Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced on June 30 that the Navy’s newest ship, Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield, had arrived in Australia. Ocean Shield arrived at HMAS Stirling late on 28 June. In March the Government announced it had p
The Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, announced that the Royal Australian Navy would participate in a unique deployment to Australia of the Spanish Armada Ship, SPS Cantabria, with a series of training exercises in Australia from mid-February until November 2013. The Cantabria deployment will str
A Hamilton Boys High School old boy is one of six new Navy Divers who have managed to pass the gruelling 16 week training course required to become an expert diver in the Royal New Zealand Navy. Ordinary Diver Samuel Dickey joined the Navy to travel the world and test himself both physically and men
An eight-man team from HMAS Stirling (CAPT Brett Wolski) successfully completed the 2012 Gibb River Road Mountain Bike Challenge and raised much needed funds for the Ryan Marron Foundation as well as the Navy’s local charity, the Malibu School. The team of six riders and two support personnel chose
Leading electronics provider Kelvin Hughes has appointed global defence prime contractor Austal to lead its defence, border protection and paramilitary sales and support activities in Australia and New Zealand. The agreement will enable both companies to best support customers in Australasia. Under
The Dutch and Australian armed forces are looking into ways to intensify their cooperation with regard to cyber warfare, submarines and the F-35. This was announced during the visit to Australia by the Netherlands Chief of Defence, General Peter van Uhm. “Due, among other things, to the strategic po
It was only a three hour train journey but it was a trip that took Mr Ron Heron back more than 50 years when he travelled from Sydney to HMAS Albatross recently. Now aged 84, Mr Heron was stationed at Albatross in the 1950’s, years he described as “some of the happiest of my life”. […]
Ford Performance Racing drivers Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom swapped the wheel of their high performance V8 Supercars for one of Navy’s 7.2m Zodiac sea boats in a visit to Darwin’s patrol boat base HMAS Coonawarra yesterday. The visit included a special autographing signing for kids from HMAS
A clear lower deck was called at 808 Squadron on 4 June so the Squadron could assemble to watch their Commanding Officer, Commander Charlie Stephenson, touch down in a MRH90 after reaching his 4000th flying hour. “This is a very significant milestone, particularly for a helicopter pilot”, Executive
Demonstrating the rapid progress of the Cape Class Patrol Boat Program, Austal today hosted a keel-laying ceremony for the first of eight high performance patrol boats it is building for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Keel-laying traditionally marks the first significant miles
“These are indeed exciting times”, 723 Squadron Commanding Officer, Commander Matthew Shand told the assembled guests as the Royal Australian Navy marked the introduction of the Bell 429 helicopter into service with a ceremony at HMAS Albatross on 5th June. “Since 1953, when 723 and the RAN received
UGL Limited announced that Naval Ship Management (Australia) Pty Ltd (NSM), an incorporated 50:50 joint venture between UGL Infrastructure Pty Ltd and Babcock Pty Ltd (Babcock), has finalised contract negotiations for the ANZAC Ship Group Maintenance Contract (GMC) with the Defence Materiel Organisa
Mast modules for the 27,000 tonne Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD), fabricated and constructed at BAE Systems Henderson, facility are now completed and ready to be transported to Melbourne. The three mast modules weighing between 19 and 36 tonnes will form part of the superstructure of the LHDs and wil
Daisuke Hayashi never thought he would get the chance to visit Australia without actually leaving the territorial waters of Japan. But, today that’s exactly what he did. The Lieutenant – Junior Grade, who normally works in the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force Destroyer Shimakaze, is spending a f
