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75-494: The Aster 15 and Aster 30 are a Franco-Italian family of all-weather, vertical launch surface-to-air missiles . The name " Aster " stands for "Aérospatiale Terminale", with French company Aérospatiale having been the project's lead contractor before its missile activities were merged into MBDA . It also takes inspiration from the word "aster" ( Greek : ἀστήρ ), meaning "star" in Ancient Greek. The missiles as well as

150-458: A condenser cooled by seawater and returns to liquid form. The water is pumped back to the steam generator and continues the cycle. Any water lost in the process can be made up by desalinated sea water added to the steam generator feed water. In the turbine, the steam expands and reduces its pressure as it imparts energy to the rotating blades of the turbine. There may be many stages of rotating blades and fixed guide vanes. The output shaft of

225-478: A 70 MWt reactor such as Hyperion's. In response to its members' interest in nuclear propulsion, Lloyd's Register has also re-written its 'rules' for nuclear ships, which concern the integration of a reactor certified by a land-based regulator with the rest of the ship. The overall rationale of the rule-making process assumes that in contrast to the current marine industry practice where the designer/builder typically demonstrates compliance with regulatory requirements, in

300-466: A cold launch system for some of its vertical launch missile systems, e.g., the Tor missile system . The UK's Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) family of missiles utilises a similar cold-launching system, referred to as soft-vertical-launch , and actively markets the advantages of the system. Soft-launch provides the missile with a reduce interception rate allowing for shorter ranged engagements, reduces

375-464: A cold launch system, while Type 054A frigates use a hot launch system. Transporter erector launchers are wheeled or tracked land vehicles for the launch of surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles. In most systems the missiles are transported in a horizontal out-of-battery configuration: in order to fire, the vehicle must stop and the transport/launch tube must be raised to the vertical before firing. BAE Systems has filed patents relating to

450-461: A costly, but more space efficient option. Some warships of China's People's Liberation Army Navy use a concentric canister launch (CCL) system that can launch using both hot and cold methods in the cell module, onboard the Type 052D destroyer and the Type 055 destroyer . The universal launch system is offered for export. Older Chinese ships use single launch system: Type 052C destroyers use

525-583: A domestic medium/long range surface-to-air missile to enter service in the first decade of the 21st century, that would give them comparable range but superior interception capability to the American Standard or British Sea Dart already in service. Thought was given in particular to the new missile's ability to intercept next-generation supersonic anti-ship missiles , such as the BrahMos missile developed jointly by India and Russia. This allowed

600-561: A few experimental ships. The U.S.-built NS  Savannah , completed in 1962, was primarily a demonstration of civil nuclear power and was too small and expensive to operate economically as a merchant ship. The design was too much of a compromise, being neither an efficient freighter nor a viable passenger liner. The German-built Otto Hahn , completed in 1968, a cargo ship and research facility, sailed some 650,000 nautical miles (1,200,000 km) on 126 voyages over 10 years without any technical problems. It proved too expensive to operate and

675-410: A hot-launch system relatively light, small, and economical to develop and produce, particularly when designed around smaller missiles. A potential disadvantage is that a malfunctioning missile could destroy the launch tube. American surface-ship VLSs have missile cells arranged in a grid with one lid per cell and are "hot launch" systems. The engine ignites within the cell during the launch and so requires

750-420: A land-based nuclear power plant, which increases the probability of fission to the level where a sustained reaction can occur. Some marine reactors run on relatively low-enriched uranium , which requires more frequent refueling. Others run on highly enriched uranium , varying from 20% U, to the over 96% U found in U.S. submarines , in which the resulting smaller core is quieter in operation (a big advantage to

825-444: A land-based reactor that always remains upright. Salt water corrosion is an additional problem that complicates maintenance. As the core of a seagoing reactor is much smaller than a power reactor, the probability of a neutron intersecting with a fissionable nucleus before it escapes into the shielding is much lower. As such, the fuel is typically more highly enriched (i.e., contains a higher concentration of U vs. U) than that used in

