The US Navy and Australian Air Force kicked off the annual anti-submarine warfare exercise Sea Dragon on January 14. The multilateral exercise is based out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, with this year’s event running until Jan. 25. Participating US units will include Patrol Squadron (VP) 47, VP-
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat seized over 3.1 tons of hashish in the Arabian Sea during an operation that took place on January 8 and 9. The seized drugs are worth an estimated $155 million and are the first narcotics seized by a Combined Maritime Forces member in 2019. The fishing ves
Papua New Guinea Defence Force’s new Pacific patrol boat Ted Diro has completed sea trials, one week after its delivery. The boat passed the initial sea-readiness evaluation with support from the Australian Navy’s Sea Training Unit – Defence Cooperation Program. Commander Sea Training Defence Cooper
Air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart, the first Royal Australian Navy Aegis-equipped ship, returned home after wrapping up weapons and systems trials with the United States Navy off the US West Coast. Hobart returned to Sydney after spending three months in the US. In addition to testing the Aegis syst
China’s Hudong Zhonghua shipyard hosted a steel-cutting ceremony on December 20 to mark the official start of construction of the second Pakistan Navy Type 054A frigate. Hudong Zhonghua is a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation with which the Pakistan Navy signed contracts for the deli
Thales and Aquabotix announced they are joining forces to design and develop a rapidly deployable mine counter measures (MCM), rapid environment assessment (REA) and military hydrographic autonomous system mission solution. The project is a collaboration with Australian Academia and SMEs including t
The navies of Australia, France and the US concluded a four-day ‘Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement’ (SHAREM) 195 exercise in the Arabian Sea on December 18. Participating ships included French navy F70AA-class air defense destroyer FS Cassard (D 614), and Royal Austral
The focus of the Royal Australian Navy’s 2019 Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE19) will focus on developing cooperation with the Indian Navy, Australian defense minister has announced. Engagement with India, one of Australia’s key strategic partners in the Indian Ocean region, will be the cornerstone for
Royal Canadian Navy vessels ranging from coastal defense vessels through frigates to replenishment oilers returned to their Atlantic and Pacific bases from operations in European, South American, and Asia-Pacific waters. Kingston-class coastal defense vessels HMCS Edmonton and Nanaimo returned to Ca
The US state department has awarded Austal USA a contract for the construction of an additional two Independence-variant littoral combat ships (LCS) for the US Navy. According to Austal, this brings the total of new LCS orders booked in calendar year 2018 to four ships. For competition reasons the U
The Australian government has awarded a contract to BAE Systems Australia’s new subsidiary ASC Shipbuilding that provides the framework for the design and build of nine Hunter-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. The country’s government and ASC Shipbuilding signed the contract after ASC Sh
The new landscape of the Australian Osborne Naval Shipyard is taking shape with steel now being raised into place for the Hunter-class construction yard. “It’s estimated the $535 million Osborne South project will create up to 600 jobs,” Christopher Pyne, Minister for Defence, said. As informed, the
The Royal Australian Navy’s future submarines will be named the Attack class, with the first submarine being named HMAS Attack, the navy said. Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Noonan AO RAN, said the name ‘Attack’, represents the inherent stealth, long-range endurance and lethality of a submarine. “The f
Mine countermeasures ships from the navies of Australia, Japan and the US completed the annual Mine Warfare Exercise 3JA 2018, off the coast of Japan on November 27. US Navy’s USS Chief and Australia’s HMAS Huon and HMAS Gascoyne were joined by a number of JMSDF ships for several days of at sea exer
