Australian shipbuilder Austal announced it has started sea trials for the first Guardian-class Pacific Patrol Boat (PPB-R). The announcement was made on August 8 as part of the company’s celebration of 30 years of successfully delivering shipbuilding programs. The PPB-R program will see 21 Austal de
The Royal Australian Navy’s decommissioned frigate ex-HMAS Darwin is to be scuttled in the waters off Tasmania to become a dive wreck, the Australian government announced August 9. Australian defense minister Marise Payne said she was pleased that the former Adelaide-class frigate would call Tasmani
German Naval Yards and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) – two Kiel-based shipbuilders – are joining forces to compete against a Dutch proposal for the design and construction of the German Navy’s new MKS180 ships. TKMS signed an agreement with German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK) on August 3 under which
The EU-led counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia has welcomed its new flagship from the Spanish Navy. On August 6, Spain’s Galicia-class landing platform dock ESPS Castilla joined the operation Atalanta which received a new force commander on the same day. Rear Admiral Alfonso Nanclares
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy will be sending a warship to Australian waters where it will take part for the first time in the international, biennial exercise Kakadu. Australia has invited China to join the drill in an effort to ease tensions between the two countries, intensified by Ch
Denmark’s defense department has received the final two of overall nine MH-60R Seahawk helicopters delivered by Sikorsky Aircraft under a $686 million contract. The aircraft arrived at the Royal Danish Air Force base Karup on August 1 aboard an American C17 aircraft. MH-60R Seahawks will be flown by
The first of two Australian Navy Cape-class patrol boats – ADV Cape Fourcroy – helped seize approximately 600 kilograms of cocaine and arrest two men in an operation on August 1. The operation was headed by the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (QJOCTF) in collaboration with Maritime Border
Italian Navy amphibious ship ITS San Marco has become a flagship of the EUNAVFOR Med operation Sophia Task Force. San Marco has replaced landing platform dock (LPD) San Giusto which completed six months of deployment in the operation, from February 1 to August 1, 2018. This was the vessel’s second i
Engineers could be able to view the status and predicted health of ships’ systems.
The operation will see the frigate visit 5 countries and transit more than 16700 nautical miles.
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
Australian shipbuilder Austal announced that the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago government intends to purchase two Austal-designed Cape-class patrol boats. The purchase would enhance the border protection capabilities of the country in conjunction with the existing Coast Guard fleet, and will join
Bottlenose dolphins from the US Navy’s Marine Mammal Systems Program (MMSP) took part in dynamic mine countermeasure (MCM) training during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in Southern California. The dolphins are based at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific on Naval Base Point Lom
The Australian defense procurement office has accepted delivery of the Royal Australian Navy’s second Hobart-class air warfare destroyer NUSHIP Brisbane in a ceremony in Adelaide on Friday. The Department of Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group received the ship after it completed se
