US Navy’s Guam-based “Island Knight” sailors from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 rescued three divers separated from their boat more than 15 miles from the Guam shore on July 26. US Coast Guard Sector Guam notified HSC-25 that the divers who were spearfishing had gone missing. A rescue miss
‘Panglao’ – the Philippine Coast Guard’s second FPB 72 MKII fast patrol boat – has been loaded in Saint-Nazaire, France, and is ready for delivery. The first boat in the class – Boracay – was loaded for delivery to the Philippines early June. Built by French shipbuilder Ocea, Panglao is one of four
The Spanish Navy’s new air-independent propulsion (AIP) S-80 submarines are facing another delay, according to the country’s defense minister. During a visit to the Cartagena naval base, where the submarines will be based after delivery, defense minister Margarita Robles told reporters that the firs
The French Navy commissioned its second Loire-class offshore support and assistance multipurpose vessel – BSAH Rhone – in a ceremony on July 6. Rhone entered service after being launched by the Kership joint venture in Concarneau, north-western France, in November 2017, and completing all trials off
The Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard marked the official construction-start of the Russian Navy’s sixth Project 12700 minesweeper with a keel-laying ceremony at its St. Petersburg shipyard on July 25. The monolithic-fiberglass vessel is named ‘Peter Ilyichev’ and is expected to be handed over to the navy by N
French shipbuilder Naval Group has delivered the fifth FREMM multi-mission frigate, FS Bretagne, to the French Navy. Bretagne was handed over to the French Government Defense procurement and technology agency (DGA) on July 18, nine months after it concluded its first trials. The anti-submarine warfa
The UK’s short take off vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B jets have started training on the first of three vertical landing pads at RAF Marham. The VLPs are built for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation by a joint venture between Galliford Try and Lagan Construction. The Norfolk site is the main op
Retired US Navy Rear Adm. Alene B. Duerk, the service’s first female admiral, passed away July 21, the US Navy announced. “It took 197 years and a forward-looking Chief of Naval Operations, Elmo Zumwalt, to break with tradition before Alene Duerk became the first woman admiral in the US Navy,” said
The US Navy has awarded Saab a second contract for the delivery of its Sea Giraffe AMB multi mode radar (MMR) for the US Coast Guard’s offshore patrol cutters (OPC). Saab received the initial order worth $16.8 million for the MMR for the OPCs in October 2017. Options for further deliveries could bri
Spanish Navy’s Galicia-class landing platform dock ESPS Castilla got underway from her homeport at Rota Naval Base on July 19 to join the counter-piracy operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa. ESPS Castilla will operate two SH-60 helicopters from the 10th aircraft squadron during the deployment a
The UK defense ministry’s project of acquiring “low-cost” Type 31 frigates has been brought to a halt due to what the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) office described as a lack of “compliant bids”. The process is now being streamlined, according to a IHS Jane’s report, and will be restarted in
The US Coast Guard has issued a request for information (RFI) for a service life extension project (SLEP) for heavy icebreaker ‘Polar Star’. The service life extension project (SLEP) is being undertaken as part of the In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program (ISVS) and will extend the service life of t
The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAVCAD) has awarded Insitu Inc. a $10.8 million contract to deliver an additional 27 ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems to Afghanistan. In addition to the systems, the contract includes 37 payloads and spares in support of the government of the Isl
The US Navy’s expeditionary fast transport USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1) got underway from Virginia to join Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2018 – an annual series of US Navy deployments focused on exchanges with regional partner nation militaries and security forces. Spearhead will conduct subject ma
