INFOGRAPHICS #56: The new European surface combatant designs, 2023-2029

The following table, was created together with Eptanisios, and includes all the known European surface combatant designs, destroyers, frigates and corvettes, that are under construction or under development, and are expected to enter service by 2029. The types/classes are listed in decreasing size (length and displacement) from left to right. As you can read also "bigger doesn't mean always stronger"! For some of them, the newest designs, the technical characteristics and armaments are not the exact ones. Note also that Russian designs are not included. Also Ukrainian designs are excluded too because it is uncertain if the shipbuilding process will continue (Ada-class). The winning designs of the Romanian and Greek corvette programs will be included in the table as soon as the result is known. It should be clarified also that some of the designs may do not carry 20-30mm RWS (such as the Type 31/AH140PL) but they do carry 40mm guns which cover both roles, CIWS and protection against asymmetrical threats, and the opposite. You can enjoy the infographics of some of the designs included in the table, here.

 

New European surface combatant designs, 2023-2029.

NAVAL FORCES #12: European Naval Forces in 2019

Written by D-Mitch

The following images depict the most important naval forces by each country of the European region. Similarly with my previous Naval Forces posts, I used almost the same criteria to categorize the warships. I avoided each country's system of pennant numbers such as -D- for Aquitaine class that allocates the class to destroyer type despite the non destroyer's capabilities. I tried to avoid also the unfair categorization of warships in a higher position in the hierarchy such as the Joao Coutinho class or various fast attack craft to corvettes, such as Molniya or Nanuchka class, without having missile launch capability or their capabilities are inferior to a modern corvette respectively. I did my best to avoid all these unfair classifications and based on capabilities, size and armament I divided all the classes. I have excluded types of warships such as landing craft, offshore patrol vessels (including the Romanian Type 22 frigates), gunboats, various auxiliaries, etc. Obsolete ships or ships of which their status is unknown, they have been excluded. Bulgarian ships that have missile launchers are reported that they do not carry missiles but I cannot verify that, thus they are included. The warships of the United States 6th Fleet are included in both graphs. Please note that the silhouettes represent the type of the vessel and not the class.

INFOGRAPHICS #39: The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2035

Written by D-Mitch

European frigates, ESPS Blas de Lezo (F103), FGS Sachsen (F219)
and TCG Saligreis (F246), in close formation.

In this short article, similar to a complete analysis I did in the past on The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2035, I illustrate the six most powerful surface combatant fleets in Europe by 2035 in a single graph, based on the shipbuilding programs that have announced and only. Russian Navy, as a naval superpower, is excluded from the graph. This time, the new graph, does not include only those countries that are located wholly or predominantly in Europe but also countries that exist partially within geographical Europe. Thus Turkish Navy is included as well. In this post, I will mention briefly some additions and changes regarding the previous article but I will not analyze more the developments and the designs, because I believe the before mentioned article covered the topic to a large extent.

INFOGRAPHICS #33: The destroyers and frigates of the European Union in 2018

Written by D-Mitch

British and French destroyers in formation.

The following infographic depicts all The destroyers and frigates of the European Union in 2018, in a single image! Note though that the military forces of European Union are not integrated and thus there is not a single European Navy from the members of the European Union. However, in March 2017, the European Union approved a new military command center for foreign training missions after Britain dropped its opposition (which was the main obstacle), the latest step in EU efforts to integrate its military forces and defense industries.Therefore, the formation of a "EU Navy" is closer than ever. The EU major surface combatant fleet consists of 115 frigates and destroyers of which 29 are anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) warships and the rest 86 are general purpose (GP) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) warships (SSBN)! There are 31 classes in commission (some of them are actually are variants of main classes such as the Karel Doorman or O.H. Perry). The major contributor to the EU naval fleet (till today at least) is the United Kingdom (UK) with 19 major surface combatants. France and Italy have just one less ship in their fleets, while Greece counts 13 ships with Spain and Germany 11 each. UK has six (6) AAW destroyers in commission, Spain five (5) and France and Italy four (4) each. Note that the Danish opt-out from EU defence cooperation and the UK will leave the EU on March 29, 2019. Moreover, countries such as Romania and Bulgaria have warships with limited armament; especially the two Type 22 frigates could be characterized as large offshore patrol vessels as they lack any missile system.

