US Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) wrapped up eight months of operations in the US 5th Fleet area of operation returning to her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk on December 15. The cruiser got underway on April 23, as an independent deployer, to support maritime security operatio
Finnish boat builder Boomeranger Boats will be delivering its rigid hull inflatable boats to the United Arab Emirates and the Indian Navy after signing the contracts earlier this year. Announcing the contracts, the company said it is set to deliver a total of 34 special operations boats to the Unite
After concluding several days of drills with the Egyptian Navy, the French task group composed of helicopter carrier BPC Tonnerre and destroyer FS Chevalier Paul pulled into Aqaba, Jordan, to embark US Marines on December 4. The French Task Group 473.1, together with sailors and marines from Naval A
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Newcastle returned to her home port on December 3 after concluding a six-month deployment to the Middle East. The crew of the Adelaide-class guided missile frigate were welcomed to the Fleet Base East, Garden Island, Sydney, by their families and Australian defense
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond is returning home early from a deployment to the Persian Gulf after experiencing propeller problems. The Type 45 destroyer was forced to leave the gulf despite sailors’ efforts to repair the ship at sea, a Times report on November 23 said. The problems are reportedly
Lockheed Martin has received a $22.7 million contract modification under a wider, $6 billion contract for the construction of four up-gunned littoral combat ships for the Saudi Arabian navy. The contract modification was administered through the US Naval Sea Systems Command under the foreign militar
US guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) got underway from San Diego on November 20 to start a regularly scheduled independent deployment to the US 7th Fleet and 5th Fleet areas of operation. Higgins has a crew of nearly 330 sailors, officers and enlisted, and is a multi-mission ship designe
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Newcastle wrapped up a six-month deployment to the Middle East achieving some firsts and marking some lasts along the way. She conducted a range of Combined Maritime Forces operations, including an attachment in support of the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, and t
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday threatened they would attack enemy warships and oil tankers if a Saudi-led coalition continues to blockade Yemeni ports, Reuters reports. The Saudi military is blockading Yemen’s ports after Houthi fighters fired a ballistic missile towards Riyadh on November 4. Accor
Israel-based technology company Controp Precision Technologies announced it has been awarded a contract to provide a significant number of maritime EO/IR payloads to the Vietnamese Navy. The company added that this is a follow-on order of a previous order made three years ago. The iSea-40HD systems
Rolls-Royce is teaming up with United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to increase its naval shipbuilding, repair and refit activities across the Gulf region. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) through which they aim to become a preferred service par
US Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense destroyers assisted an Iranian fishing vessel after a reported piracy attack October 24, south of Socotra, Yemen. The Iranian coast guard called US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) to report the incident and seek assistance for the fishing vessel. NAVCEN
Exercise Intrepid Sentinel gathered ships from the French, UK and US navies for two days of maneuvers in the Gulf of Oman on October 20 and 21. US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86), French Marine Nationale’s anti-air destroyer FS Jean Bart (D 615) and the Royal Navy’s Duke-class fri
Germany has agreed to resume talks on the sale of additional three diesel-electric submarines to Israel after an Israeli corruption probe jeopardized the signing of a new memorandum of understanding (MOU). The corruption scandal has seen seven Israeli officials arrested and prompted Germany to put t
