Patrol

Photos of the United Arab Emirates’ Falaj 3 class patrol boat are a reminder that a vessel doesn’t need to be a corvette or even a frigate to be armed like one. At a little over 200 feet long, the Falaj 3 is officially designated an offshore patrol vessel (OPV), but it boasts a weapons suite that would be impressive on a missile corvette and, in some respects, even a light frigate. In fact, at around 670 tons full load displacement, and a crew of just 39, it may be one of the most heavily armed warships anywhere in the world for its size.

OPVs are generally built for constabulary duties rather than high-end naval combat. Their primary missions include enforcing exclusive economic zones, countering piracy and smuggling, fisheries protection, search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance. As a result, they typically prioritize endurance, seakeeping, and low operating costs over heavy armament. Many Western designs in this category carry little more than a medium-caliber gun and a handful of remotely operated weapon systems, with no dedicated anti-ship missiles or significant air-defense systems.

The Falaj 3 takes a very different approach, as is immediately apparent from these photos.

Forward sits a Leonardo 76mm OTO Super Rapid gun equipped with the STRALES guided ammunition system, giving the ship a weapon capable of engaging everything from surface targets to fast-moving aerial threats. The STRALES system combines the 76mm gun with DART projectiles, which are guided to the target by a radio beam. The projectile is fitted with a proximity fuze, and the result is claimed to be especially effective against manoeuvring supersonic missiles, as well as fast-manoeuvring small boats. The DART ammunition also comes at lower cost than dedicated anti-air missiles, an increasingly important consideration, especially in the Middle East, where costly surface-to-air missile effectors are routinely expended, in significant quantities, against far cheaper incoming threats.

Strales system with DART ammunition

Directly behind the gun is an eight-cell vertical launch system loaded with MBDA VL MICA surface-to-air missiles. This ‘fire and forget’ missile can intercept targets at a range of up to around 12 miles and at altitudes of up to 30,000 feet.

VL MICA (Sea)

Further aft is a 21-cell Raytheon Mk 49 launcher for the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), giving the vessel a second, independent layer of point air defense. Most OPVs are fortunate to carry an adapted man-portable air defense system, if they have any dedicated air-defense system at all.

The offensive fit is equally notable. Four MM40 Exocet Block 3C anti-ship missiles provide over-the-horizon strike capability, while two 12-cell Low-cost Guided Imaging Rocket (LOGIR) guided rocket launchers offer an inexpensive way to engage drones, uncrewed surface vessels, and fast attack craft without expending much more costly missiles.

The MM40 Block 3C is the latest iteration of the well-known Exocet sea-skimming missile and has a range of around 150 miles.

The LOGIR, a weapon we have discussed in the past, is part of a growing number of 70mm rockets with an infrared seeker on the market now. A U.S.-South Korean co-production, the LOGIR was developed primarily for coastal defense and other maritime applications. It has a maximum range of around a few miles.

[밀당] 해상침투 방어 최강자 ··· 대한민국 첨단기술의 정밀유도무기 ‘비궁’

Completing the package are two Electro Optic Systems (EOS) R400-M 30mm remote weapon stations and two 32-barrel Rheinmetall Multi Ammunition Soft-kill System (MASS) decoy launchers, providing close-range firepower and survivability against incoming guided weapons, respectively.

The Falaj 3 class is also well equipped with sensors, including a Leonardo Kronos 3D G-band multifunction radar for air and surface search in the conical radome of the integrated mast. The mast also features the SPYNEL infrared search and track suite.

Combining all of these systems results in a ship with genuine layered air defense, anti-ship strike capability, counter-swarm weapons, modern electronic self-protection, and a sophisticated medium-caliber gun, all crammed into a hull roughly one-third the displacement of many contemporary corvettes.

Instead of sacrificing armament for patrol endurance, the Falaj 3 concentrates an extraordinary amount of firepower into a compact hull. The design is closer to a ‘pocket’ missile corvette optimized for Gulf operations than a conventional OPV.

The Persian Gulf is a relatively confined operating environment where naval combat is more likely to occur at short ranges, with vessels operating under constant threat from anti-ship missiles, drones, helicopters, and swarms of fast attack craft. In that environment, packing as many defensive and offensive systems as possible into a relatively inexpensive platform makes considerable operational sense.

For more demanding missions, including in true blue-water environments, the United Arab Emirates Navy can call upon close to a dozen true missile corvettes, with four different active classes constructed in France, Germany, and Italy. These carry many of the same weapons as found on the Falaj 3, but the largest examples displace close to 3,000 tons, and all can also embark a helicopter.

