Last month, Royal Navy amphibious assault ship HMS Albion sailed near South China Sea islands claimed by China in a freedom of navigation operation. The ship passed close to the Paracel Islands, which are controlled by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, on August 31. This was in line with inte
Australia and New Zealand are deploying three aircraft to Japan to conduct maritime surveillance in support of the international effort to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions on North Korea. Australia will deploy two AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, while New Zealand will send i
Rolls-Royce engines have been selected by Boeing to power the US Navy’s new MQ-25 Stingray aircraft, which will provide unmanned, carrier-based air-to-air refueling. Recently, the US Navy awarded the MQ-25A engineering and manufacturing contract to Boeing to provide four aircraft. The $805.3 million
Gathering in Cartagena, Colombian naval forces are taking the helm for Unitas LIX, a multinational maritime exercise taking place from August 31 – September 11. Colombia is hosting eleven navies participating in the exercise — the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, M
Australia plans to establish a center for strategic analysis of information to help strengthen maritime domain awareness and provide security alerts and advice for Pacific security agencies. The Pacific Fusion Centre was announced by Marise Payne, Australian foreign affairs minister, during the Paci
The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a seven-year contract worth up to more than $500 million to build and deliver more than 200+ electronic Consolidated Automated Support Systems (eCASS) to maximize aircraft readiness. The previous Navy CASS contract awarded in 2000 to Lockheed Martin was worth
Spanish Naval Station Rota personnel and sailors assigned to the guided-missile destroyers USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and USS Porter (DDG 78) conducted and completed their third annual major integrated fire drill onboard the Cook on August 29, 2018. “This whole exercise is called the Chapter 13 drill.
Coast Guard cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) returned on September 4 to her homeport in Alameda following a nearly 90-day deployment to the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. There, Bertholf crewmembers participated in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 which is said to be the world’s largest multi-n
A World War One U-boat propeller was handed back to the German Navy on August 31 following a joint operation between the UK’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Historic England and North Wales Police. The propeller was formally handed over onboard FGS Bonn, a German replenishment ship which is currently
Gisborne has been chosen as the honorary homeport for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s (RNZN) newly purchased dive and hydrographic vessel. In late August, the country’s government approved the purchase of the 85-meter Edda Fonn, a 15-year-old survey and light construction vessel. The ship will replace
The Canadian Coast Guard is nearing the mid-way point of its 2018 Arctic operational season, which runs into November. All seven scheduled vessels have been deployed to the Arctic, the last being the CCGS Terry Fox, which departed Montreal on August 27 to conduct icebreaking assistance in the Northw
Austal USA has delivered its ninth Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS) to the US Navy. The future USS Charleston (LCS 18) is the third Austal designed and built LCS delivered to the navy this year and will be the fourteenth to enter the fleet. The newbuilding completed its acceptance trial
The US Ronald Reagan Strike Group and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Escort Flotilla 4 Battle Group, participated in bilateral training on August 31 while underway in the South China Sea. During the training, units from the two maritime forces sailed in formation, participated in replenishment-a
Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) has selected Optimarin to supply ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) for nine offshore patrol cutters (OPC) to be built at its Panama City, FL shipyard. The agreement with ESG will see the Optimarin Ballast Systems (OBS) fitted in the new OPCs, designed to support
