The Australian government on Friday released the Request for Tender (RFT) for the Royal Australian Navy’s $35 billion Future Frigate project. The RFT was issued to the three shortlisted designers: British BAE Systems, Italy’s Fincantieri and Spain’s Navantia. Minister for Defence Industry, Christoph
South Australian Minister for Defence Industries Martin Hamilton-Smith has warned the Australian government about naval shipbuilding jobs and investment being at risk if the Federal Government does not deliver the promised 90 per cent level of local industry content. According to the minister, conce
The recent visit of the U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles class attack submarine, USS Oklahoma, to the Australian Fleet Base West coincided with the Australian Navy’s biennial Submarine Command Course. Seven prospective undersea commanding officers from the United States Navy joined their Australian colleague
Italian Navy’s Maestrale-class frigate ITS Espero has joined the EU’s counter piracy mission off the coast of Somalia. ITS Espero was welcomed to the counter-piracy task force on Saturday, March 25. Led by Commander Luigi Pirozzi, ITS Espero’s sailors and marines prepared for their mission with oper
Spanish Navy’s Aegis-equipped frigate Cristobal Colon arrived in Sydney on Friday as part of her role in preparing Australian Navy sailors for the operation of Australia’s first Aegis destroyer Hobart. The frigate was escorted into Sydney Harbour by Royal Australian Navy ships Darwin, Melbourne and
The Australian government is establishing a maritime technical college to identify, train or retrain workers for the country’s $89 billion shipbuilding program, Australian Minister for Defense industry announced on Friday. Minister Christopher Pyne said an initial $25 million would be invested into
The first of class flight trials that Royal Australian Navy’s landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra conducted demanded engagement of Army test pilots, Navy flight test engineers and Air Force technicians, all working on the task. Canberra’s Commander Air, Commander Adrian Capner said that military a
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has picked MAN to provide main and GenSet engines to power the two new fleet support tankers that are to be built for the Royal Australian Navy. According to MAN, each vessel will feature two 18V 32/40 main engines and four 7L21/31 GenSets with shipset deliveries schedul
Australian shipbuilders ASC Shipbuilding and Forgacs Marine and Defence have teamed up to jointly bid for the construction of 12 offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Australian Navy. The two companies are cooperating under a Memorandum of Understanding announced on March 20 by Civmec, a parent comp
Royal Australian Navy’s sail training ship Young Endeavour completed a ten-month circumnavigation of Australia returning to Sydney on March 10. Head Reserve and Youth Division, Rear Admiral Bruce Kafer, congratulated the Navy personnel and the 24 young Australians who sailed her back into her homepo
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Parramatta rescued three South African sailors from a yacht which lost its mast in rough sea approximately 1,300 kilometres southwest of Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia. The three yachtsmen of a 13-metre yacht activated an emergency response beacon late on March
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel Relámpago returned home on March 16, concluding a six-month deployment to operation Atalanta, a EU-led counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia. The crew sailed over 28,000 nautical miles, and has conducted over 50 approaches, greeting Somali fishermen an
Somali pirates on Thursday released the fuel tanker Aris 13 and its crew, the EU Naval Force (Somalia) confirmed. The crew were set free with no injuries after being held hostage for four days. This was also confirmed by the director general of the maritime police force of Somalia’s Puntland region,
Australia’s minister for defence industry visited a Spanish Navy frigate downselected for the Future Frigate programme on Friday to inspect the capabilities of the ship. Minister Christopher Pyne went aboard the F-100 frigate ESPS Cristobal Colon for a tour of the ship and an update on the progress
