Thales and Aquabotix announced they are joining forces to design and develop a rapidly deployable mine counter measures (MCM), rapid environment assessment (REA) and military hydrographic autonomous system mission solution. The project is a collaboration with Australian Academia and SMEs including t
US Military Sealift Command’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk, Dec. 17, completing a 10-month deployment in the US Fifth Fleet and US Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. “Some of the missions USNS Big Horn undertook during this deployment included
The navies of Australia, France and the US concluded a four-day ‘Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement’ (SHAREM) 195 exercise in the Arabian Sea on December 18. Participating ships included French navy F70AA-class air defense destroyer FS Cassard (D 614), and Royal Austral
The US Navy’s 272-meter long hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) returned to Naval Station Norfolk on December 18, completing over two months of medical support operations in South and Central America as part of Enduring Promise. The Enduring Promise initiative is a US Southern Command project to p
Hydrographic survey ship HMS Echo arrived in Odessa on December 19, becoming the first Royal Navy ship to visit Ukraine since the Sea of Azov crisis from late November when Russian forces seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels and detained Ukrainian sailors. Echo docked in Odessa after entering the Bla
US defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced it has delivered the first Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) to the US Air Force, achieving early operational capability (EOC) status ahead of schedule. The air-launched LRASM variant, integrated onboard the B-1B bombers, provides an early operatio
Royal Canadian Navy vessels ranging from coastal defense vessels through frigates to replenishment oilers returned to their Atlantic and Pacific bases from operations in European, South American, and Asia-Pacific waters. Kingston-class coastal defense vessels HMCS Edmonton and Nanaimo returned to Ca
The US Navy established Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 – its first CMV-22B squadron – in a ceremony at Naval Base Coronado on December 14. VRM-30 was established to begin the navy’s transition from the C-2A Greyhound, which has provided logistics support to aircraft carriers for fou
The Russian Navy commissioned its lead Project 22800 guided-missile corvette ‘Mytishchi’ in a ceremony on December 17. The corvette will join the Baltic Fleet after completing sea and state trials and testing all systems and weapons. Mytishchi is the first of over 20 planned Project 22800 ships (als
German Navy naval school Mürwik officially accepted delivery of a new nautical training facility from German defense contractor Rheinmetall in a ceremony on December 6. Ordered almost exactly three years ago, the system – known as the “Ausbildungsausstattung Nautische Schiffsführung”, or AANS – will
French missile developer MBDA announced that the Anglo-French Sea Venom-ANL anti-ship missile recently completed another firing trial, bringing the missile program a step closer to production. The latest firing builds on previous two from July 2017 and May 2018. Conducted on November 14 from a Frenc
Thales UK announced it has teamed up with Plymouth-based MSubs Ltd. for research in the field of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The agreement follows the opening of a new UK maritime autonomy center in the south-west of England, in October this year. Thales has invested £1 million in the facil
US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman returned home on December 16, becoming the first US Navy Nimitz-class carrier to complete a deployment under the new dynamic force employment concept. In all, the flattop spent some seven months on operations since first deploying from naval station Norfolk on
Royal Navy Type 23 frigates HMS Westminster and HMS Monmouth returned to their homeports in Portsmouth and Devonport, respectively, on December 14. Westminster returned after an eight-week stint in the North and Baltic Sea where she trained with other NATO and ally ships as part of NATO’s largest ex