Operations
Austal will not take part in Australian OPV construction after all
Australian shipbuilder Austal will not be taking part in the construction of 12 offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Australian Navy, according to a May 11 statement from Luerssen – the prime contractor on the project. The announcement follows months of negotiations between the two sides. In Novemb
New patrol boats delivered to Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard
Four new high speed patrol boats manufactured by USA-based shipbuilder Metal Shark for the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard (DCCG) have been commissioned on the island of Curacao. The new vessels are the first to be delivered to the DCCG under a 12-boat order announced last year. Designed in-house by Met
HMAS Adelaide gears up for Indo-Pacific deployment, RIMPAC
Royal Australian Navy landing helicopter dock HMAS Adelaide is making final preparations for a three-month deployment which will include participation in RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise taking place off Hawaii. Adelaide’s journey across the South Pacific to Hawaii and bac
US Coast Guard brings 6 tons of cocaine to Florida
The crew of US Coast Guard cutter James offloaded approximately 6 tons of cocaine in Port Everglades on Thursday, worth an estimated $180 million. The narcotics were seized in multiple interceptions in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The interdictions took place off the coasts of
Turkish minehunter finds unexploded ordnance during Spanish MINEX
Turkish Navy minehunter TCG Anamur has discovered historical unexploded ordnance during mine countermeasures drills conducted as part of the Spanish-hosted multinational exercise MINEX 2018. According NATO Maritime Command, the ordnance was discovered by TCG Anamur on 8 May using the ship’s speciali
UK, Norway advance sub hunting cooperation plans
The UK and Norway have advanced their plans for international Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) cooperation in the North Atlantic. The nations’ defence ministers flew in an American P-8A Poseidon from RAF Lossiemouth on May 3. Defence Minister Guto Bebb hosted Secretary Tone Skogen, State Secretary in
US Navy cruiser, destroyer return from carrier strike group deployments
Sailors aboard US Navy cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102) returned to their homeports on May 9 after concluding deployments with their relevant carrier strike groups. Returning to Naval Base San Diego with its 350 crew, Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS
German corvette FGS Braunschweig deploys to Lebanon coast
German Navy corvette FGS Braunschweig is scheduled to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea to represent the German contribution to operation UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). The K130 corvette is set to depart its homeport in Warnemünde, Germany, on May 14, under the command of Frigate Ca
Russian Navy to commission sixth Buyan-M corvette Vyshny Volochyok this month
The Russian Navy is scheduled to commission its sixth Project 21631 corvette ‘Vyshny Volochyok’ by the end of this month, the Russian defense ministry announced on Tuesday. Vyshny Volochyok is part of the Buyan-M class of corvettes, an upgraded version of the three Project 21630 (Buyan) vessels whic
Thales begins Sea Fire radar production for French FTI frigate
French defense technology company Thales announced it has started production works on the first Sea Fire radar for the French Navy’s FTI future medium-size frigates. The Sea Fire is fully solid-state multifunction radar with a four-panel phased array antenna. According to the company, it is designed
Canadian frigate stops in Hong Kong for first port call on Asia Pacific deployment
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on May 3 for the first port visit of her Indo-Asia-Pacific deployment. The Esquimalt, British Columbia, based frigate will visit several ports in the Indo-Asia-Pacific during a deployment dubbed operati
Guatemala Navy, US Coast Guard intercept record cocaine shipment
The Guatemalan Navy, working with the US Coast Guard, intercepted the largest cocaine shipment in Guatemala’s history some 300 nautical miles off its coast. According to a Guatemalan Armed Forces statement on May 8, the narcotics were intercepted aboard a Tanzania-flagged cargo ship. Following the o
Spain-based destroyer USS Ross concludes forward-deployed patrol
US Navy’s Spain-based Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) completed its sixth patrol in the US 6th Fleet area of operations, returning to its forward-deployed location at Naval Station Rota on May 7. Ross departed Rota Jan. 8, 2018, and in the course of its four-month patr
German Navy orders AeroVironment’s Puma UAS
The German Navy has ordered three Puma maritime unmanned aircraft vehicles from US-based unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer AeroVironment. As announced by ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH, a German system and software company which was chosen as the main contractor for the unmanned aircraft