The US State Department has approved the sale of eight Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters to Mexico under a deal worth an estimated $1.20 billion. The potential acquisition of the helicopters would boost Mexico’s ability to carry out anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions an
B.A.P. Pisco, the lead ship of the Peruvian Navy’s landing platform dock ships, has started sea trials, the Peruvian Navy announced April 19. Pisco got underway from the Peruvian state-owned shipyard SIMA (Servicios Industriales de la Marina S.A.) in Callao, where it was launched in April 2017, afte
Royal Navy landing platform dock HMS Albion is scheduled to arrive in Indonesia on April 22, for the ship’s first port call in Southeast Asia as part of her Asia Pacific tasking. Albion will arrive in Jakarta on April 22 for a three day visit during which the ship’s crew will conduct bilateral talks
The US Navy’s eleventh San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD 27) is entering service in a ceremony on Saturday, April 21, at the Port of Portland, Marine Terminal 2 in Portland, Oregon. Deputy secretary of defense Patrick M. Shanahan will deliver the ceremony’s principal addr
The UK defense secretary cut the first turf on April 19 for a new facility at RAF Lossiemouth which will house the UK’s new fleet of Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The £132m site will be the future home to the country’s nine-strong, new P-8A Poseidon MPA fleet. The aircraft’s key role will
Naval units from the US and Colombia are taking part in the Peru-hosted Silent Forces Exercise (SIFOREX) 2018 which began in Lima, Peru on April 16. SIFOREX is a naval exercise that focuses on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) proficiency and presents the US Navy with an opportunity to hone ASW operation
US Navy destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) returned to Pearl Harbor on April 18, completing a three-month deployment to the Western Pacific with the Carl Vinson Strike Group. During the deployment, the strike group conducted routine operations in the Indo-Pacific that helped maintain security an
A Turkish defense company has shared video footage of what it says is an unmanned underwater vehicle capable of carrying enough explosives to destroy surface warships. The underwater drone is called Wattozz and was developed jointly by Albayrak Savunma, which entered the defense business in 2017, an
US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) arrived in Aqaba, Jordan on Sunday, April 15, ahead of the start of the joint US-Jordanian exercise Eager Lion 2018. The two ships arrived with components of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit for an exe
US Navy cruisers and destroyers from the John C. Stennis carrier strike group are currently underway honing their surface, anti-submarine, anti-air and information warfare skills before starting the integrated phase of training with the CSG. Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG
French Navy frigate FS La Fayette seized over 400 kilos of heroin from a dhow it intercepted in the Indian Ocean in an operation on April 11. The drugs were intercepted after La Fayette’s Panther helicopter detected a suspicious vessel while on a routine surveillance in the international waters of t
HMS Forth, the first of Royal Navy’s five new Batch-2 River-class offshore patrol vessels, entered service in a ceremony held at her Her Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth, on April 13. At the ceremony, the ship’s Lady Sponsor, Rachel Johnstone-Burt, was joined by UK government and defense officials, a
Spain and Saudi Arabia have finalized a framework agreement which will see Spanish shipbuilder Navantia deliver five Avante 2200 corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). The deal, signed during Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s official visit to Spain, is worth around €2 bil
India’s Mahindra Defence and Israel’s Aeronautics have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on naval shipborne unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). As informed, the duo intends to offer Orbiter 4, a UAV system which can be launched and recovered from Indian warships. “Aeronautics has ente
