The Australian Government has taken the next major step to put the $8.5 billion Air Warfare Destroyer program back on track to deliver critical capability for the Royal Australian Navy. Following a competitive procurement process, BAE Systems, Navantia SA and Raytheon Australia will take on increase
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus met with senior research personnel and faculty members at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Dec. 5 to discuss the role of the U.S. Navy in the arctic. Mabus said: We in the Navy have a particular interest (in the arctic) because our responsibilities increase as
On Sunday 7 December Djiboutian Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed awarded Commander Bernard Baron (French Navy) the rank and dignity of Officer of the National Order of 27th of June. Commander Baron was presented with the award for his ‘outstanding service and assistance given to the Djibouti
Royal Navy’s vessels will soon have its first permanent naval base in the Middle East since UK formally withdrew from Bahrain and Sharjah in 1971. In the margins of the 10th IISS Manama Dialogue, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond signed a new defence arrangement with His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin
On Tuesday 2 December Colonel Giampaolo Schiavo handed over command of the Djiboutian-based Italian Task Force Air (TFA) to Colonel Elio Volpari. During the past four months the TFA team has been operating with the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta, and conducted over 200 unmanned aerial flight
The US is increasing its military presence in Europe by adding two more ballistic missile ships to its Rota Naval Base in Spain. These are the first American ships home-ported here since Polaris-missile submarines left in the 1970s, U.S. base officials said. Guarding Against Missile Attack, Pirates
US Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, the first national security cutter homeported on the East Coast, entered into active service on December 6, at Union Pier Terminal in downtown Charleston. The commissioning ceremony for the Coast Guard’s largest and newest 418-foot cutter was presided by Vice Adm. Wil
The Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, KCB OBE, visited NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) to meet with Commander MARCOM Vice Admiral Peter Hudson, CBE, and discuss relevant developments in the maritime domain with the MARCOM command staff. Discussion a
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems is being awarded a $12 million modification to a previously awarded contract to provide additional hours for non-recurring engineering in support of the DDG 1000 program. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and Bath, Maine, and is expected to be com
Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport, Washington, held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the unveiling of a new USS Thresher (SSN-593) exhibit Dec. 3. USS Thresher was the Navy’s most advanced submarine when it sunk April 10, 1963, with all hands on board. This tragedy became a turning point for the Navy to e
Canada assumed command of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) yesterday, a naval counter-terrorism task force that spans more than two million square miles in the greater Middle East region. Commodore Brian Santarpia officially took command of CTF-150 during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the
QinetiQ has secured a contract to provide support for the testing and acceptance trials for Artful, the third and latest Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine of the Royal Navy. QinetiQ will support four separate work packages addressing a variety of trials to support Acoustic, Magnetic signatures,
Rear Admiral Rando visited Brigadier-General Philippe Montocchio, the Commander of French Forces in Djibouti. They both discussed the current piracy situation in the Gulf of Aden. During the meeting Rear Admiral Rando said: A lot has been done, but we have to maintain focus as piracy is not yet erad
Papua New Guinea held a commissioning ceremony for its new Landing Craft Heavy HMPNGS Lakekamu yesterday in Port Moresby. HMPNGS Lakekamu was formerly the Royal Australia Navy Landing Craft Heavy HMAS Labuan, which was decommissioned from Australian service at a ceremony in Cairns last month. Defenc
