{"id":54038,"date":"2015-02-21T08:21:03","date_gmt":"2015-02-21T08:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:56:20","slug":"small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Our forecast for new spending on naval platforms in MENA market continues to show steady and substantial growth,&#8221; said Amy McDonald, an international naval programs analyst with AMI International.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;However, looking at the region, we&#8217;ve seen little movement on most surface combatant and submarine programs since the March DIMDEX show in Doha,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Most activity has been centered around small patrol craft or coast guard vessels.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/idex\/\" title=\"http:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/idex\/\">Digital Show Daily: Complete coverage from IDEX 2015<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Algeria together account for nearly 40 percent of the region&#8217;s forecasted naval market investment, McDonald noted. Egypt and Israel make up another 20 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Egypt made news Feb. 16 when leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed a reported US $5.9 billion deal in Paris to buy the Normandie, a FREMM frigate recently completed by DCNS for the French Navy, in a major buy that included 24 Rafale fighter jets. The deal marked the first export contract for the Dassault Aviation jet \u2014 a mainstay of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle&#8217;s air group \u2014 and the second overseas sale of a French FREMM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The frigate Mohammad VI, second of the first group of FREMM frigates, was built under contract for Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The addition of a new, French-built frigate to Egypt&#8217;s Navy, however, will complicate their logistics and training chains. Egypt already operates American, Spanish and Chinese-built frigates along with French, British and US-built fast attack craft. Supporting those older ships also presents opportunities for modernization, training and supply contracts \u2014 a situation common throughout the MENA region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Sisi&#8217;s visit to France came just after he hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a two-day state visit to Cairo during which the two leaders announced agreements for Russian assistance in nuclear power plant construction, natural gas business and the creation of a Russian industrial zone along the Suez Canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcements came as Russia is making aggressive overtures to Egypt and elsewhere in the MENA region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Moscow&#8217;s policies again have become markedly more active,&#8221; Dimitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote in a recent paper for the Washington-based Century Foundation. &#8220;During his presidency, Vladimir Putin made trips to the region and paid a visit to Tehran, the first one since Stalin&#8217;s wartime allied conference journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;However, Russia&#8217;s policies are not yet embedded within some overall strategy and are largely driven by a set of pragmatic considerations,&#8221; Trenin said. &#8220;Russia&#8217;s principal objectives are to advance its economic interests and to counter threats to Russia&#8217;s national security.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia&#8217;s aims are both commercial and political, said Yury Barmin, a UAE-based Russian political and military analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Within individual countries, Russian influence [rests] almost entirely on its arms sales or military aid to allies in MENA,&#8221; Barmin told <i>Defense News<\/i> in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Moscow&#8217;s entry point to the MENA market is through the former Soviet clients, such as Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Jordan,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In some of them, old Soviet types of hardware are still in active use, while others have replaced them with US equivalents in the &#8217;90s when Russia disappeared from the international arena.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russian companies have participated in every IDEX show. According to Rostec, the largest Russian defense systems manufacturer, this year&#8217;s delegation will comprise more than 350 individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>31 Naval Programs<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AMI International is tracking more than 31 naval programs in the MENA region, McDonald said, referring to programs where a government has taken official action to either acquire new ships or announced an intention to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Two-thirds of those 31 programs are expected to be awarded in the next two<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">2<\/span> years,&#8221; she noted, &#8220;but only time will tell if they actually move forward or continue to get pushed to the right.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nine of those programs, she said, &#8220;have been in limbo, with no real progress made for quite some time.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nine include a future corvette for Bahrain; corvettes, a support ship and a diving vessel for Kuwait; a corvette and amphibious landing craft for Qatar; and the big prize, Saudi Arabia&#8217;s long-anticipated Eastern Fleet replacement program, which includes a small frigate-like vessel, medium-sized and smaller patrol and fast attack vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saudi Arabia reportedly furnished the US in January with a shopping list for its Eastern Fleet, but it is not clear what effect the recent change in leadership will have on the programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Awad Mustafa in Abu Dhabi contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":114342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":89,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,33,89],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1026],"class_list":["post-54038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-show-dailies","category-home","category-idex"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ABLXPYEZ3BA4VENLBVDG2W65JI","arc_canonical_url":"\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-21T08:21:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:56:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher P. Cavas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher P. Cavas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-02-21T08:21:03+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:56:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 783,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Digital Show Dailies\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"IDEX\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-02-21T08:21:03+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:56:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\\\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/21\\\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"IDEX\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/digital-show-dailies\\\/idex\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"idex\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag - Defense News","description":"Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag","og_description":"Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2015-02-21T08:21:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T23:56:20+00:00","author":"Christopher P. Cavas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher P. Cavas","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag","datePublished":"2015-02-21T08:21:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:56:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/"},"wordCount":783,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg","articleSection":["Digital Show Dailies","Home","IDEX"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/","name":"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-21T08:21:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:56:20+00:00","description":"Fast patrol craft, offshore patrol vessels and corvette-sized warships continue to dominate most naval needs in the Middle East\/North Africa (MENA) region, even as political and financial instability concerns grow. Larger and more expensive programs, including frigate or submarine acquisition, remain an elusive goal for many navies.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/2015\/02\/21\/small-naval-efforts-thrive-larger-ships-lag\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IDEX","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/idex\/","ad_zone":"idex"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Small Naval Efforts Thrive, Larger Ships Lag"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635596935933635165-1302-navcent-563bjpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54043,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54038\/revisions\/54043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54038"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=54038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}