After over fifty years of service, Canadian CH-124 Sea King maritime helicopters performed their final flight in a parade in Victoria, B.C., on December 1. The Sea King will officially retire from service by December 31, 2018 as the RCAF completes its transition to the new CH-148 Cyclone maritime he
Surface combatants from the US Navy’s USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) carrier strike group have completed the Navy’s first East Coast Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Cruiser-Destroyer (CRUDES) Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training (SWATT) exercise. “The first East Coast SWATT is a milestone event not o
Northrop Grumman Corporation has joined forces with Harris Corporation and Comtech PST for the US Navy’s Next Generation Jammer–Low Band (NJG-LB) competition. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Northrop Grumman a $35 million, 20-month contract to demonstrate existing jammer capability fo
Boeing has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for phase II of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block II Infrared Search and Track (IRST) program for the US Navy. As explained by Lockheed Martin, the contract will see the company complete development, platform integration, flight test, and qualification of
US Navy ships deployed in support of the U Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative are scheduled to undertake interoperability and partnership exercises in Ecuador, Peru and Chile, the navy has said. Ships taking part in the initiative are amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD 25) and g
Royal Navy’s submarine-hunting Merlin helicopters recently left the flight deck of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for three weeks of exercises at the US Navy’s Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC). The ranges off Andros Island – south-west of Nassau – are centered on a natural
The US Navy should leverage potential private shipyard repair capacity if it wants to reduce delays in attack submarine maintenance periods and cut operating and support cost expenditures, a GAO report has found. The Government Accountability Office’s analysis of navy maintenance data shows that bet
A US Navy carrier strike group centered around the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) arrived in Hong Kong for a scheduled port visit on November 21. The arrival of Ronald Reagan to Hong Kong follows China’s refusal to allow amphibious assault ship USS Wasp to visit the city in September th
US Navy amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) departed the waters near Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on November 20 after assisting relief efforts in the aftermath of super typhoon Yutu. Ashland sailors worked with Department of Defense to provide suppo
The US State Department has approved a possible sale of eight Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block 1B missiles and thirteen SM-3 Block 2A missiles to Japan for an estimated cost of $561 million. In an announcement on November 19, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the contract also included
Article by: Peter Ong The United States Coast Guard’s only heavy operational Polar-class icebreaker, Polar Star, completed its annual scheduled refit at Mare Island, Vallejo, California, in a maintenance period riddled with challenges. The forty-two year old ship returned from Operation Deep Freeze
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded VT Halter Marine a $9 million contract for further design engineering, procurement of long-lead time material and limited advanced production of the Oceanographic Survey Ship (T-AGS 67). The T-AGS 67 will be a follow-on ship to the T-AGS 60-class program
The United States will team up with Australia and Papua New Guinea for the redevelopment of the Pacific Island nation’s Lombrum naval base on Manus island, US vice president Mike Pence announced at the APEC leaders summit. Pence’s announcement comes a month after Australia announced an agreement wit
Two days after leaving her construction site in Maine, US Navy’s stealth destroyer Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) met with Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) for a photo exercise in the Atlantic Ocean. Joining the two on November 11 were Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer US