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900-457: A marine reactor must be physically small, so it must generate higher power per unit of space. This means its components are subject to greater stresses than those of a land-based reactor. Its mechanical systems must operate flawlessly under the adverse conditions encountered at sea, including vibration and the pitching and rolling of a ship operating in rough seas. Reactor shutdown mechanisms cannot rely on gravity to drop control rods into place as in

975-691: A modified version of their own, the PWR2 . The largest nuclear submarines ever built are the 26,500 tonne Russian Typhoon class . The smallest nuclear warships to date are the 2,700 tonne French Rubis -class attack submarines. The U.S. Navy operated an unarmed nuclear submarine, the NR-1 Deep Submergence Craft , between 1969 and 2008, which was not a combat vessel but was the smallest nuclear-powered submarine at 400 tons. The United States and France have built nuclear aircraft carriers . The sole French nuclear aircraft carrier example

1050-469: A much larger booster. Total weights of the Aster 15 and Aster 30 are 310 kg (680 lb) and 450 kg (990 lb) respectively. The Aster 15 is 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) long, rising to just under 5 m (16 ft 5 in) for the Aster 30. Aster 15 has a diameter of 180 mm (7.1 in). Given the larger dimensions of the Aster 30, a naval based system requires the longer tubes of

1125-551: A new facility near Sayda Bay is to provide storage in a concrete-floored facility on land for some submarines in the far north. Russia built a floating nuclear power plant for its far eastern territories. The design has two 35 MWe units based on the KLT-40 reactor used in icebreakers (with refueling every four years). Some Russian naval vessels have been used to supply electricity for domestic and industrial use in remote far eastern and Siberian towns. In 2010, Lloyd's Register

1200-464: A separate programme. In January 2023, the Italian and French Minister of Defense signed with MBDA a $ 2 billion contract for the purchase of 700 Aster missiles. There are two versions of the Aster missile family, the short-medium range version, the Aster 15, and the long range version, the Aster 30. The missile bodies are identical. Their difference in range and intercept speed is because Aster 30 uses

1275-515: A strong countermeasures environment , the Aster was not armed with its military warhead, so that the distance between the Aster and the target could be recorded. The target, a C22, was recovered bearing two strong cuts made by the fins of the Aster missile. In May 2001, Aster again completed the "manufacturer's validation firing test". It was deployed for the first time on the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle . In June 2001,

1350-468: A submarine). Using more-highly enriched fuel also increases the reactor's power density and extends the usable life of the nuclear fuel load, but is more expensive and a greater risk to nuclear proliferation than less-highly enriched fuel. A marine nuclear propulsion plant must be designed to be highly reliable and self-sufficient, requiring minimal maintenance and repairs, which might have to be undertaken many thousands of miles from its home port. One of

1425-664: A submerged circumnavigation of the Earth ( Operation Sandblast ), doing so in 1960. Nautilus , with a pressurized water reactor (PWR), led to the parallel development of other submarines like a unique liquid metal cooled (sodium) reactor in USS ; Seawolf , or two reactors in Triton , and then the Skate -class submarines, powered by single reactors, and a cruiser, USS  Long Beach , in 1961, powered by two reactors. By 1962,

1500-463: A way of venting rocket exhaust. France, Italy and Britain use a similar hot-launching Sylver system in PAAMS . The advantage of the cold-launch system is in its safety: if a missile engine malfunctions during launch, the cold-launch system can eject the missile, reducing or eliminating the threat. For this reason, Russian VLSs are often designed with a slant so that a malfunctioning missile will land in

1575-660: Is Charles de Gaulle , commissioned in 2001 (a successor is planned). The French carrier is equipped with catapults and arresters . The Charles de Gaulle has 42,000 tonnes, is the flagship of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). The ship carries a complement of Dassault Rafale M and E‑2C Hawkeye aircraft, EC725 Caracal and AS532 Cougar helicopters for combat search and rescue , as well as modern electronics and Aster missiles. The United States Navy operates 11 carriers, all nuclear-powered: The Kirov class, Soviet designation 'Project 1144 Orlan' ( sea eagle ),

