South African defense procurement agency ARMSCOR has finalized negotiations with South African Shipyards (SAS) for the construction of a hydrographic survey vessel as part of the navy’s Project Hotel. The agreement was finalized in February 2018, a year after SAS was selected as the preferred bidder
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived in Vietnam on Monday, marking the first visit of a US aircraft carrier to the country after the end of Vietnam War in 1975. Carl Vinson and its 5,000 crew anchored two nautical miles off the port city of Danang for a four-day visit to the country. [&h
US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) got underway from her new homeport in Sasebo, Japan, to complete a pre-deployment readiness assessment before switching to operations as part of the ship’s first patrol in the Indo-Pacific region. Wasp is undergoing a Naval Surface Forces-led ready fo
The Indian Navy concluded a two-month-long drill on February 28. The drill saw the participation of all the operational ships, submarines and aircraft of the navy along with men and equipment of the army, all types of aircraft of the country’s air force and ships and aircraft of the coast guard. The
German Navy’s Brandenburg-class frigate FGS Bayern is scheduled to get underway from her homeport of Wilhelmsaven on March 7 to start a six-month deployment to the Aegean Sea. During their time in the Aegean Sea, the frigate and her crew will operate as part of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SN
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departed the Black Sea on March 3, after conducting maritime security operations. The US Navy vessel entered the Black Sea in February 2018, joining sister ship USS Ross. Carney’s crew visited Varna for a scheduled port visit to st
USS Bremerton (SSN 698), the oldest submarine in the US Navy, will be moved to Bremerton, Washington, and decommissioned later this year, the navy informed. The Los Angeles-class attack submarine arrived at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in the Philippines on March 1 for a routine port visit during its
US Navy’s Harry S. Truman carrier strike group (HSTCSG) has completed the final pre-deployment exercise and is now officially ready to deploy. The group returned to Naval Station Norfolk on March 1 after completing their composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX). HSTCSG got underway Feb. 1, to car
The Indian navy’s Western Naval Command wrapped up a large scale operational exercise in the Arabian Sea. Dubbed ‘Paschim Leher’ (XPL), the three week long exercise is designed to test the operational readiness of the Western Naval Command and the execution of it’s operational plans. Over 40 naval a
The commanders of NATO’s operation Sea Guardian and EU-led operation Sophia met at sea on February 24 to discuss closer tactical level coordination and information sharing in the central Mediterranean Sea. The task group commander for NATO’s maritime security operation Sea Guardian (OSG) visited the
The Italian Navy’s FREMM frigate ITS Carlo Margottini, in service since February 2014, recently achieved another first en route to her Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea deployment. Having sailed from her homeport in La Spezia on February 20, ITS Carlo Margottini transited the Suez Canal for the the first
US sailors and marines have concluded two months of cooperation with their French counterparts aboard the French Navy amphibious assault ship BPC Tonnerre. Approximately 150 US personnel spent the last two months working together with the French task group composed of BPC Tonnerre and Horizon-class
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth entered Portsmouth on February 27, wrapping up her first of class rotary wing trials in the Atlantic. A team of 56 aircrew, analysts and engineers from the Air Test and Evaluation Centre (ATEC) at MOD Boscombe Down have been onboard the aircraft carrie
Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton recently opened a new facility which will provide survival training in the event of a helicopter incident or accident over the water. The Royal Navy School of Maritime SERE (survive, evade, resist, escape) and underwater escape training unit (UETU) was opened
