Category: Technology

Commissioning, the second

The USS Vermont is actually already in service, but something was still missing. More than a year ago, in April 2020, the US Navy officially added the Virginia-class submarine to its fleet list. She has already been able to demonstrate her capabilities, as she was available to the South American partner as a target ship for submarine hunting exercises off the coast of Brazil. However, as Corona had thwarted any celebrations at the time, the American Navy quickly scheduled a second commissioning date. There were still restrictions due to the pandemic, but...

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Drive to the 113th birthday

Yesterday (27 August), the third Zumwalt-class destroyer left the Bath Iron Works shipyard in the US state of Maine for sea trials for the first time. The namesake, Lyndon B. Johnson, was born in Texas on the same day in 1908. Coincidence or plan? We don't know, but we are delighted that what is probably the last ship of the class is now not only afloat, but also sailing. Johnson was the 36th President of the USA between 1963 and 1969 and is the only politician to have given his name to a ship of the class. Originally, the US Navy planned to build up to 32 destroyers of this type. Escalating costs...

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Successful tests with the new Arleigh Burke destroyer

Production of the Arleigh Burke class continues to run at full speed in the USA. Last week, Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding successfully completed the shipyard sea trials of the latest ship in the class, the future USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. As part of a three-day final inspection in the Gulf of Mexico, the 155-metre destroyer's command and weapon deployment system in particular was put through its paces. An undisclosed missile was also fired in the process. A final test is now on the programme before delivery to the Navy. The ship is due to be handed over to the US Navy before the end of this year and docked in Pearl...

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High-tech balloons for the Aegean Sea

In the Aegean Sea, controlling the EU's external border between Greece and Turkey is proving difficult. Many islands with long coastlines and the geographical proximity of the two countries make it difficult to deploy patrol vehicles. Ships and aeroplanes also have high operating costs. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, is now hoping that the use of tethered balloons will ease the burden. As part of a technology pilot programme, two balloons from the US manufacturer CNIM Air Space will initially be procured and fitted with sensors from Hensoldt. This involves the Argos-II system from Oberkochen, which was developed for use on various flying platforms....

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Production of the AGM-88G can begin with small quantities

The AGM-88, better known as Harm (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile), has been one of the most successful and widely used missiles in the world for many years. It can be used by aircraft crews to combat ground-based radar stations. The FK was used by the US Navy in the wars in the Gulf, among others. Since 2018, manufacturer Northrop Grumman has been working on an improved version of the current AGM-88E on behalf of the Pentagon. On 19 July this year, the new AARGM-ER (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile - Extended Range) missile was successfully fired from an F/A-18 Super Hornet for the first time. In a test area off the southern Californian coast, the engineers demonstrated that the...

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