US Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) made its first mission stop as part of Pacific Partnership 2018 on March 20 to offload medical supplies in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). This is the first official engagement of Pacific Partnership 2018 (PP18), where the Merc
After concluding exercises and at sea maneuvers with Lithuanian Navy units, ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group One (SNMG1) started a series of naval exercises with the Polish Navy in the Baltic Sea. The exercise got underway on Monday and included a number of basic and advanced maritime opera
The US Navy has issued a two-ship buy Request for Proposal (RFP) to Huntington Ingalls Industries – Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS) for Ford-class carriers CVN 80 and CVN 81 looking to get more details on potential cost savings which could be achieved with a two-ship buy. The RFP was issued by U
Australia’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft achieved Initial Operating Capability, Australia’s defense minister Marise Payne has announced. Minister Payne congratulated the Air Force and the defense department’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) on achievi
US Navy’s World War II Atlanta-class light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52) was located off the coast of the Solomon Islands in South Pacific by the crew research vessel (R/V) Petrel. R/V Petrel, which was acquired by Microsoft co-founder and investor Paul Allen and fitted with subsea equipment capable of
The NATO-led mine countermeasure exercise Dynamic Move kicked off on March 19 at Ecole de Guerre des Mines (Naval Mine Warfare School) in Oostende, Belgium. The exercise will see the participation of mine warfare specialists from 16 allied nations and four NATO partners. Exercise Dynamic Move is an
US Navy sailors and personnel embarked aboard expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) for exercise Pacific Partnership 2018 (PP18) departed Guam on March 19 en route to Yap, Federated States of Micronesia, which will be the first mission stop for USNS Brunswick. Pacific Partnershi
The littoral combat ship (LCS) mission modules (MM) program completed developmental testing (DT) of the coastal mine reconnaissance (CMR) mission module aboard USS Coronado (LCS 4) off the coast of Southern California February 22, the US Navy said. Consisting of the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial
Qatar’s defense ministry has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters for the purchase of 28 NH90 military helicopters during the DIMDEX exhibition which is hosted by Qatar every two years. The agreement, which includes 16 NH90s in tactical transport (TTH) configuration and 12 NH90s in naval (NFH)
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and Barzan Holdings, a company wholly owned by the Qatari Ministry of Defense, could possibly cooperate in the coastal defence surveilllance sector in the future. Fincantieri and Barzan Holdings, responsible for empowering the military capabilities of the national arm
The US Navy’s froward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) got underway from Spain, to start a patrol in the US 6th Fleet area of operations. The destroyer’s seventh patrol started on March 12, as the ship and crew departed Naval Station Rota. Donald Cook wi
The Royal Australian Navy concluded exercise Ocean Explorer, its largest fleet training activity for 2018. The exercise concluded on March 11 as ten ships and their embarked aircraft returned to Royal Australian Navy Base HMAS Creswell. “Most importantly it has seen more than 2,000 men and women fro
The US Navy’s expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) will be not be able to deploy for a scheduled mission in the Asia Pacific because of further maintenance requirements, the US Navy has announced. Fall River was set to take part in the humanitarian and disaster response-prepar
US Navy and Coast Guard units joined Iraqi Navy and Kuwait Naval Force and Coast Guard vessels for a trilateral exercise (TRILAT) in the Persian Gulf. The exercise concluded on February 22 and was the third of its kind executed since March 2017. The exercise was led by Task Force (TF 55) and is part
