The Royal Navy-hosted review of unmanned technologies which took place on the West Coast of Scotland concluded on October 20. The skies above the island of Benbecula, a remote Scottish outpost in the Outer Hebrides, have been clear and calm in October allowing several dozens of the world’s experts t
Qatar’s Coast Guard Command has taken delivery of the first in a series of 17 Ares-built composite hull boats. Powered and propelled by MTU high-speed engines and Rolls-Royce Kamewa waterjets, two Ares 75 and one Ares 110 Hercules, will be the first three boats of this programme to be delivered by t
U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) took part in a passing exercise (PASSEX) with a ship from the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea as it departed Constanta, Romania, October 20. Mount Whitney participated in a minesweeping exercise with Romanian Navy corvette Admi
The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) are continuing their collaboration on the combined maritime mine counter measures programme with an agreement to transit to the manufacturing phase. The agreement, signed at Euronaval on October 20 between Harriet Baldwin,
The U.S. Navy said its future guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) successfully completed Alpha trials on October 18, after spending two days underway off the coast of Maine. The trials were conducted by shipbuilder Bath Iron Works (BIW), a subsidiary of General Dynamics. Alpha tria
Minehunters from the US and UK kicked off the mine countermeasures exercise 17-1 in the Persian Gulf with a photographic exercise formation on October 19. The bilateral exercise encompassed the full spectrum of mine countermeasures (MCM) from mine detection and identification to mine clearance with
The Royal Malaysian Navy has selected Terma’s Scanter 6000 radar as their combined navigation and helicopter control radar for the country’s two Lekiu-class frigates mid-life modernization and service life extension. This is the second radar delivery contract the Danish company has signed during the
A Czech squadron of Gripen fighter jets have reached the second week of their air-maritime integration and carried out joint missions with Danish, French and Icelandic vessels off Iceland. Currently in charge of providing air interception capabilities for Iceland under NATO, the Czech JAS-39 Gripen
The U.S. Navy is currently modifying its Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) to make it capable of deploying the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Scheduled to be completed in March 2017, Essex will be the third big-deck platform to feature the upgrades and will be the first to do a
The U.S. Navy has contracted BAE Systems to manufacture Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWSTM) laser-guided rockets. With an initial award of more than $130 million, the three-year, indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity contract is potentially worth $600 million. It is supposed to help
The Indian Navy commissioned the newest Car Nicobar-class fast attack craft INS Tihayu at the Eastern Naval Command during an October 19 ceremony. The ship was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Vice Admiral HCS Bisht AVSM, chief of Eastern Naval Command at the naval dockyard, Visakhapatnam. INS T
In collaboration with the French defence procurement agency (DGA), DCNS has unveiled the French Navy’s new FTI (Fregate de Taille Intermediaire) medium-size frigate design at Euronaval in Paris, France. According to DCNS, the 4,000-tonne front-line frigate will be equipped for anti-submarine warfare
Russian cruiser-carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and other ships from its strike group were escorted off the Norwegian coast as they were sailing towards the Mediterranean. NATO said it deployed ships that were under its command to monitor the presence of Russian warships, noting it was routine procedure i
Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, October 18 to conduct a goodwill visit as part of Westploy 16. Westploy 16 is HMCS Vancouver’s deployment aimed at building strong ties between the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the navies of Asia-Pacific countries while also
