Australian shipbuilder Austal on Monday held a keel-laying ceremony for the first vessel of the Australian government’s Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) Project. Defense industry minister Christopher Pyne authenticated the keel by committing his signature to a plate that was subsequently weld
New Zealand, Japan and the U.S. sent their units to Guam where they will be taking part in a multinational anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise off the coast of Guam, from July 31 to August 12. GUAMEX will include multiple aircraft and subsurface assets from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, t
Some 600 personnel from the Republic of Singapore and Royal Malaysian Navy concluded ten days of drills as part of the bilateral exercise Malapura which took place from July 18 to 28. Conducted since 1984, this year’s exercise was hosted by the Royal Malaysian Navy and saw the participation of six w
Italian Navy Rear Admiral Fabio Gregori took over command of the EU counter-piracy operation Atalanta from Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado during a ceremony in Djibouti on July 27. EU NAVFOR’s deputy operation commander, Rear-Admiral Alfonso Pérez de Nanclares (Spanish Navy), also
Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Astute has returned to the fleet after completing a major capability upgrade and a sea training period. HMS Astute’s sea training process tested all aspects of the equipment and crew, ensuring that she is ready to respond to emergency situatio
A visit by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan to the Ukrainian port of Odessa on July 24 marked the first UK warship visit to Ukraine in eight years. The Portsmouth-based destroyer led a NATO task group into the Ukrainian port at the start of a three-day visit ahead of exercises with the host nation’s
Armed forces from 19 nations concluded two weeks of multinational exercises and events at-sea and in port, in Loma, Peru. The 58th iteration of the longest running multinational naval exercise closed on July 26. Participating nations utilized 30 vessels, 28 aircraft as well as several submarines and
U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing a four month patrol that began April 3, 2017. At the beginning of the ship’s fifth forward-deployed patrol, Ross and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-miss
The combined U.S.-Australian exercise Talisman Saber 2017 concluded in Brisbane on July 25 after 30 days of high-end, mid-intensity warfighting scenarios. Two years in the planning, Talisman Saber involved approximately 33,000 participants, 36 warships and over 220 aircraft. Luke Howarth MP, Austral
After concluding their drills with the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea, ships from the Chinese Navy’s task group are scheduled to visit Finland for a regularly scheduled port call. Three Chinese warships, Type 052D destroyer Hefei (DDG-174), Type 054A frigate Yuncheng (571) and Type 903 replenishment
The European Union migrant-rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea has been extended and will now run until December 31, 2018. EU leaders reached the agreement on July 25 after Italy curbed its protest against how the migrant crisis was being handled by other member states. The extension was expecte
German Navy’s Frankenthal-class minehunter FGS Sulzbach-Rosenberg will be joining NATO’ Standing Mine Counter Measure Group 1 (SNMCMG1) operating in the Baltic and North Seas, the German Navy has announced. The minehunter is set to depart its home port of Kiel, Germany, on July 28 to spend the follo
Canadian shipbuilder Chantier Davie on Thursday unveiled the Project Resolve auxiliary oiler replenishment ship ‘Asterix’. Asterix is the first large naval ship to be built in Canada in over 20 years, according to the shipbuilder. Project Resolve, as the undertaking was dubbed, consists of convertin
A Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter has wrapped up its integration aboard a German Navy frigate during her pre-deployment training which started in April this year. The Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton-based helicopter spent seven weeks aboard the Bremen-class frigate FGS Lübeck. This was also t
