Royal Navy’s HMS Enterprise concluded a year-long stint with NATO’s Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 2, handing over the flagship role to German Navy tender FGS Rhein. The Royal Navy survey ship concluded her deployment in a change of command ceremony in Souda Bay, Crete, on July 6. Enterprise le
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga returned home on July 8, concluding a record-breaking deployment to the Middle East. Minister for defense, Senator Marise Payne, joined Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mike Noonan, on the wharf to congratulate the crew on their record breaking deployment. Du
Japan is likely to send its Izumo-class helicopter carrier to the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean this year as well. The two-month deployment of the 27,000-ton JS Kaga comes as Japan aims to boost its presence in this strategically important region, Reuters reported citing two unnamed Japanese
The US Navy’s tenth expeditionary fast transport vessel Burlington (EPF 10) completed builder’s trials on June 29. The week of trials began dockside at the Austal USA Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. EPF 10 engaged in pierside dock trials with the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast working with the s
The upgraded Block 2 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) recently intercepted a BQM-74E aerial target in a successful flight test, the US Navy announced on July 5. This was the first ESSM flight test to utilize the new Block 2 active guidance seeker-head. ESSM Block 2 will employ both semi-active and
The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) received the new Airborne Systems Training and Research Support (ASTARS) III aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River on June 29. ASTARS III is the third, and newest, generation of flying classroom for the USNTPS curriculum. The aircraft is a cu
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) met up with the Egyptian Navy frigate El Zafer (F951) for a passing exercise (PASSEX) in the US 5th Fleet area of operations. PASSEX is an exercise in which multiple ships, operating in close vicinity, practice evolutions together to improv
The German Navy has been forced to withdraw its only two tankers from NATO operations this year. As disclosed, the tanker oldies, Spessart and Rhön, will not be operational until the end of this year. Due to engine issues, both 1974-built ships will undergo repairs in the following months. The compl
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries another contract modification worth $27 million for work on the repairs of Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62). The destroyer was heavily damaged in a collision with Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Cr
Chilean Navy’s diesel-electric submarine CS Simpson (SS 21) arrived at Naval Base Point Loma on June 26 as part of the Diesel-Electric Submarine Initiative (DESI) program. Hosted by Commander, Submarine Squadron 11 (CSS-11), the submarine and its crew will spend the next three months in San Diego, c
NATO’s Standing Maritime Group changed command in a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 30. Commodore Mike Utley OBE formally handed over command of the SNMG2 to his Dutch counterpart Commodore Boudewijn G.F.M. Boots. This marked the end of a yearlong UK commitment leading SNMG2. Rear Admiral Jame
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman has departed the Mediterranean Sea after three months of operations and is currently working with the French Air Force in The Atlantic Ocean. From July 2 to 6, embarked aircraft from Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1) are conducting integrated flight operations
The US Navy amphibious ready group led by Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) returned to homeport on June 28, after completing the Navy’s first East Coast ARG Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training (SWATT) exercise. SWATT is led by mentors and warfare tactics instructors (W
The Brazilian Navy’s second upgraded Super Lynx helicopter has performed its maiden flight from Yeovil, UK. The maiden flight started from the headquarters of Leonardo Marconi Westland (LMW) and was completed on June 21, 2018, the navy said in a statement. The N-4004 aircraft, the second of the eigh
