Survey ship HMS Echo has spent 12 days in Malta on the first stage of her 18-month mission to the Mediterranean and Middle East. The Devonport-based hydrographic vessel will be updating charts used by seafarers the world over, courtesy of her hi-tech sonar suites. It’s just under a year since the De
Portsmouth-based HMS Iron Duke has returned to sea after a 16-month upgrade and now boasts one of the world’s most advanced radar systems. The Type 23 frigate is the first Royal Navy ship to be fitted with Artisan – a 3D radar 5 times better than the old version it replaces. Iron Duke left Portsmout
The tugboat “RB-404” (Building No 623, project 16609) has successfully passed its mooring and sea trials and it is ready for its official trials. The tugboat, being built by Pella shipyard, will be delivered to the Russian Navy and put into operation within Pacific Fleet of the Navy by the end of th
Sandown-class minehunter HMS Ramsey may only be a sixteenth of the size of HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air defence destroyer, but the two vessels are working side by side maintaining maritime security in the region – a task the Royal Navy has been undertaking for over twenty years. Two Sandown and two Hun
The Royal Navy is to get its first unmanned ‘eye in the sky’ in a £30m deal to buy the ScanEagle reconnaissance aircraft. The pilotless plane has been used by the US Navy over the past decade and has been trialled by the Royal Navy. Whitehall is investing in the small, unarmed ScanEagle robot planes
The Navy successfully concluded the second and final phase of reliability testing of the littoral combat ship (LCS) remote minehunting system (RMS) off the coast of Palm Beach, Fla., enabling the service to progress toward developmental testing, the Navy announced June 20. The remote minehunting sys
USS Enterprise (CVN 65) made her final voyage to the Newport News Shipyard June 20. The ship, nearly six months into her dismantling process, was moved by tugboat on the James River to Newport News Shipyard with almost 150 Newport News Shipbuilding and Huntington Ingalls Industries shipbuilders aboa
The U.S. Navy has released the results of an investigation that assessed circumstances surrounding the ex-USS Guardian grounding that occurred in Philippine waters on January 17. Characterizing the ex-Guardian’s grounding on Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea as a “tragic mishap,” Adm. Cecil D. Haney, c
Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems Inc (UEMS) announced a contract award by Public Works and Government Services Canada to manufacture four Submarine Towed Array Sonar System ( SubTASS ) arrays for the Royal Canadian Navy’s VICTORIA class submarines. The SubTASS arrays were developed by UEMS and are
During the three-month long deployment of the FREMM frigate Aquitaine, the implementation crew for the NH90 helicopter from 33F Squadron had an opportunity to experience the operational capabilities of the FLASH SONICS system. The FLASH system (Folding Light Acoustic System for Helicopters) is an ac
Rear Admiral Antonio Natale, Italian Navy, handed over command of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) on Saturday, 15 June 2013 to Rear Admiral Eugenio Díaz Del Río, Spanish Navy, concluding a very successful six-month NATO deployment. The ceremony, presided over by Vice Admiral Peter Hudson, NAT
Cobham has received a one year supplementary contract extension from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to provide maritime surveillance services using two F406 twin turboprop fixed – wing aircraft through June 2014. The aircraft are fitted with a surveillance radar and satellite c
The last of the improved Los Angeles-class submarines, USS Cheyenne (SSN 773), returned home on June 14 to Pearl Harbor after completing a successful six-month Western Pacific deployment. With a crew of approximately 150 Sailors, Cheyenne visited Subic Bay, Philippines; Busan, South Korea; Yokosuka,
Gen. David Rodriguez, commander, U.S. Africa Command, visited the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), during the ship’s visit to Augusta Bay, June 11. During the visit, Rodriguez, and Capt. John Esposito, commander, Task Force 65, toured the ship with Cmdr. Robert Williams, Samuel