INFOGRAPHICS #32: The submarines of the European Union in 2018

Written by D-Mitch 

Greek HS Poseidon (Type 209), Portuguese NRP Tridente (Type 214)
and German U33 (Type 212) submarines during the
Exercise NOBLE JUSTIFICATION 2014

This is another article about submarines. This time, I depict all The submarines of the European Union in 2018, in a single image! After the recent graphics, where all the submarine classes of China, United States of America and Russia are illustrated in single images, I thought it was a good idea to present the whole (honestly impressive) undersea fleet of the European Union. Note though that the military forces of European Union are not integrated and thus there is not a single European Navy from the members of the European Union. However, in March 2017, the European Union approved a new military command center for foreign training missions after Britain dropped its opposition (which was the main obstacle), the latest step in EU efforts to integrate its military forces and defense industries.Therefore, the formation of a "EU Navy" is closer than ever. The EU submarine fleet consists of 65 boats of which eight (8) are nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), 13 nuclear-powered attack submarines, 44 diesel-electric submarines (SSK) of which SSK the 22 are equipped with air-independent propulsion system (AIP). There 21 classes in commission (some of them are actually are variants of basic submarine types such as Type 214 and Type 212). Only two countries, United Kingdom (UK) and France operate nuclear-powered submarines while there are five countries that operate submarines equipped with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP). The UK has by far the largest submarines among all the European countries with its Vanguard class SSBN being 150 meters in length and displacing less than 16,000 tons. Romania actually has no submarine as its sole submarine, Delfinul, has been inactive since 1995. The two countries with the most numerous submarine fleets in their Navy, are the UK and Greece (each has 11 boats in commission) however the former has all its submarines nuclear-powered. The UK will leave the EU on March 29, 2019.

The attack submarines of Europe by 2030

Written by D-Mitch

Astute class submarine of the Royal Navy

The most important developments in the European surface and submarine fleets were described in detail by the author in two previous articles, the very recent The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies and the attack submarines of Europe, in 2017 and the 2016 article The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2030. This article describes the European submarine fleets based on the latest official statements from European governments about future shipbuilding and procurement programmes for their Navies. Those submarine classes that have not entered service yet, are illustrated based on the latest official artist's impressions. Boats that were commissioned prior the year 2001, have been excluded from the future submarine fleets as they will have either reached 30-years of active service by 2030, which is normally the life limit in a modern day's navy, or they will have been replaced much earlier by newer classes.

INFOGRAPHICS #26: The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies and the attack submarines of Europe today

Written by D-Mitch

Row of Type 209 and Type 214 submarines at the
Hellenic Navy Salamis Naval Base (Jan 31, 2018).

This article includes two infographics. In the first infographic, named The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2018, I depict the major surface combatant fleets of the seven (7) most powerful Navies in Europe, those seven navies that historically maintain and develop a strong naval fleet of very advanced warships (a similar article The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2030). But what is a surface combatant? According to the Office of Naval Research of the United States Navy, "..surface combatants (or surface ships or surface vessels) are a subset of naval warships which are designed for warfare on the surface of the water, with their own weapons. They are generally ships built to fight other ships, submarines or aircraft, and can carry out several other missions including counter-narcotics operations and maritime interdiction. Their primary purpose is to engage space, air, surface, and submerged targets with weapons deployed from the ship itself, rather than by manned carried craft.". The term is primarily used to mean any modern vessel type that is not a submarine; although a "surface ship" may range in size from a small cutter to a large cruiser, the largest surface combatant today in any Navy.

NAVAL FORCES #10: Evolution of European Naval Capabilities and the Hellenic Navy - Propositions to meet future needs

This is the introduction to the second article, written by me (D-Mitch) and fox2, about the Hellenic Navy (Πολεμικό Ναυτικό).  The first article titled ΝΑΥΤΙΚΕΣ ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟ (English: Naval Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean), published on November 24, 2015, marked my cooperation with fox2 through his blog idbam.blogspot.gr. Enjoy a long article (in Greek) that describes in brief the evolution of European naval capabilities (based on the much detailed article The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2030) as well as some propositions to the Hellenic Navy in order to meet future needs and to follow the rest European Navies. You can read the new article here!

Photoshopped image of a Hydra class frigate of the Hellenic Navy after an upgrade programme (minimum)

The major surface combatants of the most powerful European Navies in 2030 - An analysis of the future developments

Written by D-Mitch

In this article, I will describe briefly the future developments in the major surface combatant fleet of the five most powerful in Europe, the five navies that historically maintain and develop a strong naval fleet of very advanced warships. But what do we mean when we talk about surface combatant? According to the Office of Naval Research of the United States Navy, "..surface combatants (or surface ships or surface vessels) are a subset of naval warships which are designed for warfare on the surface of the water, with their own weapons. They are generally ships built to fight other ships, submarines or aircraft, and can carry out several other missions including counter-narcotics operations and maritime interdiction. Their primary purpose is to engage space, air, surface, and submerged targets with weapons deployed from the ship itself, rather than by manned carried craft.". The term is primarily used to mean any modern vessel type that is not a submarine; although a "surface ship" may range in size from a small cutter to a large cruiser, the largest surface combatant today in any Navy.

NAVAL FORCES #7 and INFOGRAPHICS #19: Submarines of Europe, Mediterranean Sea and Asia-Pacific in 2015

The following images were created by Naval Graphics (twitter acount: Naval_Graphics) and they depict the submarines that are operational in Europe, Mediterranean Sea and the region of Asia-Pacific as of late 2015. All the images are posted here with his perimission. Enjoy these absolutely excellent graphs!

Submarines of Europe and Mediterannean Sea in 2015. By Naval Graphics. Image in high resolution here.