Defense Media Network

Surface Warships 2014

Examining today’s challenging operating environment and building capacity and capability to meet missions of the future

Naval officers and industry experts will gather in Portsmouth, U.K., January 30-31 for the IQPC Surface Warships 2014 Conference to share ideas and concepts for designing, building, manning, and maintaining naval combatants today and into the future.

The opening keynote address will be delivered by U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, the director of Surface Warfare (N96) Chief of Naval Operations.

Presentations will cover a full spectrum from dealing with noncombat roles, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, to high-end capabilities required to defend against ballistic missiles.

Speakers from the Royal Navy will discuss the U.K.’s new Type 26 frigate program from the government acquisition industry design and construction, and operations point of view. Of emphasis will be the U.K. approach to open architecture in the Type 26 and other ship programs. Other presentations will share the Danish and Swedish perspectives to designing and constructing new ship programs and the ability to upgrade and modernize platforms to address emerging missions and keep pace with threats, from an operational perspective of addressing unique requirement.

Presentations will cover a full spectrum from dealing with noncombat roles, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, to high-end capabilities required to defend against ballistic missiles.

Rear Adm. Thomas S. Rowden

Rear Adm. Thomas S. Rowden, director of Surface Warfare (N96) Chief of Naval Operations, speaks with U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen as part of his visit to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., Sept. 5, 2013. Rowden is set to give the opening keynote statement at the IQPC Surface Warships 2014 Conference. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Julia A. Casper

Other presentations will summarize significant new combatant programs for such navies as Spain and Italy; operational and procurement perspectives from the Philippines and Pakistan; research and development activities from the Netherlands; industry solutions for combat systems and propulsion; and programmatic discussions for Europe and NATO.

The event will take place at Action Stations in Portsmouth, and is being chaired by Capt. Edward Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Ret.), a principal science writer with MCR Federal LLC in Arlington, Va.

“Surface combatants are the backbone of all modern navies, so it is essential that these increasingly multirole platforms are implemented to support all future deployments, no matter how diverse.”

“Surface combatants are the backbone of all modern navies, so it is essential that these increasingly multirole platforms are implemented to support all future deployments, no matter how diverse,” said Mark Eastwood, IQPC conference producer for Surface Warships 2014. “With so many naval participants from all corners of the world – from New Zealand, Peru, Australia, and Colombia – I’m looking forward to hearing about the range of challenges and solutions to the issues that these experts are facing today and moving into tomorrow.”

For information: http://www.surfacewarships.com

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Capt. Edward H. Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) is a senior-level communications professional with more than...