Having wrapped up her participation in the Australian Navy exercise Ocean Explorer on March 5, Italian Navy FREMM frigate ITS Carabiniere headed for Jakarta, Indonesia as part of her deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. The Carlo Bergamini-class frigate arrived in Jakarta on March 9 and hosted the
Royal Australian Navy’s fleet replenishment tanker HMAS Sirius is preparing to return to the fleet following a four-month maintenance period at Captain Graving Dock, Garden Island. The ship recently sailed out of Sydney Harbour and into the Pacific Ocean for sea trials. She will return to Sydney bri
U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) visited Australia’s largest navy base HMAS Stirling on March 7. Oklahoma City visited the Fleet Base West, Western Australia, during its regular Indo-Asia-Pacific deployment. With a crew of approximately 150, the submarine wi
Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac-class frigate HMAS Stuart is set to complete her anti-ship missile defense upgrade this week, marking the completion of an Australian Navy capability upgrade program that spanned seven years. Completion of works on HMAS Stuart was announced by contractor BAE Systems who
Australian shipbuilder Austal opened a new shipbuilding facility that will be used for the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) programme. Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne MP officially opened the facility at Naval Base, West Australia in a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 8.
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission Pacific Partnership 2017 made its initial mission stop in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on March 7 with the arrival of the United States Navy’s expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF-4). This is also the first mission to Sri
Australia’s first air warfare destroyer NUSHIP Hobart returned to Adelaide after completing its sea acceptance trials off the coast of South Australia. Hobart spent the past five weeks demonstrating its on-board weapons capabilities, including 21 days at sea, where it conducted 20 platform system te
Two Royal Navy Merlins have embarked French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral, the lead ship of French Navy task group, for the French annual Jeanne d’Arc deployment. The five-month amphibious deployment will take the force – which includes the frigate Courbet – as far east as Japan and Guam, as fa
Divers from the New Zealand and United States Navy honed their mine-clearing skills during a two-week multinational exercise that took place in Bland Bay, Whangaruru,in February. Exercise Fulcrum, a training activity involving primarily the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and the U.S. Navy, tested div
Australian sailors aboard Darwin-based patrol boat, HMAS Maryborough, marked the 75th anniversary of the sinking of HMAS Perth (I), with a midnight ceremony over the wreck in the Sunda Strait. The service took on special significance this year, with increased efforts to preserve the wreck over which
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed amphibious assault ship, departed Sasebo, Japan for a regularly-scheduled patrol in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility on February 27. Bonhomme Richard is scheduled to finalize shipboard certifications and conduct joint force operation
In a new aviation milestone, Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Canberra will be embarking two Army Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters for the first time. The two Tigers, will join two MRH-90 Taipan medium lift helicopters and one MH-60R Seahawk conducting first of class flight trials onboard the amph
Australian shipbuilder Austal announced on Friday that the detailed design review (DDR) for the A$306 million pacific patrol boat replacement (PPB-R) project has been completed on time and in accordance with the contracted schedule. The completion of the DDR marks the end of the design phase and the
Warships from New Zealand, Spain and Italy will all be joining Royal Australian Navy ships for one of Australia’s largest maritime warfare exercises. More than 17 ships and aircraft are gathering on the Western Australian coast for the inaugural exercise Ocean Explorer. The Spanish Armada’s ESPS Cri
