This past spring India launched the Visakhapatnam, first of a new class of Project 15B guided-missile destroyers. She is being built domestically in Mumbai by the shipyard Mazagaon Dock Limited. Four of the Project 15B destroyers are planned for delivery between 2018 and 2024. The Visakhapatnam, expected to carry a crew of around 350, is an enhanced version of the three-ship Kolkata-class destroyers (Project 15A) that began entering service in 2014. Displacing 7,300 tons, the new destroyers feature improved signature-reduction measures, as well as better survivability, seakeeping, and maneuverability compared to their predecessors. The class has a length of 535 feet with beam of 57 feet, and is powered by four gas-turbine engines capable of a top speed of 30 knots. Two multi-role helicopters will be carried on board in addition to a 3-inch gun and a battery of surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.
On 26 May the Brazilian navy received its first modernized A-4 Skyhawk from the Embraer Defense and Security group. Called the AF-1 Falcão in Brazilian service, the small carrier-capable attack jets were acquired secondhand from Kuwait several decades ago. The A-4s were originally built by the Douglas (later McDonnell Douglas) aircraft corporation in the United States; they served in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the 1950s until their retirement in 2003. Flight and weapons trials for the modernized single-seat aircraft, now redesignated AF-1B, began in June. AF-1B enhancements include a new multimode radar and navigation system, as well as improved sensors, communications equipment, and airframe modifications. Current plans call for nine single-seat and three dual-seat Falcãos to receive these modernizations, although budget constraints could reduce that total. The redelivered aircraft will be operated by Brazil’s VF-1 naval squadron and are expected to remain in service through the late 2020s.
Recent media reports indicate that Portugal has approved plans to build two additional Viana do Castelo–class patrol ships that had previously been placed on hold due to budget cuts. The two new vessels will be built at the West Sea shipyard in Viana do Castelo and are expected for delivery around 2018. Two sisters of the class, the Viana do Castelo (pictured here) and Figueira Da Foz, entered Portuguese service in 2011 and 2013 respectively. The 1,500-ton patrol ships are 273 feet long with a beam of 42.5 feet and a draft of 12 feet. Armed with a 30-mm Marlin-WS naval gun, they are fitted with a helicopter-landing deck but lack a hangar. The vessels are powered by two diesel engines providing a speed of 20 knots, a cruising range of 5,000 nautical miles, and an endurance of 30 days. The vessels carry a crew of approximately 35 officers and enlisted but can also accommodate an additional 32 personnel.
Mr. Wertheim, a defense consultant in the Washington, D.C., area, is the author of the new 16th edition of The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, available from the Naval Institute Press (see www.usni.org).