US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and ships from NATO’s Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) entered the Black Sea on February 19. Donald Cook entered the Black Sea after last visiting the region in January 2019, when it visited Batumi, Georgia and con
NATO-led exercise Dynamic Guard concluded off the coast on February 15. Ships from Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG 1), commanded by U.S. Rear Adm. Edward Cashman, were joined by other ally units in the region for ten days of evolutions. The exercise is executed concurrently with Norwegian led
The Italian Navy recently used the new Leonardo-developed M-40 target drones in an exercise involving the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and Durand de la Penne-class destroyer ITS Francesco Mimbelli. The exercise saw the aircraft carrier and its complement of AV8B+ fighter aircraft training alongside t
A Royal Australian Navy task group composed of landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra, frigate HMAS Newcastle, and tanker HMAS Sirius, departed Sydney Harbour on February 17 to start a series of exercises and engagements with regional allies. The task group will spend the next several weeks participa
The Australian defense ministry has selected Raytheon Australia to act as the country’s Aegis systems integration agent. Defense minister Christopher Pyne announced that the ministry issued a limited request for tender to Raytheon to establish a deed of standing offer under which Raytheon Australia
The 38th iteration of multi-lateral exercise Cobra Gold kicked off with an opening ceremony at the Akathotsarot Camp, Phitsanulok Province, on February 12. Representatives of the Royal Thai Armed Forces and US Indo-Pacific Command were joined by the ambassadors of Japan and the Republic of Korea and
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, for a scheduled training and maintenance availability (TRAV) on February 13. The maintenance is being conducted after the ship completed a patrol in the US 6th Fleet Area of Operations.
The US Navy has awarded Boeing a $43 million contract for the fabrication, test, and delivery of four Orca extra large unmanned undersea vehicles (XLUUVs) and associated support elements. Boeing’s proposal for the Orca XLUUV was based on its 15-meter Echo Voyager unmanned undersea vehicle. The other
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) are currently underway in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, taking part in what the NATO Maritime Command describes as advanced Force Integration Training (FIT). The drills are being conducted as part of the group’s patrols in the region. Composed o
A former US Navy director of public affairs for the US Pacific Fleet was sentenced to six months for helping foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis embezzle the US Navy out of millions of dollars. Captain Jeffrey Breslau was sentenced for secretly moonlighting as a paid public relations co
The Papua New Guinea Defence Force commissioned the first Guardian-class patrol boat HMPNGS Ted Diro in a ceremony on February 1. The ceremony was attended by the Chief of the Australian Defence Force and the ship’s company of the Royal Australian Navy’s Armidale-class patrol boat HMAS Wollongong. T
The Royal Navy could possibly get a fleet of two new “Littoral Strike Ships” for operations close to the shore, UK defense secretary Gavin Williamson announced during a speech at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies on February 11. Research into the feasibility of the
An Italian AV-8B Harrier hitched a ride home aboard Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) after six months of maintenance in the US. The Italian aircraft, along with its flight crew, returned to Grottaglie Naval Base, Italy, on January 3, after the six months of scheduled maintena
Chilean ivebreaker Antarctica 1 will feature electromagnetic compatibility and interference equipment from Finland’s Surma, under a contract awarded by prime contractor ASMAR. Surma will assist ASMAR throughout the multiyear project managing the EMC working group of the Antartica 1 project. The Finn
