Submarine led Naval TechTwitter mentions in Q3 2019.

Naval Technology lists the top five terms tweeted in naval tech in Q3 2019, based on data from GlobalData’s Influencer Platform.

The top tweeted terms are the trending industry discussions happening on Twitter by key individuals (influencers) as tracked by the platform.

1. Submarine – 1,431 mentions

The Royal Navy’s tweet on the under-construction Type 26 frigates HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff attracted attention. These are to be followed by six more frigates. They are Belfast, Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, London, and Edinburgh. Their anti-submarine warfare capability was one of the popular discussions on submarines in Q3.

HMS Cardiff is the second of eight Type 26 frigates being built for the Royal Navy. The first steel for HMS Cardiff was cut in August 2019 by BAE Systems.

Another popular tweet during the quarter was on the case of a Canadian businessman. The businessman pleaded guilty to charges related to making a false statement on the transfer of technical details of a US Navy submarine rescue vessel to China.

Further, a tweet by H I Sutton, a defence writer and author of the Covert Shores series of books, on a fire aboard Russian submarine Losharik that reportedly caused death of 14 Russian submariners, also was trending on Twitter during the quarter.

2. Frigate – 583 mentions

One of the popular tweets on frigates during the quarter was posted by the UK Ministry of Defence. This announced the signing of a maintenance contract with Rolls Royce for the engines of the Type 23 frigate fleet operated by the US Navy.

HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, was a popular mention. Montrose provided security to British Heritage tanker passing through Gulf, following a threat from Iran to seize a British vessel, according to a tweet by British journalist Deborah Haynes.

The NATO Allied Maritime Command tweeted about Turkish frigate TCG Gokova. The frigate visited Harstad, Norway, in July as part of Dynamic Mongoose, a NATO anti-submarine exercise.

3. Maritime Security – 287 mentions

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joined the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC). This alliance aims to protect commercial vessels sailing in international trade routes, thus safeguarding the interests of allied countries. It made maritime security a popular discussion on Twitter.

A Main Planning Conference was held by the IMSC in September 2019 aboard HMS Cardigan Bay. It included representatives from member states as well as 25 more countries.

Maritime security was also popular in the context of three maritime exercises, namely Sea Breeze, Neon Defender, and ASEAN-US (AUMX). This was the first maritime exercise between the regional bloc Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the US.

4. Missile – 363 mentions

The UK Navy’s testing of Martlet lightweight multi-role missiles, Russia’s hypersonic cruise missile Zircon, and the US Navy’s deployment of a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Gabrielle Giffords, were among popular discussions related to missiles on Twitter.

The UK Navy test-fired four new Martlet missiles from Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland to test the missile’s launch from a ship. Developed by Thales, Martlet was originally designed for launch from Wildcat helicopters to target small boats.

Russia’s hypersonic anti-ship missile 3M22 Zircon has been among popular discussions on missiles. News has been emerging that Russia plans to test the missile from a nuclear-powered submarine in 2020. The stealth missile is expected to fly at a speed of approximately 10,000km/h.

USS Gabrielle Giffords became the first LCS to be deployed with the long-range, over-the-horizon NSM. The U.S. Navy test-fired the missile successfully during the Pacific Griffin exercise on 1 October, making it the first NSM fired in the Indo-Pacific region.

5. Torpedo – 215 mentions

India’s delivery of Shyena torpedoes to Myanmar and Russia’s speculated testing of a nuclear-powered torpedo, were two of the developments that made torpedo a popular term on Twitter during the quarter.

India delivered its indigenous Shyena advanced light-weight torpedoes to Myanmar in July 2019, as part of an agreement that was signed in 2017. Designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics (BDL), the Shyena torpedoes were inducted into the Indian Navy in 2012.

Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced in August 2019 that an explosion occurred while testing a liquid propulsion system at a location in the Arctic. This subsequently led to the death of seven of its employees. Speculation is that the test could be related to a nuclear-powered torpedo, although Rosatom didn’t revealed details about the weapon.

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