🧵Latest at #FEINDEF: Navantia’s fourth of five Avante 2200 corvettes will be delivered to the #Saudi Royal Navy next week, as the Spanish shipbuilder expects to receive a proposal from the Kingdom by 2024 to build five new multi-mission combat ships.
defensenews.com/global/europe/…
2. Navantia was contracted by #SaudiArabia in 2018 to build 5 corvettes based on the Avante 2200 design and adapted to specific requirements, including ability to operate in extreme temperatures. Program, dubbed Alsarawat, called for the units to be delivered on a fast schedule.
3. This meant that the company eventually had to produce a ship every four months, which it has managed to do. While the first 3 vessels were commissioned in #Spain, the final two will be inaugurated in Saudi Arabia.
4. After delivery, the latest vessel will undergo further testing, Navantia official told Defense News on the sidelines of the Madrid defense exhibition. He added that additional non-European countries had shown interest in the ships.
5. Roughly 500 prospective crew members from the Royal Saudi Naval Force are now undergoing training at a Navantia facility in Spain. Company has increasingly looked to deepen its cooperation with Riyadh, creating joint venture w/ SAMI to position its systems in the Arab market
6. The two organizations developed the first Saudi naval combat management system, the Hazem.
Last year, Navantia signed an Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Ministry of Defense to explore an opportunity to build a number of multi-mission combat ships.

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More from @elisabethmalom1

May 18
🧵Latest w/ @sfrantzman: #Israel's Elbit is ramping up its production of multi-purpose rocket and drone launchers in Europe, as the Netherlands is buying the firm's PULS system which #Spain also appears to be favoring for its new rocket artillery program. defensenews.com/global/europe/…
2. On May 17, Royal Netherlands Army announced on social media that it had contracted Elbit for supply of 20 of the truck-mounted PULS systems. Earlier in April, Dutch government had stated that the country would spend around $650 million on long-range weaponry.
3. The move is the latest example of how countries are increasingly turning their attention to ground-based strike capabilities, particularly artillery rocket systems, after how vital they have proven to be in #Ukraine’s defense against Russian invaders.
Read 7 tweets
May 18
🧵Latest at #FEINDEF: Airbus Spain is ready to start work on the high-endurance drone SiRTAP for the Spanish and Colombian air forces, saying the first units could be delivered to #Spain by 2026 if the government approves a contract soon.
defensenews.com/unmanned/2023/…
2. Officials have confirmed that #Spain is considering procuring a total of 27 SiRTAPs [each of which consists of three aircraft, a ground control station and data reception equipment]. The drone is currently still in a pre-design phase.
3. Both countries signed an MoU for cooperation on the drone in 2019, followed by a formal proposal submitted by Airbus to the Spanish Ministry of Industry in Jan 2021. More recently, the Spanish MoD obtained approval to invest roughly €500 million into the drone project.
Read 7 tweets
Feb 20
🧵First #IDEX2023 coverage: Counter-drone manufacturers say they are increasingly miniaturizing & simplifying systems to meet rising demand for man-portable weapons, as recent conflicts have emphasized importance of mobile capabilities. But this is risky:
defensenews.com/unmanned/2023/…
2. Warren Brown, Fortem Technology VP of Marketing explains that the purpose & ways portable drones interceptors are used today have changed over the last decade "Historically, security detail & protection of major events, key infrastructure has been focused on fixed solutions."
3. More recent conflicts in the Middle East and #Ukraine have shifted the focus to ‘on-the-move’ systems that provide advanced radar detection capabilities, ease of deployment and portability, low overall cost of operation as well as low per-use cost,” he said.
Read 10 tweets
Feb 14
🧵Loved working on this one - The widespread use of #Starlink by Ukrainian troops in defending against Russia is accelerating development of drone warfare, according to experts. Here are the benefits, risks & legal challenges of its militarization:
c4isrnet.com/battlefield-te…
2. While SpaceX likely never ruled out potential military use, it was not a case they emphasized. Today, there's no question that Starlink’s prominence in #Ukraine war has militaries all over the world considering & looking to make greater use of it.
3. Currently, Starlink antennas are too large/too heavy for small drones. However, there has been momentum from the defense industry to experiment. In Nov. #Canadian company RDARS, announced that it had successfully integrated Starlink equipment to its Eagle Nest ground station.
Read 20 tweets
Feb 12
1/ Even as a defense reporter, I'll be the first one to admit that I have SO many questions and confusion regarding this “an unidentified object” shot down above Canada on Saturday Feb 11.
2. To summarize what is known at this point (from what I have gathered): #Canada incident was a small, cylindrical object smaller than the balloon shot down above Alaska. Was it a balloon? Wall Street Journal reported that it was a small metallic balloon with a tethered payload
3. One confusing statements I came across was by an official to the Washington Post: “All of the objects are similar in certain ways and then dramatically different in certain ways. What we don’t yet understand is what sorts of technology are in there.”
Read 5 tweets
Jan 14
🧵One of the most fascinating topics I've reported on: Unmanned technologies (both UUVs and UAVs) could offer the West an opening to catch up with #Russia, bogged down in Ukraine, in establishing a foothold in the warming #Arctic, according to experts.
defensenews.com/global/europe/…
2. The West is fairly late to the game against #Russia’s long-standing presence in the region (key to its national security and economic development), where experts agree it has succeeded in maintaining military superiority over the last decade.
3. The Kremlin has secured its #Arctic military capability primarily by banking on a “superior number of ice-breakers, its pioneering of Arctic-capable military drones, upgrading off-shore bases, missiles, runways and radar systems,” says @DrJamesRogers.
Read 19 tweets

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