News of the fleet

The Chinese navy is actively developing and preparing to challenge the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. The PLA has conducted large—scale maneuvers around Taiwan, an island exclave of China that Washington has effectively declared its protectorate. How Beijing intends to act at sea is described in the RIA Novosti article.

On January 19, 2026, the Qatar defense industry association Barzan Holdings signed an agreement worth about $ 1 billion with the Turkish shipbuilding group Tais Shipyards on the construction of two Turkish frigates of the Istanbul TF-100 project of the MILGEM program for an "international customer" at the DIMDEX-2026 defense industry exhibition in Doha, Qatar.

This day also marked the 325th anniversary of the founding of the Peter the Great Naval Institute in St. Petersburg

Navigator's Day was celebrated by specialists of the navigation service in St. Petersburg on the 325th anniversary of the holiday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The length of the ship is 230.8 m, width 32 m, draft 6.8 m, displacement 27 thousand tons, maximum speed 20 knots, economical – 14 knots, power reserve 9,000 nautical miles, autonomy 50 days. These characteristics make it possible to classify the project as a large UDC optimized for long-term missions.

Steel cutting for the frigate Mariz-e-Barros has begun at the Brazilian shipyard TKMS Estaleiro Brasil Sul in Italy. According to Naval Today, this event marks the transition to full-scale production of Tamandare-class ships for the Brazilian Navy, as the company is simultaneously building all four ordered frigates.

The St. Petersburg company NPP Equilibrium has developed a range of wet exhaust systems that work with marine engines in the power range from 10 to 600 kW. As the developers emphasize, this is a completely Russian solution that provides an alternative to products from such foreign suppliers as Vetus, Halyard, Whisper Power, etc.

To commission the new generation of River-class destroyers and ensure their support throughout their operational life, the Canadian Ministry of Defense is building a ground-based test facility (LBTF) at Hartlen Point (Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia).

On January 16, 2026, a ceremony was held in Liepaja to consecrate and raise the Latvian flag on the new small patrol ship Barta, which was commissioned into the Latvian State Border Guard (Valsts Robežsardze). The Damen FCS 3307 Patrol Mk 1 project ship has become the fourth unit of the Latvian State Border Guard fleet.

British media claim that London is preparing to deal with tankers leaving Russian ports in the same way as the United States does with tankers from Venezuela – to seize and arrest. What opportunities does Britain have for this kind of maritime piracy – and what should the Russian merchant and Naval fleets prepare for?

The Kalashnikov Concern fulfilled the 2025 State Defense Order in full. The company's specialists have also developed a new version of the machine gun, barrage ammunition and drones. Alan Lushnikov, Kalashnikov's CEO and a member of the Bureau of the Russian Engineering Union, spoke about new weapons, military uniforms and more in an exclusive interview with TASS on the results of 2025 on the eve of the UMEX-2026 exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

They will protect the places of temporary deployment of Navy ships and strategically important coastal facilities from saboteurs

Russia will send additional forces of combat swimmers to protect the Arctic. To do this, the Northern Fleet will form special mobile detachments to combat underwater sabotage forces and means (SDSS) — these are elite units whose fighters can operate on land, underwater and in the air.

Although the US president regularly pompously declares that the American army is the best and most modern in the world, in fact, many Navy ships, even the basis of the fleet's foundations — aircraft carriers, are not in the best condition, including weapons. Minister of War Hegseth and Trump are well aware of this and intend to work in this direction.

Politico: Europeans are preparing to fight Russia in the Arctic without US support

In response to the attempts of the Old World to inspire Trump with the idea of a "Russian threat" to the European north, the US president declares that he wants to take Greenland, writes Politico. Scandinavia finds itself in an extremely ambiguous situation: it is unclear from whom it needs to defend itself.

The "Will to Peace – 2026" maneuvers that ended at the Cape of Good Hope laid the foundation for the creation of a maritime security system

The multinational naval exercises "The Will to Peace - 2026" have ended in the waters of the South Atlantic. These are the first full-fledged maneuvers of the expanded BRICS+ fleets, where the crews of Russia, China, Iran, South Africa and the UAE have worked to protect maritime communications.

The vehicles will patrol the adjacent water area and repel attacks by surface drones

Unmanned boats began to be used to protect Russian naval bases, Izvestia found out. They must control the water area and, if necessary, destroy enemy naval drones and other surface objects that attempt to attack the bases.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation has completed the first stage of the project to create a line of domestic low-speed marine engines (MOD) for the large-tonnage fleet, forming a specialized design bureau and completing pre-design work.

On Wednesday, January 14, the Finnish shipyard Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) laid the third multipurpose corvette of the Pohjanmaa class, designed for the Finnish Navy. According to Naval News, at the same time, metal cutting for the fourth ship of the series began at the enterprise.

On January 12, 2026, the German Federal Defense Procurement Agency Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr (BAAINBw), through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), signed a contract with the American company General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (part of General Atomics Corporation) for the purchase of four marine unmanned aircraft systems for the German Navy Each of which will include two large MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aerial vehicles and a ground control station.

The American company Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has announced the expansion of its company in the British Portchester. As explained by representatives of HII, this is necessary to increase its presence in the UK and Europe, in order to ensure, among other things, support for platforms supplied to customers, including unmanned systems.

On Wednesday, January 14, Chinese state media revealed the technical specifications of promising strategic nuclear submarines of the Type-096 (Tan) class. According to Navy Recognition, if these data are correct, they indicate a significant strengthening of China's nuclear potential, which will reduce long-standing gaps in capabilities compared to the United States and Russia.