The US Navy has awarded BAE Systems two contracts totalling $54.8 million to modernize the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) and the guided missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71). Both contracts include options that, if exercised, would bring the total cumulative value of the awards t
Royal Canadian Navy auxiliary oiler replenishment (AOR) vessel Asterix has entered service after completing sea trials and testing. Asterix performed daily replenishment-at-sea (RAS) exercises with the RCN and conducted extensive RCAF CH-148 Cyclone helicopter operations to prove and demonstrate its
The US Coast Guard medically evacuated an injured sailor from US Navy destroyer USS Spruance offshore of Palos Verdes on January 27. US Coast Guard sector Los Angeles-Long Beach was notified of a 20-year-old crewmember who had sustained a leg injury aboard the USS Spruance (DDG-111). After consultin
The US Navy announced it is starting a mission to survey the downed C-2A Greyhound aircraft that crashed into the Philippine Sea en route to aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on November 22. The navy will carry out the mission with help from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s research vessel R/V Pet
After concluding operations with the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Fort Rosalie switched to supporting the US Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. As Fort Rosalie joined the US task group in the Persian Gulf, RFA Fort Rosalie personnel were welcomed aboard their Americ
RFA Tideforce, the final of four Tide-class tankers being built for the UK in South Korea, was named on January 24 in a ceremony at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea. The ceremony was attended by Royal Marine General Gordon Messenger, British ambassador to Republic
Ships from the US Navy’s America Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on January 22 and 23. This will be the group’s final port call as they complete their maiden seven-month deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific, Horn of Africa, Mediterranean, and Middle Eas
US Coast Guard’s high endurance cutter Sherman (WHEC 720) returned from its final deployment on January 23, completing a 76-day patrol in the Bering Sea. The deployment was Sherman’s last one before it decommissions in March this year after nearly 50 years of service. The cutter is scheduled to be d
The recently-commissioned Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has kicked off preparations for her rotary wing trials which are set to start in the coming weeks. According to the Royal Navy, a Merlin helicopter from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has been training aboard the aircraft ca
US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) left its homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on January 15, to join the Carl Vinson carrier strike group on a Western Pacific deployment. Michael Murphy deployed with a crew of approximately 320 sailors and a detachment of MH-60R helicopte
The Royal Australian Navy has teamed with the Australian Army and industry to set up a new training system for a joint helicopter school. Rotary wing crews are now set to benefit from the newly-established Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) at a dedicated facility at HMAS Albatross. The first
The US Navy announced it has recently completed its first Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) flight test on the AH-1Z helicopter at Patuxent River. During the flight which took place in December, aircrew aboard the AH-1Z navigated the missile through various operational modes and exercised its activ
US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) completed an independent deployment to the Western Pacific and South America, returning to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on January 12. While deployed, the ship conducted theater security cooperation and maritime presence operations with partne
The French defense procurement agency DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) has awarded the Naval Group and Airbus Helicopters consortium a contract to develop a rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator for the French Navy. According to a Naval Group announcement, the contract covers