After sustaining significant damage in a collision with a merchant tanker in August 2017, Japan-based US Navy destroyer USS John S. McCain has completed repair and rectification work and is now ready for at-sea trials. The ship was refloated in November 2018 but subsequent tests revealed issues with
The Royal Australian Navy Adelaide-class guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne retired in a ceremony at her home port of Garden Island in Sydney after 27 years of service. The 138m-long ship was decommissioned on October 26 as the last remaining of six built for the Australian Navy. Melbourne has st
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently undergoing extensive F-35B flight trials with the aim of determining the operational limits of both the ship and the fifth-generation stealth jets it is poised to operate. One of the trial evolutions included loading one of the jets with w
French shipbuilder Naval Group has hosted a steel-cutting ceremony for the French Navy’s first Fregate de Taille Intermediaire (FTI) frigate at its Lorient site. The lead ship in the class, to be named after the French sailor and general Pierre-Alexis Ronarc’h, is scheduled to be delivered in 2023.
Ex USS Robert G. Bradley was retired in 2014 and is being transferred to Bahrain.
Armed forces personnel from the UK and France have concluded two weeks of training as part of the Griffin Strike exercise, a major rehearsal for the development of the UK-French Combined Joint Expeditionary Force. This year, Griffin Strike was combined with exercise Joint Warrior, and included repre
The US Navy’s Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Louisville (SSN 724) has arrived at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton to start her inactivation and decommissioning process. The submarine departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on October 7 and arrived in Washington on Oc
The Australian government is sending Anzac-class frigate HMAS Parramatta to the Korean Peninsula where it will support an operation to enforce UN Security Council sanctions imposed against North Korea. HMAS Parramatta’s sanctions enforcement mission will be part of a broader East Asian deployment. T
The US Navy has taken delivery of the 17th and the final planned C-40 aircraft from Boeing. The Tactical Airlift Program Office (PMA-207) took delivery of the navy’s 16th aircraft in June and 17th aircraft on September 26. The latest C-40A aircraft will be assigned to US Naval Reserve Fleet Logistic
The US Navy-led International Maritime Exercise 2019 (IMX 19) that will involve participants from over 50 nations kicked off in the Persian Gulf on October 21. The exercise will span from the Suez Canal south to the Bab-al-Mandeb, through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Northern Arabian Gulf. It w
Defence IQ have released the annual Surface Warships Global Market Report – download a copy here. The current Surface Warship market is booming with a forecast of $155.16 billion over the next ten years. This report provides an in-depth look at the acquisition priorities for the world’s navies and i
The Navy has now completed its transition to the P-8A Poseidon.
The wreck of an Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier that was part of a six-ship fleet involved in the Pearl Harbor attack has been found by researchers aboard R/V Petrel. IJN Kaga was found resting 5,400 meters below the surface of the Central Pacific, after being scuttled by the Japanese on Jun
The US, Philippines and Japan concluded the bilateral military exercise Kamandag 3 in a ceremony in Manila, Philippines, on October 18. The Philippine-led, bilateral military exercise, which was designed to increase readiness through capabilities development, improve combined responsiveness, and enh
