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Warpaint

Biannual technical publication offering advice and guidance on coatings for application to Royal Naval surface ships and submarines.

Updates to this page

From:
Defence Equipment and Support
Published:
30 March 2010
Last updated:
22 September 2025
Show all updates

  1. Updated contact email address. Added information on requesting copies of previous Warpaint editions.

  2. Added 'Warpaint: Issue 56, May 2025'.

  3. Added 'Warpaint: Issue 55, October 2024'.

  4. Added 'Warpaint: Issue 54, April 2024'.

  5. Added 'Warpaint: Issue 53, October 2023'.

  6. Added 'Warpaint: Issue 52, April 2023'.

  7. Added Warpaint: Issue 51, October 2022.

  8. Added: Warpaint: Issue 50, April 2022.

  9. Addition of 'Warpaint: Issue 49, October 2021'.

  10. Added: Warpaint: Issue 48, April 2021.

  11. Added: Warpaint: Issue 47, November 2020.

  12. Addition of Warpaint: Issue 46, April 2020.

  13. Added Warpaint: Issue 45, September 2019.

  14. Added Warpaint: Issue 44, March 2019.

  15. Added Warpaint: issue 43, September 2018.

  16. Added Issue 42 and updated the 'details' section.

  17. Added issue 41, March 2017

  18. Added Warpaint: issue 40, September 2016.

  19. Added Warpaint: issue 39, March 2016.

  20. Added latest issue 38 of Warpaint.

  21. Added Warpaint: issue 37, March 2015.

  22. Added issue 36 September 2014.

  23. Added "Issue 35: January 2014".

  24. Updated the statement about the future of the Warpaint publication.

  25. First published.

Documents

Warpaint: Issue 57, Oct 2025

PDF, 1.7 MB, 67 pages

Details

Warpaint is published by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) in April and October, and offers advice and guidance on coatings for application to Royal Naval surface ships and submarines.

Warpaint is the DE&S ships’ main guidance document of approved paint coatings for in-service and new-build Royal Naval vessels, including submarines. However, not all approved coatings are listed in Warpaint as paint manufacturers are constantly striving to improve their current paint systems. Consequently, the annexes within Warpaint are regularly updated.

Where suppliers have been contracted to a particular version of Warpaint they should request a copy through their customer or MOD Authority.

If a coating is proposed which is not listed in Warpaint, confirmation of acceptance must be obtained from DES Ships-Eng-TES-Husbandry.

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