The Royal Australian Navy has selected Cubic Global Defense to develop and deliver simulation-enabled training events to its forces. The four-year contract, valued at approximately USD $7.11 million or AUD $9 million, provides a range of simulation planning, technical support and professional intera
The U.S. Navy’s sixth aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, is set to arrive at Newport News Shipbuilding on Friday to begin its four-year mid-life refit after 25 years of service. This was announced by Newport News Shipbuilding president Jennifer Boykin who said the company had been working unde
A group of Royal Navy sailors and marines together with two Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopters spent the past five months deployed aboard the French helicopter carrier FS Mistral during its Jeanne D’Arc mission. FS Mistral, together with frigate FS Courbet, embarked Royal Navy personnel in March for
When the joint UK-US exercise Saxon Warrior kicked off in waters north of Scotland on August 1, 9000 NATO-sailors on 15 warships got underway for the drills. In addition to U.S. and Royal Navy assets, the exercise is joined by the flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1, the Norwegian Navy frig
The boarding party of Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Newcastle trained with the United States Coast Guard members during the frigate’s first port visit while deployed in the Middle East. Australian personnel completed a five-day course delivered by the Coast Guard at the Naval Support Activity i
A new plan to build more attack submarines could be supported by the U.S. industrial base with careful planning and sufficient funding, a U.S. Navy report to Congress has concluded. Titled “The Submarine Industrial Base and the Viability of Producing Additional Attack Submarines Beyond the Fiscal Ye
Germany is sending its F123 frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to the Mediterranean Sea and EU’s migrant-rescue operation Sophia. The Brandenburg-class frigate is set to depart the German Willhelmshaven navy base on August 7 to join the mission for the second time. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern previously cont
The UK defence ministry’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) office signed a seven-year contract with Babcock International Group to keep Royal Navy ships supplied with items essential for day-to-day maintenance and operations. The contract, announced by defence minister Harriett Baldwin in Portsm
U.S. Navy’s ballistic missile submarine USS Rhode Island achieved an overhaul milestone at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) undocking ahead of schedule. Entering water on July 17, the Ohio-class submarine set a new record for Engineered Refueling Overhauls (EROs) on the East Coast, beating NNSY’s forme
French shipbuilder Naval Group (former DCNS) has appointed a new executive director to work with the Commonwealth of Australia on the Australian Future Submarine program. Jean-Michel Billig, the Australia executive director joined Naval Group in May 2017 as special advisor to Hervé Guillou, Presiden
Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards has laid the keel for the first two of an additional six Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarines (NATO reporting name: improved Kilo-class). The ceremony took place on Friday, July 28, in St. Petersburg. The two submarines will be named Pet
Responding to the possibility of new UK aircraft carriers operating in the South China Sea, China’s foreign ministry said the deployment would only “stir up trouble”. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang made these remarks after UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson hinted at the possibility of t
Australian shipbuilder Austal on Monday held a keel-laying ceremony for the first vessel of the Australian government’s Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) Project. Defense industry minister Christopher Pyne authenticated the keel by committing his signature to a plate that was subsequently weld
New Zealand, Japan and the U.S. sent their units to Guam where they will be taking part in a multinational anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise off the coast of Guam, from July 31 to August 12. GUAMEX will include multiple aircraft and subsurface assets from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, t
