Defense

The Middle East region’s largest maritime exercise, International Maritime Exercise (IMX) 2023, kicked off its operational phase March 2 during an opening ceremony at U.S. 5th Fleet’s headquarters in Bahrain.

ARMADA Marine Robotics has won a SBIR Phase II contract from the US Navy to continue development of an External Payload Delivery System (EPADS) for cylindrical Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs). The contract is for $1M over 2 years with an Option for another $1M over 2 additional years.

Following the success of the Digital Horizon 22 Unmanned & Artificial Intelligence Exercise organized by the U.S. Navy in Bahrain, Exail Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), DriX, was selected by the 5th fleet’s task force 59 to take part in the two-week 2023 International Maritime Exercise (IMX 23), that will be held in Bahrain and Jordan from March 5th to 16th.

JFD supported a very successful Flying Fish exercise, a NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) aircraft loading evolution, with the US Air Force last September.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) commenced the Middle East region’s largest maritime exercise, Feb. 26.

HMS Anson, the fifth Astute class submarine, which BAE Systems has designed and built for the Royal Navy, has departed the Company's shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and headed out to open sea for the first time.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) concluded a weeklong unmanned systems and artificial intelligence integration exercise with the United Arab Emirates Navy in the Arabian Gulf, Feb. 20.

DSIT Solutions Ltd. (DSIT), one of the world’s leaders in underwater defense and security solutions, offering advanced, state-of-the-art sonar and acoustics technologies for naval, homeland security and energy applications, has entered into a contract several months ago with a leading European shipyard.

Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) confirmed the identity of a wreck site off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, as USS Albacore (SS 218) Feb. 16.

HMS Medway has swapped the blue skies and high temperatures of the Caribbean for the cool, penguin-filled shores of the Falklands to act as the islands’ persistent Royal Naval presence.

Steadicopter, a leader in the Rotary Unmanned Aerial Systems (RUAS) industry, and BIRD Aerosystems, a global provider of innovative defense technology and solutions that protect the air, sea, and land fleets of governments and related agencies, are unveiling the BlackEagle 50H (BE50H), an advanced hybrid unmanned helicopter, featuring a miniature airborne radar with advanced proprietary technology, for use in maritime intelligence missions.

Evolving threats, unlawful maritime claims, military coercion, all these factors are destabilising the Asia Pacific region and causing many lawful states to reconsider their defence strategies.