The German Navy has ordered three Puma maritime unmanned aircraft vehicles from US-based unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer AeroVironment. As announced by ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH, a German system and software company which was chosen as the main contractor for the unmanned aircraft
US shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries has officially started fabrication of the first “Flight III” Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). The ceremony took place May 7 after shipbuilders at Ingalls Industries cut the first 100 tons of steel. “The start
The first German Navy vessel to deploy in 2018 is returning home after concluding a five-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as part of the EU-led operation Sophia. FGS Sachsen, the lead ship of the German Navy’s F124 air defense frigates, is set to return to her homeport in Wilhelmshaven on M
An international mine countermeasure exercise got underway on Australia’s New South Wales south coast at Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base HMAS Creswell on May 7. The biennial Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) Mine Countermeasures and Diving Exercise (MCM DIVEX) is set to conclude after two week
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) wrapped up a seven-month deployment to the Middle East and Asia Pacific returning to San Diego on May 7. CVN 71 returned to San Diego together with guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) which is part of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG)
Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender returned to her homeport in Portsmouth concluding her first underway period after undergoing an 18-month refit. The ship put her systems and personnel to the test over the seven-day period following the major upkeep which saw two new gas turbines fitted alon
The future USS Manchester (LCS 14), the newest littoral combat ship (LCS) to be delivered to the US Navy, got underway from Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, on May 5. Manchester is en route to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where it is scheduled to enter service following a commissioning ceremony on May 2
US defense technology company Northrop Grumman has delivered its electronic warfare simulation system to the US Navy. The multispectral testing solution will help the US Navy prepare the F-35 aircraft for the complex electromagnetic spectrum environment. Recently, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Di
Chief of US Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson, unveiled plans to reestablish the US 2nd Fleet amid the increasing power competition on a global scale. This was announced during a change of command ceremony for US Fleet Forces Command (USFF) in Norfolk on May 4. Second Fleet will likely be react
Russian Navy’s Project 11711 landing ship Ivan Gren has successfully completed sea trials, shipbuilder Yantar said in a statement. As informed, the seaborne part of the trials of the large amphibious assault ship Ivan Gren was completed on May 3. The newbuild was tested in the Baltic Sea. The trials
South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has started construction of the first of two 2,600-ton frigates ordered by the Philippine Navy. The steel-cutting ceremony for the frigate was held in Ulsan, South Korea, on May 1, 2018. As informed, each of the new frigates will feature a leng
US Navy’s future USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) successfully completed acceptance trials May 3 after spending a day underway off the coast of Maine. The US Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) reviewed the ship and its crew during a series of demonstrations while pier side and underway. As in
An autonomous minesweeper system that can safely clear sea lanes of mines has been handed over to the Royal Navy, UK Defence Minister Guto Bebb has announced. Following a period of successful trials, the demonstrator system could go on to be used by the navy in the future to defeat the threat of mod
The US Navy has christened its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Cincinnati (LCS 20). The christening ceremony for the navy’s 20th LCS took place in Austal’s Mobile ship manufacturing facility, Alabama, on May 5. “The future USS Cincinnati is a symbol of the stro
