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The Dutch Ministry of Defense today issued the B-Letter for the Walrus-class submarine replacement program confirming its intent to procure 4 new submarines and shortlisting three shipbuilders for this procurement process: Naval Group, Saab and TKMS.

This leaves Spanish shipbuilder Navantia out of the race. The competition now enters a “knock-out” phase, with the contract award (D-Letter) expected some time around 2022.

The Finnish Navy (Merivoimat) unveiled some details about its future anti-ship missile: The Gabriel 5. The information is limited but since details on Gabriel V were pretty much non-existent to date, it is a good start and worth a mention here.

China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, "Shandong" (penant number 17), was delivered and commissioned today in to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese navy) in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province.

“[Another major] task of the [battle group’s aircraft] is to stop US long-range bombers from taking off from a naval base in Guam. This would be to prevent American aircraft targeting the PLA’s landing transport formations and Chinese submarines,” it said.
Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward province that must be unified with the mainland by force, if necessary.
In addition to the Liaoning and Shandong, the dual-carrier group will include two Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, the region’s most advanced destroyer; four Type 054 frigates; six guided-missile frigates, as well as one supply ship and three Type 093B nuclear submarines, according to the report.

Beijing-based military specialist Zhou Chenming agreed, saying a dual-carrier battle group would give the PLA a “bigger shield” and allow it to fend off any foreign fleets intent on intervening in Taiwan.
“Together the two aircraft carriers would be able to launch nearly 30 carrier-based J-15 fighter jets to target any warplanes from American carrier strike groups, which would effectively reduce the numerical strength [of the American forces],” Zhou said.
“But a dual-carrier battle group is purely a defensive combat formation – it’s not powerful enough to make a strike on other countries in the region, especially when dealing with the American carrier combat groups.”