Ship Modernization

Conventional Submarine Builders

In this issue AMI is featuring submarine modernization insights from our forthcoming article on the conventional submarine industry, scheduled to appear in Germany’s Mittler House publications on defense and security. AMI identifies 537 submarines and submersible vehicles in active service as of August 2022.  Of those, 382 (just over 70%) are conventionally-powered submarines built since…

Close-In-Weapon Systems (CIWS) Remain Essential to Ship Self Protection

In this month’s issue we report on the recent Canadian contract to sustain and modernize its Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS). This is one of several contracts awarded in the past year for similar systems, underscoring the importance of ship defense against increasing lethal missile threats. It’s hard to believe the first CIWS systems were…

Naval Auxiliaries: An Overlooked Market Segment?

This month’s Hot News Modernization issue reports on three market developments related to auxiliary ships. This is a timely reminder that these vital components of any naval fleet, often overlooked, come in many shapes, sizes and designs. All are critical to sustaining “leading edge” force structure elements, from destroyers and frigates to submarines, amphibious ships…

Destroyer and Frigate Modernization Outlook

News from the recently concluded U.S. Surface Navy Association Annual Conference and Expo highlights the wide interest in the latest frigate and destroyer developments. The “return” (after a post-Cold War hiatus) of peer-peer national competition in the global maritime domain, coupled with the accelerating development of new generations of lethal naval weapons (missiles, long range…

Demand For Amphibious Ships Stays Strong

This month’s newsletter reports on two amphibious ship developments of the retirement of the US Navy’s (USN) USS Ponce after 46 years of service, and the possible decommissioning and availability of the Royal Navy (RN) HMS Ocean, HMS Albion, and HMS Bulwark expeditionary lift platforms. A closer look at how these seemingly separate market events…

Naval Market Outlook: Caribbean and Latin America

The Caribbean and Latin America region represents a relatively small share of the global naval market—less than 3% of US$1T on new construction naval platforms. However, that doesn’t mean the eleven countries AMI covers in the region receive less attention. As a closer look at the region’s naval market shows, Latin America remains of high…

Future Focus on Naval Ship Modernization

Most advanced economies in Europe and North America will see static or declining defense budgets over the next decade. For Navies, this means a slowdown and reduction in planned recapitalization efforts of fleet force structures. As older ships receive life extensions and fewer new ships join the fleet, pressure will grow for more maintenance and…