,000 visitors - including many members of friendly armed forces - were counted over the course of the event. In addition to the presentations and panel discussions, the main attractions were the more than 575 exhibitors from the defence industry. The range also included many operational systems and equipment for...

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Handover of the French-Italian fleet supplier JACQUES CHEVALLIER

Toulon was the venue for a team event: OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d'Armement, European Armaments Agency), DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement, Paris Armaments Office) and the Marine Nationale handed over the first French-Italian naval supply vessel JACQUES CHEVALLIER from one to the other. With a length of 194 metres and a displacement of 31,000 tonnes, the Bâtiment Ravitailleur de Forces is a showcase project: with its electric propulsion, it can reach 10 knots, with exhaust plume 20 knots - and behind the bridge, two Mistral Simbad-RC launchers are installed for the first time on a French unit for short-range defence, each equipped with two anti-aircraft and sea-target FKs. The construction programme...

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Training as a priority?

Training flying personnel is time-consuming and cost-intensive. A look abroad shows how innovative concepts could increase the availability of personnel and material. At the beginning of April, Eva Högl, the Defence Commissioner of the German Bundestag, was quoted as saying the following about the Bundeswehr: "The challenge with personnel is even greater than with material." Although the procurement of modern weapon systems, ammunition and spare parts was and is to a certain extent a prerequisite for successful recruitment, Högl is right. But what can be done to avert a personnel shortage? Is it enough to do more advertising for the armed forces? Do we need financial incentives, or do we need to create...

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China's Renhai class: Presentation of the Xianyang super destroyer

With the hull number 108, the Xianyang, the eighth destroyer of the Renhai class (type 055), was officially presented to the public two months ago at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) in the northern Chinese harbour complex of Dalian. A video praising the beauty and strength of this super destroyer - or FK cruiser - also serves this purpose. Not without good reason, as the 180-metre-long ships, which displace more than 12,000 tonnes and have two vertical launch silos for a total of 112 missiles of all Chinese designs, are among the most powerful and largest combat ships in the world. This makes them even more powerful than the FK cruisers of the American Ticonderoga class, especially as they will soon be...

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