Based on the Fearless class patrol vessel operated by the Republic of Singapore Navy, the Falaj 3 class is built by the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a subsidiary of the UAE’s Edge Group. The first ship of the class, Altaf, was commissioned in February 2025.

ADSB Launches First Vessel in the FALAJ 3 Programme

The Edge Group is also building eight vessels of the same design for Kuwait, these being known as the Al Dorra class.

The design of the Falaj 3 reflects a broader trend in naval warfare. Advances in radar, combat management systems, vertical launch technology, and compact missile designs increasingly allow capabilities once reserved for frigates or larger vessels to be integrated successfully in much smaller vessels. Rather than relying exclusively on a handful of expensive large combatants, navies that operate heavily in littoral geography have the opportunity to field larger numbers of smaller ships that still possess credible offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Falaj 3 represents perhaps one of the most extreme examples of that philosophy.

Special thanks to X user @D__Mitch for alerting us to this story.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Millions visit the Lake District every year but those who help look after the national park in Cumbria say overtourism tensions are threatening to boil over

Wild campers visiting the Lake District are ignoring the long-standing Countryside Code – with human excrement, fly-camping and irresponsible behaviour surging this summer, campaigners say.

Those who manage the national park, which attracts millions of tourists every year, claim some guests are making life hell for locals. They say brainless parking, inconsiderate camping and mass littering is making a mockery of the “leave no trace” government guidelines to protect the environment. Paths blocked by campervans, discarded tampons and nappies and dogs let loose are just some of the other issues reported.

Judith Derbyshire, a Westmorland and Furness councillor, has referenced a report made by patrol officers who are responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour. She says, as enforcement officers and volunteers battle to preserve the stunning national parks, problems are only increasing.

Tourists risk huge fines in Lake District

She says the council has very few officers and a round-the-clock response service is a thing of the past. Local laws were tightened earlier this year in response to resident complaints.

Those causing environmental damage such as littering, starting fires, or the inappropriate use of motorhomes can now be fined up to £100 – but according to many locals, the rules are being flouted regularly.

Ms Derbyshire, who is responsible for community safety, says since Covid there has been a huge increase in visitors with many arriving without plans for accommodation. That leads to “fly-camping” – taking spots away from designated camp sites.

‘You shouldn’t be doing that’

Reading the report, she told the BBC: “Fifty-plus members of the public engaged with, 10 overnight campers spoken to, eight bags of rubbish collected and they had the joy of seeing one man using a bush as his toilet. I’m going to lower the standard of the conversation here but the issue is to do with human poo.

“Don’t feel you can just come up, park up on a lay-by and then go and put a tent up down by the lake shore – you shouldn’t be doing that.

“Putting it bluntly, we are going to have strong cutbacks from our funding as a local authority, we’re not going to have the staff to be able to put that sort of thing in place.”

She says people can contact police if they see anyone behaving in a dangerous way – such as lighting a bonfire that could spread to a large area. Working together with residents and visitors is vital to getting the situation under control.

Ms Derbyshire added: “We want people to come to Lake District and it’s good that there’s a wider range of people coming here, it’s just that we need to get them educated so they know what they can do and what they can’t do.”

‘It really saddens me to see’

Earlier this summer, footage showed the moment dozens of cars were covered in slurry after they parked in a private field just yards away from Rydal Water, one of the country’s prettiest beauty spots.

A large number of instances of littering, wildfires, and campers leaving equipment behind (known as fly camping) were logged in the Friends of the Lake District’s annual survey.

One unhappy local wrote in this year’s survey: “Some people have no social conscience and do not care about the impact of their behaviour on the environment or other people. We see litter on the fells, on lakesides and thrown out of cars onto grass verges. We even saw someone having a BBQ sat right next to a sign prohibiting it on Ullswater last year.

Another added: “I’m from the Lakes and have always appreciated the tourism and what it does for the area. However, I feel we have now got to the stage where tourism is over capacity and negatively impacting the area and the quality of life for residents and animals. Frequent traffic jams, poorly parked cars, and most upsetting of all, litter.

“Today we came across a discarded used nappy and a tampon. My children and I frequently go out with our litter pickers. It really saddens me to see the Lake District in environmental decline.”

COURTENEY Cox has split from her Snow Patrol partner Johnny McDaid.

The Friends star’s decade-long relationship with the musician quietly ended last year, it has been reported.

