Royal Australian Navy’s Adelaide-class frigate HMAS Newcastle got underway from Garden Island, Sydney on Sunday to start her sixth deployment to the Middle East. This is Newcastle’s final deployment as she is scheduled to decommission in 2019. Family and friends joined the Acting Commander Australia
Returning from a counter-piracy deployment in the Gulf of Aden, the 25th Task Group of the People’s Liberation Army – Navy arrived in Sydney, Australia, for a three-day port visit on June 8. The Task Group consisting of two guided missile frigates, Hengyang and Yulin, and one replenishment ship,Hong
Australian shipbuilders Austal and ASC Shipbuilding announced they are teaming up for the construction of the Australian Navy’s SEA5000 Future Frigates. Under this arrangement, ASC Shipbuilding and Austal will act as one in support of the program, combining their skills and experience. “The Austal/A
The Western Pacific Naval Symposium Diving Exercise (WPNS-DIVEX) 2017, a disaster response-focused exercise organized by the Nine Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) nations, started on June 5 in Guam. Western Pacific Naval Symposium Diving Exercise 2017 is a biennial diving exercise conducted by
Defense forces from Australia and Indonesia concluded the coordinated maritime patrol AUSINDO CORPAT 2017 on Monday in Darwin, Australia. The joint operation, aimed at stopping illegal fishing and improving regional security, began in Benoa, Bali on 27 May and covered waters between Australia and In
The Royal Australian Navy commissioned its second Australian Defence Vessel (ADV), ‘Cape Inscription’, during a ceremony on June 6. ADV Cape Inscription was officially named in Henderson and had the Australian White Ensign hoisted on it for the first time. The two Cape-class patrol boats for the nav
Construction of Australia’s new antarctic supply research vessel (ASRV) started in Romania with a steel-cutting ceremony on May 31. Dutch shipbuilder Damen is in charge of constructing the vessel at its Galati, Romania, shipyard. The shipbuilder is constructing the ASRV for Serco Defence, a subsidia
After concluding amphibious drills with U.S. Marines off Guam recently, French Navy ships FS Mistral and FS Courbet trained with Australian and Spanish Navy ships in Australian waters. The French ships engaged Australian ships Success and Parramatta and the Spanish Navy’s Cristobal Colon in waters t
The final Australian-developed Nulka missile decoy was delivered to the Australian Navy by BAE Systems in April, after three decades of service to Australia, the United States and Canada. Once launched, Nulka can fly a pre-programmed flight path to entice sea-skimming missiles away from a ship. It h
After three months of operations, personnel from this year’s Pacific Partnership mission returned to Singapore USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) on May 31. Their return marked the conclusion of this year’s mission. Fall River departed Singapore on March 4 and served as the command platform for the Pacific P
Royal Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Wollongong participated in a four-day exercise with the Republic of Fiji Navy ship Kula during a recent visit to Fiji. Wollongong is on a South West Pacific deployment, which includes visits to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, as part of the Aust
Cape Inscription, the second Cape-class patrol boat, was delivered to the Australian Navy by shipbuilder Austal on May 29. The Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Inscription is the tenth Cape-class designed and constructed by Austal. Cape Inscription joins Cape Fourcroy, which was delivered to the
After almost two years of operations with the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Defence Vessel Cape Byron was returned to the original owner, Australian Border Force. The crew of ADV Cape Byron gathered on the upper deck to farewell and hand-back the Cape class patrol boat as her duties for navy com
BAE Systems Australia announced it is teaming up with the defense department’s Capability and Sustainment Group (CASG) for the upgrade of maritime satellite communications terminals in a four year, $30 million project. The upgrade of the MASTIS – maritime element of the advanced satcom terrestrial i
