The Royal Navy has reestablished the 744 Naval Air Squadron which will be responsible for introducing the Navy’s Crowsnest Merlin radar over the next 18 months. The Fleet Air Arm Squadron will also be responsible for the RAF’s upgraded Chinook Mk5s and Mk6s. Pooling 15 of the best aircrew and aviati
US Navy aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan and USS John C. Stennis have kicked off high-end dual carrier operations in the Philippine Sea. Approximately 150 aircraft, 10 ships and 12,600 personnel from the two carrier strike groups will execute complex air, surface and anti-submarine warfare operat
South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Engineering (DSME) announced on November 14 it has been awarded a contract to build the fifth and sixth second-batch Daegu-class frigates for the Republic of Korea Navy. Also referred to as FFX II, the frigates are an improved version of the Incheon-c
US Navy destroyer USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) returned to Naval Station Norfolk on November 11, completing a seven-month deployment to the Navy’s US 6th Fleet area of responsibility. The ship operated as part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) and also conducted independent operations in
A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 joined Peruvian and Colombian Navy submarines for a tri-lateral submarine exercise in the waters north of Colombia. The five-day exercise concluded on November 6 and provided opportunities to further the interoperability and coordination
The name of the UK capital will return to the Royal Navy fleet with the eighth Type 26 frigate, Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord has announced. The future HMS London joins the previously-named HMS Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, and Birmingham while the fifth, sixth, and seventh ship are yet to be named. The
Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond recently joined a Royal Navy submarine and a range of fighter jets and aircraft for two weeks of training in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The destroyer made extensive use of the facilities and equipment at Britain’s bases in Cyprus for the evolutions. The v
General Dynamics Electric Boat has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding division a $197 million contract modification for long-lead-time material and advance construction activities on the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. The advance procurement funds will
Swedish defense contractor Saab has into an agreement with Australian submarine specialist ASC for the provision of a range of services which include engineering services for the A26 submarine program. Saab is building two A26 submarines for the Royal Swedish Navy and is offering three export varian
Ships from US Navy’s Kearsarge amphibious ready group (ARG) have wrapped up the three-week composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX). The ARG’s COMPTUEX focused on simultaneous missions and enhanced realism to test the capabilities of the Kearsarge ARG and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)
A new US Navy facility that will play an important part in the US Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Program, was officially opened in a ceremony in Dahlgren on November 1. The facility features labs, offices, and equipment for more than 300 NSWCDD Strategic and Computing Systems Department
US Navy’s Undersea Rescue Command (URC) teamed up with Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Texas (SSN 775) for a four-day submarine rescue exercise in late October at the Navy’s Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility (SEAFAC) off the coast of Ketchikan. “The exercise demonstrated the Na
US Navy cruisers and destroyers assigned to the carrier strike group assembled around aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and other Norfolk-based units got underway from Naval Station Norfolk for the surface warfare advanced tactical training (SWATT) exercise on November 2. SWATT is the Su
The Indian Navy’s first indigenously-developed nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol, India’s prime minister announced on Monday. The SSBN’s feat was welcomed by the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi who congratulated all those involve
