The U.S. Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center has awarded General Dynamics a contract for the phased maintenance availability (PMA) of USS Essex (LHD-2). Under the $156,5 million contract, GD will plan and perform depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications on the U.S. Navy’s amp
Images: EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta warships met with their Chinese counterparts in the Indian Ocean to conduct joint training on February 27. Main focus of the training were air operations with the ships’ embarked helicopters. The Chinese ships, tanker CNS Taihu and frigate CNS Daquing, also conduc
USNS Grapple, U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command ship, departed Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach on February 29 to begin its deployment to Africa in the 6th Fleet’s area of operations. With a crew of approximately 45 U.S. Navy divers and Civil Service mariners, Gr
Royal Navy’s Sandown-class minehunter HMS Pembroke has been training off the west coast of Scotland for the past two weeks preparing to join NATO’s Standing Mine Counter Measures Group 1. Crew 1 from the Royal Navy’s Faslane-based First Mine Counter Measures Squadron (MCM1) have been putting the shi
U.S. Navy has awarded Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of the American shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, a contract to assist with planning for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). The $185.2 million contract option funds the
NATO’s Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) has been patrolling in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey since February 12, 2016. The group arrived in the area to participate in national and international efforts to cut the lines of illegal trafficking and illegal migration in the Aegean Sea, a
Norfolk Naval Shipyard completed the engineered refueling overhaul (ERO) on U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine has USS Maryland (SSBN 738) on February 24. EROs are complex, major shipyard availabilities that extend a submarine’s service life. In addition to being refueled, The U.S. N
Representatives of the U.S. Navy and other Pacific Partnership nations gathered in Singapore February 22-26 for a planning conference in preparations for the 2016-mission. Now in its 11th year, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief prepare
A total of 20 ships from NATO member countries are set to take part in the NATO’s, Norway-hosted, exercise Cold Response. The operational phase of the exercise will start on March 3 in Trondheim, Norway. Most of the ships from Norway, Denmark, England, France, Poland, The Netherlands, and Spain have
Australian Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence unveiled the long-awaited 2016 Australian Defence White Paper February 25. The plan is set to increase defence spending by AUS $29.9 billion (approx. US $21.5 billion) over the following ten years. A Defence Industry Policy Statement (DIPS) and a
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) will be taking part in the U.S. Navy-organized international maritime exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), with a yet to be determined number of units. Wu Qian, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed this at a regular briefing despite of recently hei
The Pacific arm of the Russian Navy fleet is set to participate in this year’s iteration of the Indonesian-organized multilateral exercise Komodo 2016, the navy confirmed. The second Komodo exercise will be held in April 2016, in Padang – West Sumatera, Siberut and Sapura islands, Indonesia. Represe
Norwegian maritime services company Bergen Group Services has been awarded a one-year extension of the contract for the ship technical maintenance of the Norwegian Navy’s Fridtjof Nansen frigates. The company said the contract has an estimated value of NOK 70 (approx. $8.1) million. The project invo
Royal Marines have tested their skills and know-how by fast roping from a helicopter onto HMS St Albans flightdeck. Using St Albans’ Merlin helicopter, one by one members of the ship’s Royal Marines Boarding Team (RMBT) carried out one of their most dangerous training exercises – descending from a h
