From MAN to “Almaz” – How Western equipment gets on ships for the FSB

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Dossier Center – Russian ships continue to be built on equipment from Europe and the United States, despite sanctions and an official ban on supplies. In 2025, Vladimir Putin said that over the past five years Russia has built 49 warships of various classes. The Dossier Center and the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper found out how critical Western equipment, without which it is impossible to build a modern ship, still ends up in Russian shipyards. We talked to experts in the field of shipbuilding, employees of supply companies and studied financial documents that show that despite the rules and procedures, European and American manufacturers cannot control where their products are ultimately sent.

(In Russian) (Thanks to Alain)

Finland tests acoustic monitoring system to protect subsea cables

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TGS – Elisa, the Finnish Border Guard and the Finnish Navy have completed field tests of a Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) system designed to monitor and protect submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland. The technology uses optical fibre to detect vibrations on the seabed and identify potential threats to critical infrastructure.

(Thanks to Alain)

Turkish Navy Confirms 2032 Delivery Date for MUGEM Aircraft Carrier

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Naval News – Rear Admiral Hakan Uçar, Commander of the Turkish Navy’s Naval Technical Command (formerly head of the Design Project Office), gave a detailed presentation on Türkiye’s indigenous aircraft carrier project known as MUGEM at the Combined Naval Event (CNE) 2026, held in Farnborough, UK, from 19 to 21 May. The presentation revealed updated specifications, new design details, and confirmed that the construction is already underway with a 2032 delivery target.

The Philippines meets its NMESIS in Balikatan exercise

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Naval News – Two new pieces of equipment have recently joined the ranks of the US Marine Corps (USMC): the NMESIS – short for Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System – and the MADIS (which stands for Marine Air Defense Integrated System). Both items were put through their paces in the Philippines in the multinational Exercise Balikatan held from 20 April to 8 May 2026.

Building RFA Resurgent: inside the Royal Navy’s Fleet Solid Support ship programme

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Navy Lookout – Fleet Solid Support ship construction is now advancing across three nations, with the first steel cut on RFA Resurgent in Cadiz, steelwork erection underway at Appledore and shipbuilding capacity being regenerated at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. At CNE 2026, we spoke to Navantia UK about the programme and the company’s ambitions beyond FSS.

NATO Collective Legal Interpretations: Strengthening Alliance Deterrence and Protecting Baltic Undersea Assets Against Grey-Zone Threats​

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Center for Maritime Security – Although UNCLOS was not adequately fabricated for irregular activities, NATO’s ability to ultimately address hybrid threat vectors solely relies on its political willingness. If adversaries suspect fissures within the alliance’s force structure, hybrid activities will escalate with grievous repercussions. Although NATO, particularly European member states, operates within a rules-based international order, allied governments must remain cognizant that adversarial states, most notably Russia, are increasingly willing to employ coercive and asymmetric maritime measures for strategic and geopolitical gain, despite being signatories to UNCLOS. Simultaneously, the United States must recognize that maintaining maritime order and alliance credibility requires operating in tandem with its European counterparts as a cohesive and perceivable hegemonic bloc, as the durability of U.S. strategic influence and the preservation of the state system’s rules-based order remain inherently connected to allied interoperability and joint deterrence.

New Mystery Submarine Signals China’s Rapid Undersea Expansion

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Naval News – China is launching submarines at a pace unmatched by any other nation. Its latest design, a distinctive and innovative vessel that dispenses with the traditional sail, marks another step in the evolution of an increasingly capable and technologically advanced submarine force. With little official information available, understanding the purpose and capabilities of this new class depends largely on intelligence gathering and expert analysis.