Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond that recently joined Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, hosted the Commander of the EU Taskforce carrying out the mission. The destroyer sailed from Portsmouth in August to support the operation to counter illegal arms trafficking in order to promote a
HMAS Hobart, the first of three Royal Australian Navy Aegis destroyers has successfully completed sea trials off the coast of South Australia. The builder’s sea trials, completed on the weekend, included testing the ship’s hull, propulsion and navigation systems. HMAS Hobart was built at Techport, b
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky Aircraft a $232 million contract for the procurement of another two CH-53K system demonstration helicopters. The service initially ordered four aircraft from the company in 2013 in order to carry out operational evaluation of the new helicopter
Sailors aboard U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) and USS Lassen (DDG 82) tested their skills in fighting against drones during exercise Black Dart off the coast of Destin, Florida. During the exercise which took place September 20, both Jason Dunham
Spanish Navy F-100 frigate Almirante Juan de Borbón left her homeport to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG-1) and serve as the group’s flagship until the end of December. Almirante Juan de Borbón (F-102) will relieve sister ship Méndez Núñez which is currently part of the group. This i
The Spanish Navy’s has recently conducted MAR-41, a fleet readiness exercise which took place in the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. Participating units included F-80 frigates Victoria, Numancia and Canarias together with the landing helicopter dock (LHD) Juan Carlos I and the auxiliary s
Just three days into the sea phase of Exercise KAKADU, a task group of six international warships has been locked in a steady battle of anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare. The ‘Red Force’ task group is made up of a Japanese destroyer, an American destroyer, an Indonesian corvette and
A Royal Navy frigate and an offshore patrol vessel responded to a mayday call issued in the morning hours of September 21 from a sinking small boat off the Isle of Man. HMS Somerset scrambled her helicopter while HMS Severn rushed to the scene as it was just 20 miles away when it received the call.
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has recently shared a video of an F/A-18 E/F strike aircraft firing the newest Joint Standoff Weapon, JSOW C-1, to sink the decommissioned frigate USS Rentz. The F/A-18 E/F fighter jet from USS Ronald Reagan’s air wing deployed the weapon during the U.S. exercise V
The Arab Republic of Egypt has received the second and last Mistral-class helicopter carrier it acquired from France in October 2015. The change of flag ceremony for the amphibious assault ship which Egypt named Anwar El Sadat took place on September 16 and was attended by the two Chiefs of Staff of
The Panamanian Navy is host to this year’s iteration of exercise UNITAS which is attended by the United States, Panama, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and the United Kingdom. The ten-day exercise kicked off September 18 and will includ
Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth abandoned the scenario during a Canadian-hosted anti-submarine exercise in order to help a Canadian fisherman in the North Atlantic. The Plymouth-based ship was around 100 miles east of Nova Scotia when she picked up a mayday. The crew of the trawler Double Mischief r
The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded Eastern Shipbuilding Group a $110.29 million contract for the production of the lead Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and up to eight follow-on cutters. If the Coast Guard opts to build all nine cutters the contract will be worth $2.38 billion. The OPC acquisition will r
Ships assigned to the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHR ESG), with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, joined the U.S. military exercise Valiant Shield 2016, on September 15. Valiant Shield is a biennial exercise held between the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force in an effor
