The French-UK led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 seized nearly two tons of narcotics in the last two months during an operation called Southern Surge. The seizures included 1250 kg of heroin and 455 kg of hashish. Narcotics trafficking, particularly heroin, has long been associated with funding terro
Following the recent collision of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald, the Royal New Zealand Navy will have its frigate HMNZS Te Kaha operating in Asian waters to support the United States Seventh Fleet. Te Kaha’s role will be to contribute to the security and protection of the Nimitz carrier str
Salvage divers from nine Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) nations removed submerged wreckage around Guam, June 12-15, during the biennial disaster response-focused Diving Exercise (DIVEX) 2017. The team removed two submerged sailboats from the waters of Apra Harbor near the Port Authority of G
Taking place at sea, in the air and on land, this year’s edition of exercise Talisman Sabre will see 30,000 Australian and U.S. personnel training together for mid- to high-intensity warfare. Joined by smaller numbers of personnel from New Zealand, Japan and Canada the drill will kick off at the end
The U.S. Navy should develop a more accurate cost estimate for its second Ford-class carrier, the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), if it wants to avoid the mistakes made on the lead ship, an independent watchdog has warned. The recently delivered USS Gerald R. Ford cost the navy over $2 billion
The Western Pacific Naval Symposium Diving Exercise (WPNS-DIVEX) 2017, a disaster response-focused exercise organized by the Nine Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) nations, started on June 5 in Guam. Western Pacific Naval Symposium Diving Exercise 2017 is a biennial diving exercise conducted by
The U.S. Marine Corps is starting an overhaul of its open water safety craft (OWSC) this year under the Enterprise Life Cycle Maintenance Program. This is the first round of major maintenance for the OWSC, which has been in service since 2006, and is used as an emergency vessel during waterborne tra
The final Australian-developed Nulka missile decoy was delivered to the Australian Navy by BAE Systems in April, after three decades of service to Australia, the United States and Canada. Once launched, Nulka can fly a pre-programmed flight path to entice sea-skimming missiles away from a ship. It h
After three months of operations, personnel from this year’s Pacific Partnership mission returned to Singapore USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) on May 31. Their return marked the conclusion of this year’s mission. Fall River departed Singapore on March 4 and served as the command platform for the Pacific P
The government of Canada has extended the country’s contribution to international maritime security operations in the Middle East and East Africa under operation Artemis. Announced by defence minister Harjit S. Sajjan and parliamentary secretary Jean Rioux, operation Artemis authorizes the Canadian
Pacific Partnership arrived in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam, on May 19, to start the final mission of this year’s exercise. Sailors and crew from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s destroyers JS Izumo and JS Sazanami will also join mission personnel for the Khanh Hoa mission stop. This is the ei
Participants of this year’s multinational exercise Pacific Partnership had an opportunity to respond to a simulated collision of a cruise ship and a tanker during an emergency response drill. Conducted in Da Nang, Vietnam, as part of the exercise, the activity was led by the Vietnam People’s Armed F
The U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), set sail from the naval base Yokosuka, Japan, on Tuesday, starting her 2017 Asia patrol. The carrier was initially scheduled to deploy yesterday, May 15, but was delayed after a material issue that needed repair was disco
U.S. Navy’s Japan-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will have to spend additional time in port after an unspecified maintenance issue was found prior to the carrier’s departure for a regional patrol. The issue was discovered during routine pre-underway checks, the navy said without specifying