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1650-486: Is propulsion of a ship or submarine with heat provided by a nuclear reactor . The power plant heats water to produce steam for a turbine used to turn the ship's propeller through a gearbox or through an electric generator and motor. Nuclear propulsion is used primarily within naval warships such as nuclear submarines and supercarriers . A small number of experimental civil nuclear ships have been built. Compared to oil- or coal-fuelled ships, nuclear propulsion offers

1725-468: Is a class of nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers of the Soviet Navy and Russian Navy , the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships (i.e. not an aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship ) in operation in the world. Among modern warships, they are second in size only to large aircraft carriers , and of similar size to World War II era battleships . The Soviet classification of

1800-763: Is a nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle under development by Rubin Design Bureau , capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear payloads . According to Russian state TV, it is able to deliver a thermonuclear cobalt bomb of up to 200 megatonnes (four times as powerful as the most powerful device ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba , and twice its maximum theoretical yield) against an enemy's naval ports and coastal cities. The following are ships that are or were in commercial or civilian use and have nuclear marine propulsion. Nuclear-powered civil merchant ships have not developed beyond

1875-473: Is considered. This is a small fast-neutron reactor using lead–bismuth eutectic cooling and able to operate for ten full-power years before refueling, and in service last for a 25-year operational life of the vessel. They conclude that the concept is feasible, but further maturity of nuclear technology and the development and harmonisation of the regulatory framework would be necessary before the concept would be viable. Nuclear propulsion has been proposed again on

1950-752: Is primarily operated by France and Italy, as well as the United Kingdom as an export customer, and is an integrated component of the PAAMS air defence system, known in the Royal Navy as Sea Viper. As the principal weapon of the PAAMS, the Aster equips the Horizon-class frigates in French and Italian service as well as the British Type ;45 destroyers . It equips the French and Italian FREMM multipurpose frigates , though not through

2025-496: Is provided with an internal neutron shield, which reduces the damage to the steel from constant neutron bombardment. Decommissioning nuclear-powered submarines has become a major task for U.S. and Russian navies. After defuelling, U.S. practice is to cut the reactor section from the vessel for disposal in shallow land burial as low-level waste (see the ship-submarine recycling program ). In Russia, whole vessels, or sealed reactor sections, typically remain stored afloat, although

2100-467: Is reported to be powered by a thorium-based molten salt reactor , making it a first thorium-powered container ship and, if completed, the largest nuclear-powered container ship in the world. Nuclear propulsion has proven both technically and economically feasible for nuclear-powered icebreakers in the Soviet , and later Russian , Arctic . Nuclear-fuelled ships operate for years without refueling, and

2175-467: Is still interest in nuclear propulsion. In November 2010 British Maritime Technology and Lloyd's Register embarked upon a two-year study with U.S.-based Hyperion Power Generation (now Gen4 Energy ), and the Greek ship operator Enterprises Shipping and Trading SA to investigate the practical maritime applications for small modular reactors. The research intended to produce a concept tanker-ship design, based on

2250-461: Is used on the Zumwalt -class destroyer . The older Mark 13 and Mark 26 systems remain in service on ships that were sold to other countries such as Taiwan and Poland. When installed on an SSN (nuclear-powered attack submarine), a VLS allows a greater number and variety of weapons to be deployed, compared with using only torpedo tubes . A vertical launch system can be either hot launch , where

2325-588: The Arabel long range radar, developed under the Aster 30 Block 1 upgrade program, in order to extend the system's capability against higher speed and higher altitude targets. The Aster 30 Block 1 can intercept missiles with a 600 km (370 mi) range ( short-range ballistic missiles ). According to a news report of May 2023, "The Franco-Italian anti-aircraft missile system has arrived in Ukraine, and it will be serviced by 20 local experts." Italy announced that it

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2400-566: The EPR ), a typical marine propulsion reactor produces no more than a few hundred megawatts. Some small modular reactors (SMR) are similar to marine propulsion reactors in capacity and some design considerations and thus nuclear marine propulsion (whether civilian or military) is sometimes proposed as an additional market niche for SMRs. Unlike for land-based applications where hundreds of hectares can be occupied by installations like Bruce Nuclear Generating Station , at sea tight space limits dictate that

