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
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
This year’s edition of the humanitarian assistance and disaster response exercise Pacific Partnership concluded after departing the final mission stop in Nha Trang, Vietnam, on May 29. This year marks the fourth consecutive year and the eighth time the mission has visited Vietnam in the past 11 year
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
A Royal Australian Navy patrol boat caught fire while at sea, the Australian defense department said on May 26. The ship’s crew reported the fire in the engine room of HMAS Maryborough broke out as the ship was operating north east of Darwin. According to the department of defense, the crew extingui
The navies of Republic of Singapore and India concluded their bilateral maritime exercise SIMBEX on May 24. Hosted by Singapore, the exercise started on May 24 at Changi Naval Base RSS Singapura with the at sea phase taking place in the South China Sea. This year’s exercise was the 24th iteration of
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
Western Australia Police and the Australian Navy recently took part in ‘active shooter’ threat drills at HMAS Stirling to boost their security response capabilities. Working with the Rockingham Local Area Command, Naval Police Coxswains and Boatswains were equipped with practical strategies to quick
