Lockheed Martin introduces upgraded MK 41 VLS production line

Representatives of Lockheed Martin and Navy at the ceremonial reopening of the MK 41 Vertical Launching System. Photo: courtesy of Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Lockheed Martin has introduced an upgraded MK 41 vertical launching system (VLS) production line at its Middle River, Maryland facility, US.

Under a previously awarded $235.3m firm-fixed-price contract by the US Navy, which extends until 2022, Lockheed designed and developed MK 41 VLS electronic and mechanical modules and related equipment.

Comparison: Russian Navy Slava-class and US Navy Ticonderoga-class Cruisers in Combat

Analysis by Konstantin Sivkov, Ph.D. (military sciences)
Military expert Konstantin Sivkov, a member of the Russian Academy of Rocket, Missile and Artillery Sciences, Ph.D. (military sciences), has assessed a hypothetical battle between a Russian Navy Project 1164 Atlant-class (NATO reporting name: Slava-class) missile cruiser and a US Navy Ticonderoga-class cruiser. The calculation has been performed for each of the compared ships. It has covered all of the missions considered and possible courses of action, and the calculation of an integral effectiveness index of the ships.

Slava-class
The Project 1164 Atlant-class Moskva missile cruiser has a total displacement of 11,500 tons, a length of 186.5 m, a complement of 510, a full speed of 32 knots and a range of 6,000 nm. The Moskva is currently being modernized and repaired which should extend the life of the ship until the end of the 2020s. Another vessel of the same class, the Marshal Ustinov has just been refitted.

HMS Defender (D36) Air Defense / Guided Missile Destroyer, United Kingdom

The British Royal Navy has ordered six of the Type 45 "Air Defense Destroyers" for its fleet. Due to its lead ship naming ("HMS Daring (D32)"), the class is also recognized as the Daring-class. The Type 45 group succeeded the older Type 42 which entered service during the Cold War in 1975. The Type 45 ships have been in active service since July of 2009 when HMS Daring was commissioned.

Admiral Chabanenko (DD-650) Guided Missile Destroyer, Russia

To match the American Navy's Arleigh Burke-class multi-mission, guided missile destroyers, Soviet engineers were asked to develop a modernized solution through the existing Udaloy-class ships of fighting ships in 1982.

Tanan 300 Unmanned VTOL UAS Helicopter, France

Cassidian, an EADS company (now Airbus Defence and Space) presents its TANAN 300 new-generation compact VTOL Tactical UAS (Vertical Take-Off and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial System) for  wide range of missions including surveillance, reconnaissance, search-and-rescue (SAR), target acquisition, anti-smuggling, harbour protection, border patrol, anti-piracy, and convoy and VIP protection. It can also be deployed for monitoring image and communications intelligence systems, critical infrastructure and illegal traffic.

nEUROn Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) Demonstrator, France

The Dassault nEUROn is an experimental Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) being developed with international cooperation, led by the French company Dassault Aviation. Countries involved in this project include France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden & Switzerland. The design goal is to create a stealthy, autonomous UAV that can function in medium to high-threat combat zones. Comparable projects include Boeing's X-45, Northrop Grumman's X-47B, DRDO AURA, and Russia's MiG Skat.

Kamov Ka-175 - UAV Helicopter,Russia

Slower to the UAV game that Western world powers, the Russians are steadily gaining ground in an effort to match potential enemies pound-for-pound. Long-time Russian helicopter maker Kamov has unveiled plans to produce a helicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for possible shipboard and land-based use by the Russian military and intelligence services.

General Atomics Avenger (Predator C) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), United States of America

The General Atomics Avenger (formerly marked as the "Predator C") is one of the newer UAV systems to come online with the United States military, showcasing some of the very latest in UAV technology. The system was developed from the MQ-9 Reaper series (formerly "Predator B") which itself was designed from the lessons learned in the MQ-1 Predator ("Predator A") and is billed as a true unmanned "combat" air vehicle, defining her role moreso than previous UAV models.