Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Chuck Hagel arrived aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) by MV-22 Osprey Jan. 14. During his time aboard, Hagel held an all-hands call where he spoke about the ship’s accomplishments during its recent sail around South America. America is currently und
Chinese sailors visiting Portsmouth have been treated to a tour of the Royal Navy’s newest warship. Fifty crew members from the assault ship Chang Bai Shan were shown around the hi-tech Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan in Portsmouth Naval Base. The Chang Bai Shan is one of three Chinese Naval ships in t
SES announced on January 13th that it plans to launch a dedicated satellite for governmental use in partnership with the Luxembourg Government in late 2017. A Luxembourg-based company jointly held by SES and the Luxembourg Government is planned to own and operate the new spacecraft. The Luxembourg G
Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) ships arrived in Barcelona yesterday for a port visit and to prepare to join forces with France’s Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group for a short period of combined exercises. SNMG2 leadership will meet with local Allied authorities to discuss items of mutua
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited officers and crew aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America on Wednesday, January 13th, 2015. The ship is “one of the most sophisticated Navy platforms we have,” said Hagel, during his speech in the ship’s hangar bay. America is the first ship of its c
After contributing more than 650 search hours to the Indonesian-led search effort for AirAsia flight QZ8501, USS Sampson (DDG 102) and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) concluded their assistance efforts Jan 15, receiving praise from Indonesian authorities. U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert O. Blake noted th
An independent audit found the cost of the department’s 11 biggest equipment programmes fell by £397 million in the past year. The defence equipment plan is an annual update to Parliament on the MOD’s spending plans over the next decade. The update sets out plans to spend around £163 billion on new
The ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ has set sail from Cádiz to start her 86th midshipmen training cruise. On this occasion, 76 midshipmen from the Spanish Naval Academy in their fourth academic year, and 14 candidates to become Leading Seamen from the Ferrol Specialties School have embarked on the traini
The Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship has carried out her first inspection of a fishing vessel in Antarctic Waters. HMS Protector met the fishing vessel while on patrol in Antarctic waters and made arrangements to carry out the inspection. It was conducted under the Convention for the Conservation of Ant
On Friday, 9th January 2015, EU Naval Force warship, ESPS Rayo, successfully conducted a Replenishment-at-Sea (RAS) with United States supply ship USNS Charles Drew in the Gulf of Aden. Task Force 53, to which the US ship is attached, provides regular replenishment support to the EU Naval Force’s co
Three Chinese Naval ships were given a rapturous welcome as they arrived in Portsmouth for a formal visit aimed at enhancing military understanding between the UK and China. Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming and hundreds of flag-waving UK-based Chinese residents welcomed the ships into the city’s Nava
The guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) returned to its homeport on January 11th, following a nearly eight-month deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. The ship entered the theater last June, safely transiting the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal. The ship remained
Austal christened USNS Trenton (JHSV 5) on January 10th at its state-of-the-art shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. USNS Trenton is the fifth of ten Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV) that Austal has under contract with the U.S. Navy as part of an overall 10-ship block-buy contract worth over $1.6 billion. Th
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72) returned to Naval Station Norfolk on January 11th, following a five-month deployment in the U.S. 6th and 5th Fleet areas of operation. Mahan entered the theater last August via the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal where she conducted maritime security
