The U.S. Navy awarded a Lockheed Martin-led team, which includes Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), a multi-billion dollar (USD) order for the construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants ships, as part of the country’s Foreign Military Sales program. Fincantieri will build the vessels at
HMS Defender (D36), a UK Royal Navy destroyer operating in the Gulf of Oman in direct support of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), has seized 131 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from a dhow. The operation was carried out in the northern Arabian Sea on December 19, 2019, Combined Maritime Force
Courbet (F 712), a second-line multimission stealth frigate of the French Marine Nationale currently operating in the Gulf of Oman in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, seized 3,534kg of hashish on December 13, 2019. The drugs were found after a specially trained team boarded the dhow using o
The Royal Australian Air Force’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft has completed its first deployment to the Middle East. Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said this deployment was a targeted and meaningful element of Australia’s broader contribution to the International
US shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine has started construction of the Royal Saudi Navy’s first Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ship. The “cut steel” ceremony took place on October 24. Delivered by Lockheed Martin as prime contractor, the 4,000-metric-ton MMSCs were ordered in 2017 under
The IMX 19 (International Maritime Exercise) that took place in the Middle East recently gathered 30 ships and over 50 nations for two weeks of mine countermeasures evolutions. Spread across a vast area from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and Gulf, the exercise will see participants sharing knowled
Ex USS Robert G. Bradley was retired in 2014 and is being transferred to Bahrain.
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose and French Cassard-class frigate FS Jean Bart made another drugs bust in the Arabian Sea operating as part of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 150. The suspicious dhow was initially located by FS Jean Bart’s helicopter and boarded by a team from the French ship
A keel-laying ceremony held in Cadiz, Spain, has marked the start of assembly works on the Royal Saudi Navy’s first Avante 2200 corvette. The ships are built by SAMI Navantia Naval Industries (SAMINavantia), a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia S.A. The keel-
US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ramage (DDG-61) visited Beirut, Lebanon, on September 14, becoming the first American ship to do so in over 30 years. During the visit to Beirut, US Ambassador Elizabeth Richard and Vice Admiral Jim Malloy, Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command/Commande
US marines and sailors from the Boxer amphibious ready group (ARG) wrapped up their participation in the multilateral exercise Eager Lion in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The 10-day exercise included the full spectrum of military operations, including an amphibious landing; Maritime Raid Force di
After deploying from Portsmouth for operations in the Asia Pacific earlier this month, Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender has now been ordered to Persian Gulf where it would aid in the protection of shipping in the Middle East. Following a series of attacks on tankers in the region and Iran’s
The Australian government has decided to join the US-led mission to protect merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of recent attacks on tankers and increased tensions with Iran. As outlined, Australia will deploy a P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft to the Middle East for on
A Royal Canadian Navy frigate and a leased replenishment ship supporting navy operations have concluded a six-and-a-half month deployment to the Asia-Pacific and Middle East. The frigate HMCS Regina returned to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt on August 19 while the naval replenishment unit Aste
