Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has seized more than 2.1 tonnes of hashish and 345 kilograms of heroin in two boarding operations in the Arabian Sea. The Australian Navy said the seizures were worth approximately AU$105 million and AU$103.5 million respectively. The interceptions took pl
The US Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS) a contract for the construction of two new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 80 and CVN 81, in a bid to achieve cost savings by ordering the two ships at once. As per the navy, the savings exceed $4 b
Just weeks after Royal Navy support ship RFA Mounts Bay embarked US Coast Guard personnel for counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean, the team found their first contraband. The Bay-class ship embarked a Dolphin helicopter from the US Coast Guard’s HITRON – Helicopter Interdiction Tactical squ
Maritime patrol squadrons from the US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force met up for a coordinated maritime patrol operational procedures (CMPOP) exercise in Okinawa, Japan, recently. US Navy’s “Golden Swordsmen” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 47 were joined by JMSDF’s Fleet Air Wing (FAW) 5 for
The US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Northrop Grumman Systems a $55 million contract to deliver an additional five Fire Scout MQ-8C unmanned air systems and two lightweight fuel cells. The company is expected to complete work on the contract by August 2021. The MQ-8C is the larger of two Fir
The US Navy is set to retire its last F/A-18C Hornet fighters in a final flight ceremony at Naval Air Station Oceana on February 1. The final single-seat, twin-engine, carrier-capable legacy Hornets are still operational with Strike Fighter Squadron 34 and the “Blue Blasters” are the only squadron f
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and ships from its carrier strike group (ABECSG) departed Naval Station Norfolk for the final pre-deployment exercise on January 25. The undertaking is called the Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) and is designed to assess a strike group’s abili
US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) seized close to 5 tons of narcotics from a stateless vessel in the international waters of the Gulf of Aden on January 24. Chung-Hoon’s visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team conducted a flag verification boarding and seized 4,700 kilo
The eighth iteration of the annual multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express taking place in the vicinity of Djibouti, Mozambique and Seychelles began on January 28. Maritime forces from East Africa, West Indian Ocean nations, Europe, and the United States, as well as several international org
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) exited the Black Sea after nine days of operations in the region. The destroyer transited the Bosphorus Strait en route to the Mediterranean Sea on January 28 after a port visit to Batumi, Georgia, and training with the country’s coast guard
US Navy destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) departed Naval Station Norfolk on January 25 to start a regularly-scheduled deployment to conduct maritime security operations. The ship, and its roughly 300 sailors, is trained and ready to conduct a wide range of tasks, to include ballistic missile defense. “T
US Navy’s San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23) and embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Singapore for a scheduled port visit, Jan. 26. Prior to arriving in Singapore, Anchorage visited India and trained with Indian Navy counterparts at the end o
The US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Module Program recently completed shipboard integration testing of two unmanned systems on board USS Independence (LCS 2). The two systems — General Dynamics-developed Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) and Textron-developed Unmanned Influence
Northrop Grumman Corporation has received green light to start low rate initial production of Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 systems following a Milestone C decision for the SEWIP Block 3 AN/SLQ-32(V)7 program. Milestone C is a government led review to assess a progra
