The RNoN's six Skjold-class corvettes are undergoing a life-extension programme to enable them to remain in service until at least 2030. (Norwegian Armed Forces)

Danish defence and aerospace company Terma has confirmed that Royal Norwegian Navy's (RNoN's) Skjold-class corvettes will be equipped with its Scanter 6000 surveillance radar as part of the class's life-extension programme.

In a 15 June announcement the company said the radar had recently completed factory acceptance testing (FAT) for the Skjold-class upgrade programme.

“These tests have further validated the robustness and reliability of the radars, ensuring their seamless integration into the upgraded corvettes,” the company said.

In 2016 the Norwegian parliament decided to phase out the Skjold‐class corvettes but this decision was later reversed, and the corvettes are now being upgraded to enable them to remain in service until at least 2030.

The UK Royal Navy's Type 31 frigates are being equipped with the TACTICOS Baseline 2 combat management system. (NAVYPIX/Richard Scott)

The first Type 31 integrated combat system is on course to undergo factory acceptance testing (FAT) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, Thales has confirmed.

Speaking to media at Thales UK's facilities in Templecombe, UK, Julie Martin, naval senior account director, said that delivery of the first Type 31 mission system was on schedule.

“The key focus for us right now on the Type 31 is the fully integrated combat system FAT, which we've got coming up in late September this year,” she said. “We've got a number of FATs for individual equipments and individual subsystems in the run up to that – all of which are goingto plan and on schedule at the moment,” she added.

UK shipbuilder Babcock is delivering five Type 31 Inspiration-class frigates, based on the Arrowhead 140 design, for the Royal Navy (RN) under a GBP1.25 billion (USD1.59 billion) contract awarded in November 2019.

US lawmakers raised no official objection to the decommissioning of LCS USS Jackson . (Michael Fabey)

In its National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2024 mark, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee detailed its desires during a 13 June hearing of the mark to retain most of the vessels the US Navy (USN) is seeking to decommission soon.

The USN's FY 2024 budget proposal sought to decommission 11 ships: Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships USS Germantown (LSD 42), USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), and USS Tortuga (LSD 46); Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Vicksburg (CG 69), USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), USS Cowpens (CG 63), and USS Shiloh (CG 67); Independence-class littoral combat ships (LCSs) USS Jackson (LCS 6) and USS Montgomery (LCS 8); and Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS San Juan (SSN 751).