The pair – who were engaged – met in 2013 after being introduced through their mutual friend, pop star Ed Sheeran.

In recent years they had been splitting their time between the US and the UK, which led them to live “different lives” before the break up.

A friend told The Mail on Sunday: “Johnny speaks incredibly highly of Courteney.

“They had a very deep relationship and they remain extremely amicable. They are great friends and care about each other very much.”

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They former couple were last photographed together at the US Open in September.

In the month before, they were spotted on a double date in Malibu, California, Jennifer Aniston and her boyfriend Jim Curtis.

The insider added: “This was not an ugly split.

“They had simply reached a point where they were living different lives.”

Johnny is believed to be in the early stages of a new relationship.

Courteney shares a daughter, Coco, with her ex-husband and Scream co-star David Arquette.

WASHINGTON — The Senate is beginning a long series of votes Thursday on legislation to fund President Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies, moving toward passage of a three-year fix as Democrats have blocked the money for months in protest.

The roughly $70 billion bill to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol would end the blockade by Democrats who demanded policy changes after the fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents in January. The bill would fund the agencies for three years, through the end of Trump’s term.

First, though, Republicans must beat back a potential gauntlet of amendments that Democrats plan to offer, including to try and permanently ban Trump’s $1.776 billion settlement fund for allies who he believes have been politically persecuted. Democrats have said their first amendment Thursday morning will be to eliminate the fund and send the immigration spending bill back to committee.

Senate Republicans are using a complicated procedural maneuver to get around the filibuster and pass the budget legislation with no Democratic votes. But it has taken weeks to get the bill to the Senate floor as Republicans navigated various obstacles to passage created by Trump and the White House — including a $1 billion proposal for White House security that they eventually scrapped and fierce bipartisan backlash to the settlement fund.

“The thing we’re trying to do here is to keep the focus on funding for ICE and CBP,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday evening, after the Senate voted to start debating the legislation. “This was narrow and targeted from the very beginning and clean, and we’re trying to maintain it that way.”

But it’s unclear if Republicans will have enough votes to fend off the Democratic amendments. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said this week that the fund would not move forward, and many GOP senators said Wednesday that they were satisfied with his remarks.

Yet Trump, who has been at odds with Senate Republicans in recent weeks, raised new doubts about the settlement’s future on Wednesday afternoon when he told reporters that the settlement is “very important” and said “I don’t know” whether it is dead or on hold.

“I’d have to ask the lawyers,” he said.

Democrats, Republicans plan to force votes on settlement

To pass legislation through the budget process called reconciliation, the Senate must first hold a long series of votes. Democrats are using that process to try and ban the settlement by law — and also kill the immigration spending bill.

After Trump’s comments about the fund, Schumer posted on X that “this is EXACTLY why” Democrats would be forcing votes to ban it.

Some Republicans also planned to try and put Blanche’s promise in writing. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has said he will offer an amendment to block any attempt at resurrecting the fund.

“We’ve got a sufficient number of Republicans who have been very clear they’ve got concerns there,” said Tillis.

ICE and Border Patrol money has been long fight

Democrats say any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department should place restraints on federal immigration authorities, including better identification for federal officers and more use of judicial warrants, among other asks.

After federal agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Trump agreed to a Democratic request that the Homeland Security bill be separated from a larger spending measure that became law. But bipartisan negotiations went nowhere, and the DHS funding lapsed in mid-February with no agreement on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

Congress eventually funded the rest of the Homeland Security Department at the end of April with Democratic support. But ICE and Border Patrol remained without regular funding, and Republicans launched a new effort to pass three years of funding for those agencies with no Democratic votes.

Security money for Trump’s ballroom dropped

Work on the legislation was also delayed by Republican opposition to $1 billion in security funding for the White House, including for Trump’s new ballroom, that was added to the original bill.

Democrats and some Republicans questioned using taxpayer money for the massive project, and Republicans did not include it in the final bill when it was released on Wednesday.

Thune said he was working with his GOP conference to try and fight off any amendments and ensure he has enough votes for a simple majority to pass the bill in the 53-47 Senate.

“Keep in mind, we’ve got to keep them all together, make sure we’ve got 50 votes for it,” he said.

Republican House leaders said Wednesday they would like to clear the legislation before the end of the week, if the Senate can finish it. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said that House leaders were having internal conversations about the schedule.

“We just need to make sure everybody’s there,” Scalise said.

Jalonick and Cappelletti write for the Associated Press.