Australian branches of global defense contractors Raytheon and Thales will be in charge of the A$542 million project to upgrade the fleet of six Royal Australian Navy Collins-class submarines. According to an announcement from the Australian defense industry minister Christopher Pyne, the upgrades a
Ships from the Combined Maritime Force and EU NAVFOR staged a counter-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden early June, honing interoperability and coordination to combat piracy. EU NAVFOR ships and aircraft from Italy, Spain and Germany operated alongside US, Korean and Japanese warships of CMF from
The Royal Australian Navy has deployed a laser airborne depth sounder (LADS) flight to deployment to Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, for hydrographic surveys in the Kavieng and Rabaul regions. The five week is carried out with the aim of providing improved data that will be used to update the existing nau
Royal Australian and New Zealand Naviy personnel took part in a week long exercise recently honing their skills in responding to piracy activities on commercial shipping surrounding fictitious countries in the Tasman Sea. Exercise Goanna 18 drew on lessons learnt from RAN and RNZN deployments in dom
The US Navy officially welcomed the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system to the fleet with a ceremony on May 31. The ceremony marked the start of flight operations, seven months after the US Navy received its first operational Triton from Northrop Grumman in November 2017. Naval Base Ventura County
Australia’s second air warfare destroyer ‘Brisbane’ recently completed her Category 5 (CAT 5) sea trials off the coast of Adelaide, the Royal Australian Navy has announced. The destroyer got underway for the trials in November 2017. The Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance which is in charge of delivering
The world’s largest international naval exercise – Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) – will be hosting 26 nations, 47 surface ships, five submarines, 18 national land forces, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel for maneuvers, the US Navy has announced. The exercise is scheduled to take place b
Australian shipbuilder Austal on May 30 announced that the first of overall 21 Pacific Patrol Boats was launched after officially starting construction in April 2017. The first vessel in the class is scheduled for delivery to Papua New Guinea in late October 2018. The boats are also known as the Gua
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne departed her home port of Fleet Base East bound to start a seven month deployment to the South West Pacific and North East Asia. Melbourne’s deployment will include participation in the second iteration of Indo-Pacific Endeavour, exercise Kakadu in Austra
German shipbuilder Luerssen – the prime contractor in the Australian SEA 1180 offshore patrol vessel program – has formed a joint venture with Australian engineering and defense contractor Civmec. The joint venture will be called the Australian Maritime Shipbuilding and Export Group and will play a
The Australian branch of the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Adelaide to develop a collaborative program of education and research co-operation. CETENA, a subsidiary company of Fincantieri, which undertakes research a
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga has continued her drug interception streak with an additional two hauls of illicit narcotics in the Arabian Sea. The narcotics were intercepted following boarding operations in international waters of the Arabian Sea this week and are valued at approxima
Australian submarine and warship builder ASC has announced the launch of a digital transformation program which will help apply new technology and innovation to the state-owned shipbuilder’s defense programs. ASC expect the transformation program to have flow-on effects for Australian and overseas s
The UK defense ministry’s program for the development of a new class of nuclear missile submarines and Trident nuclear program renewal is facing a £2.9b “affordability gap”, a review by spending watchdog National Audit Office (NAO) has found. This is in addition to the pressure faced by the defense
