The Colombian navy has completed modernization of its four FS 1500–class frigates, also known as the Almirante Padilla class. The Almirante Padilla (pictured here), Caldas, Antioquia, and Independiente were originally built by Howaldstwerke in Kiel, Germany, and entered service in the early 1980s. The class was refitted during the 1990s, and the contract for this latest modernization effort was signed in 2009. The current upgrades, carried out as a cooperative effort between Colombia’s Cotecmar shipyard, France’s DCNS, and Thales included installation of the SMART-S Mk-2 surveillance radar, and the STING Mk-2 and Mirador electro-optic weapons-control systems. The class’s defensive weapons and sensor fit were enhanced as well with the addition of the VIGILE 200S electronic-support system and the Terma Soft Kill Weapon System (SKWS) decoy launcher. Armed with Exocet antiship missiles and the Simbad surface-to-air missile system, the 1,800-ton, 312-foot FS 1500 class also carries torpedo tubes, a 76-mm gun, twin 40-mm antiaircraft guns, and a flight deck for small helicopters.
Modernization has also been completed on the Rauma (Helsinki II class) guided-missile patrol craft for Finland. The Rauma (shown here), Raahe, Porvoo, and Naantali were built by Finnyards in Rauma and entered service between 1990 and 1992. The 248-ton (full load) class of missile craft measure 157 feet long with a beam of 26 feet and a draught of around 3 feet. Depending on mission requirements, these vessels can carry RBS-15 antiship missiles, a 40-mm antiaircraft gun, and the Finnish SAKO surface-to-air missile system; or the antiship missiles can be replaced with a passive towed-array sonar, and the surface-to-air missile system can be replaced by two antiaircraft guns. Upgrades on the Rauma class began in 2010 and were actually completed late in 2013, but testing and fleet integration delayed their final delivery into 2014. The Finnish four-ship midlife modernization of these vessels cost roughly $100 million and included enhancements to the 9LV combat system and other electronics, ensuring operational effectiveness well into the next decade.
Britain’s sea force officially welcomed female submariners into its midst when three lieutenants, Maxine Stiles, Alex Olsson, and Penny Thackray, earned their dolphins this spring for service on board Royal Navy submarines. HMS Vigilant (pictured here), was the Vanguard-class ballistic-missile submarine that served as the training boat for the three women, who are now setting off to begin their submarine careers. The Royal Navy began permitting women to serve at sea nearly 25 years ago, and in 2012 Sarah West took command of the frigate HMS Portland, marking the first time in British naval history that a woman was placed in charge of a major surface combatant. It was not until 2011, however, that the United Kingdom removed the ban on women going to sea as part of a Royal Navy submarine crew. The U.S. Navy has also recently undergone a similar transition process, with the ban on women serving on board U.S. Navy submarines having been lifted in 2010. The first women began serving as part of U.S. submarine crews in 2011.