2475-483: The IR signature of the ship and the obscurant of visibility by rendering the ship in efflux for several minutes; and most notably, the lack of hot efflux and reduced stress on the ship's structure allows for a much greater choice of launch systems, such as the lighter Mushroom Farm launcher whilst also still enabling installation into the heavier Mark 41 in a quad-pack or dual-packed configuration (4 or 2 missiles per cell) for

2550-722: The Sylver A50 or A70 vertical launching system (VLS). The American Mark 41 Vertical Launching System can accommodate Aster 30. The Aster 30 Block 1 is used on the Eurosam SAMP/T system operated by the French Air and Space Force and the Italian Army. In 2015, France launched the development of the Block 1NT variant, a programme Italy would join in 2016. The same year, the United Kingdom showed interest in acquiring

2625-777: The United States Navy had 26 operational nuclear submarines and another 30 under construction. Nuclear power had revolutionized the Navy. The United States shared its technology with the United Kingdom , while French , Soviet , Indian and Chinese development proceeded separately. After the Skate -class vessels, U.S. submarines were powered by a series of standardized, single-reactor designs built by Westinghouse and General Electric . Rolls-Royce plc built similar units for Royal Navy submarines, eventually developing

2700-399: The pressurized water type, with the exception of a few attempts at using liquid sodium-cooled reactors. A primary water circuit transfers heat generated from nuclear fission in the fuel to a steam generator ; this water is kept under pressure so it does not boil. This circuit operates at a temperature of around 250 to 300 °C (482 to 572 °F). Any radioactive contamination in

2775-401: The Aster achieved a successful interception of an Arabel missile at low altitude in less than five seconds. In 2001, a target simulating an aircraft flying at speeds of Mach 1 and at an altitude of 100 m (330 ft) was intercepted by an Aster 15. The first ever operational firing of the Aster missile took place during October 2002 on board Charles de Gaulle . In November 2003, Eurosam

2850-428: The Block 1NT version for its Type 45 destroyers currently operating the Block 0. In 2022, the United Kingdom announced a series of upgrades to its Type 45 destroyers . This included the implementation of the Block 1 version for anti-ship ballistic missile defense. The Aster 30 has been incorporated by Eurosam into a mobile SAM system, fulfilling the ground-based theatre air defence/protection requirement. It comes in

2925-474: The Italian experimental frigate Carabiniere provided a test bed for live firing trials of the Aster 15 from Sylver A43 launchers with EMPAR and SAAM-it systems, and the trials of Aster 30 from Sylver A50 launchers with EMPAR and PAAMS (E) systems. As of 2012, France had spent €4.1bn at 2010 prices on 10 SAMP/T launchers, 375 Aster 30 missiles and 200 Aster 15 missiles. Another 80 Aster 30 and 40 Aster 15 were purchased for France's Horizon-class frigates under

3000-666: The Liability of Operators of Nuclear Ships , developed in 1962, would have made signatory national governments liable for accidents caused by nuclear vessels under their flag but was never ratified owing to disagreement on the inclusion of warships under the convention. Nuclear reactors under United States jurisdiction are insured by the provisions of the Price–Anderson Act . By 1990, there were more nuclear reactors powering ships (mostly military) than there were generating electric power in commercial power plants worldwide. Under

3075-630: The PAAMS air defense suite itself but specific French and Italian derivatives of the system. During the 1980s, the predominant missiles in Franco-Italian service were short-range systems such as the French Crotale , Italian Selenia Aspide or American Sea Sparrow , with ranges up to a dozen kilometres. Some vessels were also equipped with the American medium/long range RIM-66 Standard . France and Italy decided to start development of

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3150-418: The actual systems to have the characteristic of being specialised either in short-to-medium range "point defence" for e.g. ships, or in medium-to-long range "zone defence" of fleets . In May 1989, a memorandum of understanding was signed between France and Italy for the development of a family of future surface-to air-missiles. Eurosam was formed shortly afterwards. By July 1995 development had taken shape in

3225-425: The advantage of very long intervals of operation before refueling. All the fuel is contained within the nuclear reactor, so no cargo or supplies space is taken up by fuel, nor is space taken up by exhaust stacks or combustion air intakes. The low fuel cost is offset by high operating costs and investment in infrastructure, however, so nearly all nuclear-powered vessels are military. Most naval nuclear reactors are of

