Fincantieri and C.A.B.I. Cattaneo, an Italian military underwater vehicle manufacturer for Naval Special Forces, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the assessment of commercial and industrial cooperation in the field of underwater vehicles and their integration with larger vessels.

The MoU will allow underwater vehicles to be integrated with Fincantieri surface and underwater vessels, improving the products on offer in the target global markets.

Fincantieri, as the Design Authority, will lead the design, construction, fit-out and setting to work of the main vessels, whilst CABI will assume identical responsibility for the underwater vehicles.

The agreement was signed by Pierroberto Folgiero and Alberto Villa, CEO of Fincantieri and CABI, respectively, overseen by Admiral Enrico Credendino, Chief of the Italian Navy.

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• Skills Academy will provide training for more than 12,000 Babcock employees over the next eight years.
• Combination of cutting-edge digital resources and hands on training
• Initially launching in Devonport, with a focus on submarine and nuclear skills, the Skills Academy will be expanded across Babcock’s naval nuclear activity and

The Skills Academy uses a hybrid teaching model, that combines cutting-edge digital resources and hands on training, to rapidly get Babcock’s people ready to deliver the critical capabilities its customers need. Open to all employees and new recruits, the Skills Academy will operate in partnership with local education establishments and complements Babcock’s award-winning early careers programmes.

Initially launching at its Devonport facility, with a focus on submarines and critical nuclear skills, the Skills Academy’s training facilities enable learning of the complex skills required to perform deep submarine maintenance.

Dominic Kieran, Babcock Chief Executive Nuclear, said, “With the largest nuclear qualified workforce in the UK, and our vast experience of supporting the UK submarine enterprise across the submarine lifecycle, we are uniquely placed to apply this extensive knowledge to our training programmes and deliver the pipeline of talent required now and in the future.

Following the Babcock Skills Academy launch at Devonport, the programme will then be deployed further across Babcock’s naval nuclear activity and beyond.

 

 Lt Col Stuart Crawford is a defence analyst and former army officer. Sign up for his podcasts and newsletters at www.DefenceReview.uk

 

 

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A €1.5 billion contract was awarded to Naviris – joint venture formed by Fincantieri and Naval Group – and eurosam by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). The contract will cover the Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) of the French and Italian Horizon class frigates. Naviris and eurosam will collaborate closely with Fincantieri and Naval Group for the new generation of Principal Anti-Air Missile System & Long-Range Radar (PAAMS & LRR). In the coming days Naviris will finalise subcontracts, including the one with Fincantieri worth €211 million. Other partners include Thales, MBDA Italia and MBDA France.

The MLU will modernise the entire vessel and enhance the anti-warfare capabilities of the Horizon frigates, built between 2000 and 2010 as part of a joint programme between Fincantieri and Naval Group set to equip the Italian and French navies with anti-air capabilities. The upgrade will include new weapon systems, command and control, and electronic warfare suites, providing the frigates with advanced capabilities to counter modern threats, such as hypersonic, ballistic, and supersonic sea-skimmer missiles, UAVs, and highly maneuvering aircraft in saturation attack scenarios.

 

Lt Col Stuart Crawford is a defence analyst and former army officer. Sign up for his podcasts and newsletters at www.DefenceReview.uk

 

 

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The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan [NRCSA]  opposes the Taliban regime criticises as `unrealistic and misguided a recent assessment of life under the Taliban given by Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and chair of the House of Commons Defence Select committee. After visiting southern Afghanistan, the powerbase of the Taliban regime that took control of the country in August 2021, Mr Ellwood this week published a video, remarks on Twitter and an opinion piece in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Mr Ellwood said the Taliban was providing security and economic opportunity, and it was his view that the outside world should re-engage with the regime, for example by reopening the British Embassy in Kabul, closed since the current regime came to power. `We hold Mr Ellwood in the highest regard but in our view his assessment of the current situation in Afghanistan does not give the real picture of the nation – how can you if you spend a day or two in one province and a short time in the capital?’ said Khalid Noor, who represented the Republic of Afghanistan in the ultimately failed peace talks with the Taliban prior to the 2021 regime change.

`To conclude all of Afghanistan is safe and prosperous from a visit to the part of the country where the Taliban was born, where it enjoys its greatest public support, is as mistaken as saying Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a success after speaking to loyalists around his birthplace in Tikrit. `For example, Mr Ellwood judged the Taliban as stopping the export of opium because he witnessed a curated event at a former opium farm where the crop had been destroyed. What about the opium pipeline from southern Afghanistan across the border into Pakistan, via the provincial capital of Quetta and the port city of Karachi? There is no evidence that pipeline has been switched off or even reduced.’

Lt Col Stuart Crawford is a defence analyst and former army officer. Sign up for his podcasts and newsletters at www.DefenceReview.uk

 

 

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