The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces (SOF) components that the Alliance can deploy quickly, wherever needed. The maritime commander for the NRF rotates among different groups annually. For 2017, the NRF Maritime Component
The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin an initial $148.9 million contract for full rate production of the surface electronic warfare improvement program (SEWIP) Block 2 systems to upgrade the fleet’s electronic warfare capabilities. Under this full-rate production contract, which has four additio
USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the lead ship of the class of U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, has started sea trials after spending 20 months in port. Nimitz got underway Oct. 5 for sea trials, following an extended planned incremental availability (EPIA) that started February 2015 at Puget Soun
Singapore-hosted exercise Bersama Lima 2016 (BL16) was officially opened today at Changi Naval Base, Singapore. The combined joint military exercise runs until October 21 and involves the military forces from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom operating together under
The Italian Navy has contracted Rolls-Royce to deliver 14 MTU diesel engines for the seven new multi-purpose ocean-going patrol vessels that are being built by Fincantieri. The PPA (Pattugliatori Polivalenti d’Altura) multi-purpose ocean-going patrol vessels form part of the Italian Navy’s fleet ren
Swedish defense and security company Saab announced it would take part in the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise with an anti-submarine warfare training system and a waterborne anti-IED vehicle. Unmanned Warrior is a multinational event, held in Scotland and Wales between October 10 and 21, whic
The first upgraded Standard Missile (SM-2) All-Up Round was delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in what is considered a major capability upgrade for the navy. Hobart class destroyers will be the first Australian warships to be equipped with the upgraded Standard Missile (SM-2). According to Direc
The Mexican Navy has received the first of ten AS565 MBe Panther helicopters it purchased from Airbus in 2014. Airbus said three other units would be delivered before the end of the year and the remaining six by early 2018. The helicopters will be operated by the naval aviation in the Gulf of Mexico
Navy ships currently deployed to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 passed through the fjord of Sogne (Sognefjorden) in Norway yesterday and the group’s photographer took the opportunity to make a couple of amazing photos. The Sognefjord is the largest fjord in Norway and the second longest in the wor
U.S. Navy littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Sept. 30, following a port call which included participation in the Secretary of Defense’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference. While moored in Pearl Harbor, Fort Worth participated in
After completing the Canadian-hosted anti-submarine exercise, Cutlass Fury 16 on September 23, U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley proceeded to take part in the multi-national exercise Frontier Sentinel 16 (FS16) just three days later, from September 26 to 28. FS16 was a full-scale, live
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has received a $12 million contract from the U.S. Navy for planning work on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) as part of its planned incremental availability. The contract is for work to be completed by Sept. 17,
Navy ships and personnel from eight European countries are set to begin the second European amphibious exercise Emerald Move 2016 (ERMO) off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia on Monday, October 3. The ERMO 16 is an undertaking of the European Amphibious Initiative (EAI), an organization wh
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has been awarded a $17.7 million contract to perform planning work in support of maintenance and modernization efforts on the submarine USS Helena (SSN 725). Planning efforts will include design studies, risk assessments, engineering,
