Hyundai Heavy Industries hosted a keel laying ceremony for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s future tanker HMZS Aotearoa at its shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, on August 13. Aotearoa’s keel laying consisted of more than 500 tonnes of carefully constructed keel blocks being positioned together in the dry
Australian Navy ships and personnel are continuing their Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2018 (IPE18) deployment after concluding exercise Rim of the Pacific off Hawaii in early August. Landing helicopter dock ship HMAS Adelaide and frigate HMAS Toowoomba – along with a platoon of Australian soldiers from 2R
Australian shipbuilder Austal will be delivering six offshore patrol vessels for the Philippine Navy, the company confirmed on August 13. The confirmation follows Philippine media reports from August 11, which said the Defence Secretary of the Philippines government, Delfin Lorenzana, announced that
US Navy sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 teamed up with Australian Army personnel to begin the biennial unit level training event, Pyrocrab, on US Naval Base Guam August 6. The training focuses on building closer relationships be
Saab Australia has awarded Danish defense technology company Terma a contract for the delivery of its Scanter 6002 radars for the Royal Australian Navy’s new SEA1180 offshore patrol vessels. Terma Singapore is set to deliver air and surface surveillance radars for all 12 OPVs over a period of 10 yea
Mistral-class amphibious assault ship Dixmude and La Fayette-class frigate FS Surcouf wrapped up the French Navy’s annual Jeanne D’Arc mission returning to naval base Toulon on July 19. The two ships got underway in late February and sailed a total of 26,500 nautical miles over a period of 145 days.
The Australian P-8A Poseidon aircraft has achieved another milestone successfully firing its first Harpoon anti-ship missile during exercise RIMPAC 18 off Hawaii. The ATM-84J Harpoon missile was launched from the aircraft to sink its target, decommissioned US Navy ship USS Racine. Australian defense
US Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) mine countermeasure (MCM) units were joined by their Indian Navy counterparts for the start of the 2JA mine countermeasure exercise 2018 near Ominato, Japan, on July 18. 2JA is an annual exercise that, in addition to the US Navy and JMSDF, this y
The Royal Australian Navy has welcomed a new Chief of Navy as Vice Admiral Tim Barrett was relieved by Vice Admiral Michael Noonan in a handover ceremony at Blamey Square in Canberra. VADM Barrett told the gathering, his time as Chief has seen significant change to the RAN, thanks to hard work and d
A P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft assigned to US 7th Fleet helped the Sri Lanka Navy locate a missing fishing vessel July 10, after joining search efforts. The P-8A Poseidon from the “Pelicans” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 45 flew out of Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia. The 40-foot vessel and
The Australian government announced it is investing AU$1.4 billion in the acquisition of six MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The UAS will be acquired through a cooperative program with the US Navy. Australia is buying the UAS to complement the surveillance role of the P-8A Poseidon air
Navy ships from the US, India and Japan have concluded the trilateral maritime exercise Malabar 2018 off the coast of Guam. The exercise ran from June 7 through June 16. While ashore in Guam, training included subject matter expert and professional exchanges, maritime patrol and reconnaissance opera
Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Mana got underway from her Devonport homeport to start a five-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific. Commander Lisa Hunn, the commanding officer of Te Mana, said the ship would take part in several international exercises as part of its deployment. “Participati
Ships, submarines and aircraft from Japan, US and India have kicked off the 22nd edition of the now trilateral naval exercise Malabar. The exercise runs from June 7 through June 16. Malabar 2018 is the first time the exercise has been conducted off the coast of Guam, and the latest in a continuing s
