Two Royal Australian Navy minehunters, HMAS Huon and HMAS Diamantina, spent the past four weeks training together before they set sail for their south-west Pacific deployment and support to operation Render Safe 16. This year’s iteration of Render Safe will be taking place in the vicinity of the Sol
NATO and ally nation ships have concluded this year’s edition of the German-sponsored large-scale exercise Northern Coasts. The two-week exercise started on September 5 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was attended by ships and aircraft from 14 countries including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Estoni
Following a request for information (RFI) for its Squadron 2020 project to construct four ice-going offshore patrol vessels, the Finnish Navy has now signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Rauma-based shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions. If the LOI is realized, the company will build f
The European Union Council gave its final approval to the European Border and Coast Guard on September 14 and the EU now estimates the body will start its activities in mid-October. The main role of the European Border and Coast Guard is to help provide integrated border management at the external b
The U.S. Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a $19.1 million contract modification to accelerate design work on the U.S. Navy’s amphibious warfare ship replacement, known as LX(R). In the original announcement on June 30, Ingalls was selected to perform the majority of the contract design
Navy commanders from 14 countries were hosted by Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, for the inaugural Regional Commanders’ Conference to discuss maritime security and interoperability in the Asia-Pacific. The high level discussions between navies were attached to exercise Kakadu
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded Ocean Power Technologies a contract to design a new mass-spring oscillating PowerBuoy for mission critical sensors for the U.S. Navy. Under the approx. $250,000 contract, OPT is to design a PowerBuoy which will differ from the current PB3 type in t
HMAS Hobart, the first of three Royal Australian Navy Aegis-equipped air warfare destroyers, has started builder’s sea trials leaving ASC’s Osborne, South Australia shipyard for the first time. A number of alongside dock trials in preparation for Hobart’s first departure to sea were carried out, inc
German Navy frigate FGS Karlsruhe is scheduled to return from the Mediterranean Sea and her last operational deployment on September 16. The ship was first part of operation Sophia and later joined the NATO-led Again Sea patrol mission aimed at curbing people smuggling. Karlsruhe deployed half a yea
A German Navy sailor has captured her walk through the German Navy U34 submarine on video which was then shared on social media. The walkaround offers an insight into what life on a Type 212 A air-independent propulsion submarine might look like. U 34 is currently home to 35 sailors who are engaged
Royal Australian Navy chief Vice Admiral Tim Barrett accepted the last of Navy’s 24 MH-60R maritime combat helicopters during a ceremony at Lockheed-Martin’s Logistics and Maintenance Facility at Nowra’s Aviation Technology Park on September 12. The Commonwealth of Australia chose the Romeo in June
The 13th iteration of the Australian-hosted multinational maritime exercise Kakadu 2016 began with an opening ceremony on September 12 in Darwin, Australia. Exercise Kakadu is the Royal Australian Navy’s premier exercise and provides an opportunity for regional nations to participate in multinationa
Units from Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) destroyed eight historic ordnance mines during the Norwegian MINEX exercise which was completed August 25, in Trondheim, Norway. The exercise involved minesweeping ships from five NATO allies sweeping sections of Norway’s coastal wate
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown, currently part of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2, recently conducted a cooperative boarding on the Togolese flag merchant vessel (MV) Byblos as part of NATO’s counter-terrorism Operation Active Endeavour. HMCS Charlottetown (FFH 339) conducted this c