3300-410: The cell. If the missile ignites in a cell without an ejection mechanism, the cell must withstand the tremendous heat generated without igniting missiles in adjacent cells. An advantage of a hot-launch system is that the missile propels itself out of the launching cell using its own engine, which eliminates the need for a separate system to eject the missile from the launching tube. This potentially makes

3375-838: The direction of U.S. Navy Captain (later Admiral) Hyman G. Rickover , the design, development and production of nuclear marine propulsion plants started in the United States in the 1940s. The first prototype naval reactor was constructed and tested at the Naval Reactor Facility at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho (now called the Idaho National Laboratory ) in 1953. The first nuclear submarine , USS  Nautilus  (SSN-571) , put to sea in 1955 (SS

3450-518: The form of the Sol-Air Moyenne-Portée/Terrestre (French for "Surface-to-Air Medium-Range/Land-based"), abbreviated as SAMP/T . The system uses a network of radars and sensors – including 3D phased array radar – enabling it to be effective against various air threats such as aircraft , tactical ballistic missiles , standoff missiles , cruise missiles or anti-radiation missiles . The SAMP/T uses an upgraded version of

3525-539: The form of the Aster missile, and test firing of the first Aster 30 took place. The missile successfully intercepted a target at an altitude of 15,000 m (49,000 ft) and at speeds of 1,000 km/h (620 mph). A Phase 2 contract was awarded in 1997 at US$ 1 billion for pre-production and development of the French-Italian land and naval systems. During development trials between 1993 and 1994 all flight sequences, altitudes and ranges, were validated. This

3600-465: The four-ship Virginia class . USS  Virginia  (CGN-38) was commissioned in 1976, followed by USS  Texas  (CGN-39) in 1977, USS  Mississippi  (CGN-40) in 1978 and finally USS  Arkansas  (CGN-41) in 1980. Ultimately, all these ships proved to be too costly to maintain and they were all retired between 1993 and 1999. SSV-33 Ural ( ССВ-33 Урал ; NATO reporting name : Kapusta [ Russian for " cabbage "])

3675-436: The future the nuclear regulators will wish to ensure that it is the operator of the nuclear plant that demonstrates safety in operation, in addition to the safety through design and construction. Nuclear ships are currently the responsibility of their own countries, but none are involved in international trade. As a result of this work in 2014 two papers on commercial nuclear marine propulsion were published by Lloyd's Register and

3750-553: The main deck. In addition to greater firepower, VLS is much more damage tolerant and reliable than the previous systems and has a lower radar cross-section (RCS). The U.S. Navy now relies exclusively on VLS for its guided missile destroyers and cruisers . The most widespread VLS in the world is the Mark 41 , developed by the United States Navy . More than 11,000 Mark 41 VLS missile cells have been delivered, or are on order, for use on 186 ships across 19 ship classes, in 11 navies around

3825-402: The missile ignites in the cell, or cold launch , where the missile is expelled by gas produced by a gas generator which is not part of the missile itself, and then the missile ignites. "Cold" means relatively cold compared with rocket engine exhaust. A hot launch system does not require an ejection mechanism but does require some way of disposing of the missile's exhaust and heat as it departs

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3900-453: The other members of this consortium. These publications review past and recent work in the area of marine nuclear propulsion and describe a preliminary concept design study for a 155,000  DWT Suezmax tanker that is based on a conventional hull form with alternative arrangements for accommodating a 70 MWt nuclear propulsion plant delivering up to 23.5 MW shaft power at maximum continuous rating (average: 9.75 MW). The Gen4Energy power module

3975-435: The primary water is confined. Water is circulated by pumps; at lower power levels, reactors designed for submarines may rely on natural circulation of the water to reduce noise generated by the pumps. The hot water from the reactor heats a separate water circuit in the steam generator. That water is converted to steam and passes through steam driers on its way to the steam turbine . Spent steam at low pressure runs through

