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NATO SNMG1 ships visit Germany
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group one (SNMG1) arrived in Warnemünde, Germany, for a scheduled port visit on April 28. The group is currently on a deployment to the Baltic Sea. SNMG1 has, during the past months, participated in several multinational exercises off the coast of Norway and Great
ANAO backs Australia’s Future Submarine acquisition
A report on the Australian government’s handling of the Future Submarine acquisition was complimented by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in a report released on April 27. Commenting on the report, Australia’s Minister for Defence Industry said the ANAO has independently verified that the
Royal Navy destroyer trains with Romanian Navy during Black Sea tour
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring departed Constanta, Romania, on April 27 after a two-day visit and exercises with the Romanian Navy. The Portsmouth-based warship visited Constanta for a routine port visit on her way home after supporting maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf. De
US Navy tests SM-6 Block I off Hawaii
The U.S. Navy said it carried out four flight tests of the surface-to-air Standard Missile-6 Block I (SM-6 Blk I) off the Hawaiian coast between April 6 and 13. These tests marked the next step toward the SM-6 Blk I’s achievement of full operational capability. In addition, the navy said these were
Australian, Canadian warships exercise in South East Asia
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat and Royal Canadian Navy ships HMCS Ottawa and Winnipeg recently completed a series of underway exercises in the waters of South East Asia. The exercises, conducted in international waters from 19-21 April, included close quarters manoeuvring, practicing re
Russian reconnaissance ship collides with livestock carrier off Istanbul
Russian Navy reconnaissance ship ‘Liman’ collided with Togo-flagged livestock carrier ‘Youzarsif H’ north of Bosphorus, the Russian defense ministry has confirmed. Liman sank in the collision despite the crew’s efforts to keep the vessel afloat. The reconnaissance ship’s hull was breached below the
Asia Pacific exercise Bersama Shield 2017 begins
Members of the Five Power Defence Arrangements started exercise Bersama Shield 2017 on April 27 in Malaysia and Singapore. The long-running Bersama exercise series aims to enhance the interoperability between the founding members of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) – Australia, Malaysia, N
NATO standardizes underwater data communication
All members of the NATO alliance have, for the first time ever, adopted a recently-developed standard for underwater acoustic communications. The standard is called Janus and was developed by NATO Science and Technology Organization’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE). “This ma
CBO: 355 ship fleet would cost the US Navy $102 billion per year
The U.S. Navy would have to spend $102 billion per year to build and operate a 355 ship navy, an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office has concluded. The assessment was carried out by the agency after the navy released a new force structure assessment in December 2016 which called for a 355 sh
Australia kicks off replacement Pacific Patrol Boat construction
Australia started the construction phase of the replacement Pacific Patrol Boat program with a steel cutting ceremony in Western Australia on April 26. Up to 21 steel-hulled vessels are set to replace the existing fleet of Pacific Patrol Boats as part of Australia’s new Pacific Maritime Security Pro
US Navy, Air Force in first-ever P-8A refueling
The U.S. Navy and Air Force achieved a historic milestone last week when an Air Force KC-135 tanker refueled the Navy’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. A Naval Air Station Patuxent River P-8A Poseidon was refueled by a 459th Air Refueling Wing KC-135. “The 459th and the Air Force Reserve Com
Australia’s Forgacs starts construction of $80M shipbuilding facility
Australian shipbuilder Forgacs, through its parent company Civmec Construction and Engineering Pty Ltd, marked the first day of construction of their purpose built ship and module construction, ship repair and maintenance facility. The 29,000 square meter, 18-storey high, facility is an investment o
Australian Navy denies reports of improper LHD maintenance
Responding to an article about faulty maintenance works on the Australian Navy’s two biggest warships, Australia’s deputy chief of navy said the article was “incorrect and misleading in its assertions”. The Daily Telegraph published an article which claimed the reason for the breakdown of the Canber
Report: Australian amphibious assault ships damages caused by faulty maintenance
Faulty maintenance works are reportedly the reason why the Royal Australian Navy’s two Canberra-class landing helicopter docks spent the last month tied to port. Navy chiefs are now looking into what happened during maintenance works on the $1.5 billion warships, according to the Australian Daily Te