US weapon manufacturer Raytheon announced it has delivered a Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher for the Mexican Navy’s long-range off-shore patrol vessel (Patrulla Oceánica de Largo Alcance, or POLA). The RAM Block 2 supersonic, quick reaction, fire-and-forget missile to counter enemy anti-ship
A 98-meter experimental trimaran built for the Royal Navy in 2000 is currently being offered for sale by yacht brokerage Ocean Independence. The RV Triton spent over 15 years in service as a prototype demonstrator in the UK and later as a customs border protection vessel in Australia. It was designe
A Turkish Navy Ay-class submarine sank a decommissioned navy vessel in the country’s second known sinking exercise (SINKEX) of 2018. The exercise took place last week in the Black Sea and follows a SINKEX which took place in June when Type 209/1200 submarine TCG Yildiray launched a wire-guided torpe
The US Navy commissioned its first unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test and evaluation squadron during a ceremony at Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s Webster Outlying Field, on October 18. The new unit, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (UX) 24, flies over 23 fixed and rotary wing UAS including the
HMPNGS Rabaul, a Papua New Guinea Defence Force patrol boat which was gifted to the island country by Australia, has completed its final voyage to Port Macquarie from Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island after 31 years of service. The patrol boat was gifted to Papua New Guinea in May 1987 under the Pa
The Royal Navy’s upgraded Mk.8 naval gun fired a 4.5” shell out to sea from shore in a recent test at a Cumbrian range. The trial, part of a £41 million contract with Babcock signed in May 2016 to improve the gun and extend its service life, involved the first land-based firing of a fully-turreted 4
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57) met up with Egyptian Navy’s Descubierta-class corvette ENS El Suez (F-946) for a passing exercise (PASSEX) on October 21. Cmdr. Ian Scaliatine, commanding officer of Mitscher, welcomed El Suez’s leadership aboard Mitscher f
The UK and US will be teaming up in the fight against growing cyber threats, UK defense secretary Gavin Williamson announced from aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth which is currently on a port visit to New York. Speaking at the Trafalgar night dinner on board the carrier, th
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) entered the Arctic Circle on October 19, becoming the first US Navy aircraft carrier to do so in nearly 30 years. Accompanied by select ships from Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG-8), the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) traveled north to conduct
A helicopter from the French Army 1st Combat helicopter regiment crashed aboard the amphibious assault ship BPC Dixmude during night-time flight operations on October 17. Four sailors were injured, one of them seriously, as the helicopter crashed during takeoff, the French defense ministry said. The
An MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter crashed aboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during flight operations on Friday, the US Navy informed. The helicopter, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, crashed on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier shortly after takeoff at approximately 9 a.m., Oct. 19. The na
The US Navy has awarded Austal USA a $57.8 million order to fund the procurement of long lead-time materials for the construction of the 13th 103-meter Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF). Long lead-time materials for the additional vessel will include diesel engines, water jets and reduction gears.
The US Navy has shared a photo of a Poseidon P-8A ASW maritime patrol aircraft conducting the type’s first operational aerial refueling over the Mediterranean Sea. US Navy Aircrewmen assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 carried out the flight Oct. 15, 2018, while patrolling the US 6
US Coast Guard’s 42-year-old icebreaker Polar Star arrived at its Seattle homeport following a six-month maintenance period at Mare Island Dry Dock in Vallejo, California. The icebreaker received extensive repairs and upgrades to engineering and electronic systems while completing the dry dock avail