4050-518: The related weapon systems are manufactured by Eurosam , a consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales , each holding a 33.3% share. The Aster missiles were developed to intercept and destroy the full spectrum of air threats from high-performance combat aircraft , UAVs and helicopters to cruise , anti-radiation and even sea-skimming supersonic anti-ship missiles. The Aster 30 Block 1 and Block 1 NT are designed to also counter ballistic missiles . The Aster

4125-426: The relatively high enrichment of the uranium and by incorporating a " burnable poison " in the fuel elements, which is slowly depleted as the fuel elements age and become less reactive. The gradual dissipation of the "nuclear poison" increases the reactivity of the core to compensate for the lessening reactivity of the aging fuel elements, thereby extending the usable life of the fuel. The compact reactor pressure vessel

4200-411: The ship-type is "heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser" ( Russian : тяжёлый атомный ракетный крейсер ). The ships are often referred to as battlecruisers by Western defence commentators due to their size and general appearance. The United States Navy at one time had nuclear-powered cruisers as part of its fleet. The first such ship was USS Long Beach (CGN-9) . Commissioned in 1961, she

4275-400: The submarine, finally making it a true "underwater" vessel, rather than a "submersible" craft, which could only stay underwater for limited periods. It gave the submarine the ability to operate submerged at high speeds, comparable to those of surface vessels, for unlimited periods, dependent only on the endurance of its crew. To demonstrate this USS  Triton was the first vessel to execute

4350-442: The technical difficulties in designing fuel elements for a seagoing nuclear reactor is the creation of fuel elements that will withstand a large amount of radiation damage. Fuel elements may crack over time and gas bubbles may form. The fuel used in marine reactors is a metal- zirconium alloy rather than the ceramic UO 2 ( uranium dioxide ) often used in land-based reactors. Marine reactors are designed for long core life, enabled by

4425-409: The turbine may be connected to a gearbox to reduce rotation speed, then a shaft connects to the vessel's propellers. In another form of drive system, the turbine turns an electrical generator, and the electric power produced is fed to one or more drive motors for the vessel's propellers. The Russian , U.S. and British navies rely on direct steam turbine propulsion, while French and Chinese ships use

4500-718: The turbine to generate electricity for propulsion ( turbo-electric transmission ). Some nuclear submarines have a single reactor, but Russian submarines have two, and so had USS  Triton . Most American aircraft carriers are powered by two reactors, but USS  Enterprise had eight. The majority of marine reactors are of the pressurized water type, although the U.S. and Soviet navies have designed warships powered with liquid metal cooled reactors . Marine-type reactors differ from land-based commercial electric power reactors in several respects. While land-based reactors in nuclear power plants produce up to around 1600 megawatts of net electrical power (the nameplate capacity of

4575-548: The use of Vertical Launch missiles from modified passenger aircraft. In 2021, the Centre for Military Studies published the total number of VLS cells in use with fourteen NATO navies. The results are displayed below. Note: The above table does not include NATO navies which do not possess vertical launching systems, namely Albania, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovenia. Nuclear marine propulsion Nuclear marine propulsion

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4650-445: The vessels have powerful engines, well-suited to the task of icebreaking. The Soviet icebreaker Lenin was the world's first nuclear-powered surface vessel in 1959 and remained in service for 30 years (new reactors were fitted in 1970). It led to a series of larger icebreakers, the 23,500 ton Arktika class of six vessels, launched beginning in 1975. These vessels have two reactors and are used in deep Arctic waters. NS Arktika

4725-410: The water instead of on the ship's deck. As missile size grows, the benefits of ejection launching increase. Above a certain size, a missile booster cannot be safely ignited within the confines of a ship's hull. Most modern ICBMs and SLBMs are cold-launched. Russia produces both grid systems and a revolver arrangement with more than one missile per lid for its cold launch system. Russia also uses

4800-678: The wave of decarbonization of marine shipping, which accounts for 3–4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In December 5, 2023, the Jiangnan Shipyard under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation officially released a design of a 24000  TEU -class container ship — known as the KUN-24AP — at Marintec China 2023, a premier maritime industry exhibition held in Shanghai . The container ship

