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
Italian defense contractor Leonardo announced that its TH-119 IFR training helicopter successfully completed its maiden flight on December 20. The TH-119 is Leonardo’s bid to replace the US Navy’s aging fleet of TH-57 Sea Ranger training helicopters, a variant of the AW119, manufactured in the US. U
UK-based underwater systems specialist JFD has delivered the second of two submarine rescue systems to the Indian Navy. The SRS is expected to arrive in India in January 2019. The delivery was announced by the company a week after the Indian Navy officially commissioned the first system in a ceremon
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
US Military Sealift Command’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk, Dec. 17, completing a 10-month deployment in the US Fifth Fleet and US Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. “Some of the missions USNS Big Horn undertook during this deployment included
A ceremony to mark 60 years of service of German Navy sail training ship Gorch Fock has been postponed indefinitely amid a corruption probe related to the ship’s €135 million refit that is currently underway. In an announcement on December 11, the German Navy said a high-profile 60th anniversary cer
A German Navy frigate and a tender are set to return their homeports of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel on Friday, after concluding their NATO deployments. Tender Rhein is returning to Kiel after serving as flagship of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) for over five months. The ship’s
After making two narcotics interceptions in late November and early December, Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon has now carried out the largest drug haul in the history of the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). According to CMF, Dragon seized and destroyed just shy of 10,000 kg of illegal n
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 Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) has awarded design firm Stantec a $35 million contract for the planning and preliminary design of a multi-mission dry dock and other upgrades at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Kittery, Maine. Stantec’s work will include comprehensive prelimin
Submarine rescue specialists from France, Norway and the United Kingdom gathered at HM Naval Base Clyde to take part in a NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) training exercise. Over 110 people participated in the week-long event – the largest evacuation exercise ever to be planned at Faslane – bring
The “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 completed their carrier qualifications December 12 aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the US Navy has announced. The carrier qualifications are the final required component for Commander Joint Strike Fighter Wing (CJSFW) to issue the squadron its sa