4875-686: The world. This system currently serves with the US Navy as well as the Australian, Danish, Dutch, German, Japanese, Norwegian, South Korean, Spanish, and Turkish navies, while others like the Greek Navy preferred the similar Mark 48 system. The 3S-14 VLS was developed in Russia and is used in sea-based as well as land-based TEL systems such as the S-400 missile system . The advanced Mark 57 VLS

4950-687: Was a command and control naval ship operated by the Soviet Navy . SSV-33 ' s hull was derived from that of the nuclear-powered Kirov -class battlecruisers with nuclear marine propulsion. SSV-33 served in electronic intelligence , missile tracking, space tracking, and communications relay roles. Due to high operating costs, SSV-33 was laid up. SSV-33 carried only light defensive weapons. These were two AK-176 76 mm guns, four AK-630 30 mm guns, and four quadruple Igla missile mounts. The Poseidon ( Russian : Посейдон , " Poseidon ", NATO reporting name Kanyon ), previously known by Russian codename Status-6 ( Russian : Статус-6 ),

5025-459: Was a traditional hull classification symbol for U.S. submarines, while SSN denoted the first "nuclear" submarine). The Soviet Union also developed nuclear submarines. The first types developed were the Project 627, NATO-designated November class with two water-cooled reactors, the first of which, K-3 Leninsky Komsomol , was underway under nuclear power in 1958. Nuclear power revolutionized

5100-621: Was also the period during which the launch sequence of Aster 30 was validated. In May 1996, trials of the Aster 15 active electromagnetic final guidance system against live targets began. All six attempts were successful. During 1997 Aster was extensively tested, this time being pitted against targets such as the Aerospatiale C.22 target and first generation Exocet anti-ship missiles. In numerous engagements Aster scored direct impacts on its targets. During an engagement in November 1997 in

5175-524: Was awarded the 3 billion euro Phase 3 production contract. Full production and exports to France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom started. The resulting Aster surface-to-air missile meets inter-service and international requirements, addressing the needs of the land, air and naval forces of France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The decision to base the missile around a common terminal intercept "dart" to which different sized boosters can be attached, has made it modular and extensible. From 2002 to 2005,

5250-427: Was commissioned in 1988. As of 2021 , it is the only nuclear-powered merchant ship in service. Civilian nuclear ships suffer from the costs of specialized infrastructure. The Savannah was expensive to operate since it was the only vessel using its specialized nuclear shore staff and servicing facility. A larger fleet could share fixed costs among more operating vessels, reducing operating costs. Despite this, there

5325-486: Was converted to diesel. The Japanese Mutsu , completed in 1972, was dogged by technical and political problems. Its reactor had significant radiation leakage and fishermen protested against the vessel's operation. All of these three ships used low-enriched uranium. Sevmorput , a Soviet and later Russian LASH carrier with icebreaking capability, has operated successfully on the Northern Sea Route since it

5400-494: Was investigating the possibility of civilian nuclear marine propulsion and rewriting draft rules (see text under Merchant Ships ). Insurance of nuclear vessels is not like the insurance of conventional ships. The consequences of an accident could span national boundaries, and the magnitude of possible damage is beyond the capacity of private insurers. A special international agreement, the Brussels Convention on

5475-412: Was sending a second SAMP/T system to Ukraine. The date of arrival was not announced. [REDACTED]   Slovakia Vertical launching system A VLS allows surface combatants to have a greater number of weapons ready for firing at any given time compared to older launching systems such as the Mark 13 single-arm and Mark 26 twin-arm launchers, which were fed from behind by a magazine below

5550-570: Was the first surface vessel to reach the North Pole . For use in shallow waters such as estuaries and rivers, shallow-draft, Taymyr -class icebreakers were built in Finland and then fitted with their single-reactor nuclear propulsion system in Russia . They were built to conform to international safety standards for nuclear vessels. All nuclear-powered icebreakers have been commissioned by

5625-468: Was the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant . She was followed a year later by USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25) . While Long Beach was designed and built as a cruiser, Bainbridge began life as a frigate , though at that time the Navy was using the hull code "DLGN" for " destroyer leader , guided missile , nuclear ". The last nuclear-powered cruisers the Americans would produce would be

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