The first of the Royal Navy’s next-generation frigates will be laid down before the month is out after a £3.7 billion order was placed for three Type 26s. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon yesterday announced the contract with BAE Systems to deliver the first batch of global combat ships. They wi
The U.S. Navy is set to christen its newest littoral combat ship and the eighth Freedom-variant, USS Billings (LCS 15), in Marinette, Wisconsin, on July 1. The future USS Billings honors the largest city in Montana and will be the first ship of its name in naval service. Lockheed Martin, the company
Norwegian shipbuilder Bergen Group Services announced it has received a one-year contract extension for the service of Royal Norwegian Navy vessels, less than a month after losing a NOK 700 million (approx. $83 million) contract for the upkeep of Nansen-class frigates. On June 22, Norwegian Armed Fo
The Royal Navy is sending two warships to NATO missions in the Mediterranean Sea, UK’s defense secretary Michael Fallon confirmed at the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Multi-role survey ship HMS Enterprise is already underway and is set to join the Standing NATO Mine Counter
U.S. defense contractor Raytheon has received a $9.6 million contract for work on the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Takanami-class destroyers. The contract was awarded to Raytheon by the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command under the foreign military sales program and will see the company deliver laun
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 28, to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. Calling on Halifax, Ike was accompanied by guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto, guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill and replenishm
Spreading out the Talisman Sabre 2017 ceremonial flag aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) off the coast of Sydney Australia on June 29 senior leaders of the United States and Australia kicked off Australia’s largest military exercise. In its 7th iteration, Talisman Sabre is a biennial exercise t
U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) on June 16 became the U.S. Navy ship to complete a 60-day Surface Incremental Availability (SIA) at the Rota naval base in Spain. Porter serves as one of the navy’s four forward deployed guided-missile destroyers home-ported in Rota, Spain t
NATO’s Standing Mine Counter Measures Group One (SNMCMG1) will be led by a Latvian Navy commander following a change of command ceremony at the Port of Riga on Thursday. Commander Johan-Elias Seljamaa of the Estonian Navy turned over command of the group after leading aboard the flagship, Estonian c
The U.S. Coast Guard accepted its 24th fast response cutter, USCGC Oliver Berry (WPC 1124), in a ceremony at Coast Guard Sector Key West on Tuesday. Built by Bollinger Shipyards, the cutter is 154-feet long and has a crew complement of 24. It will be homeported in Honolulu. The Oliver Berry is tenta
A team of Royal Navy sailors aboard the minehunter HMS Bangor helped save the U.S. Navy more than $1 million by finding and recovering a previously lost sonar. The large sonar was lost during the latest Anglo-French-US exercise in the Gulf, Artemis Trident. Although the chief aim of the workout was
The crew of a Royal Navy helicopter rescued the last survivor of a tanker which sank in the Indian Ocean on June 26. The Wildcat helicopter from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth rescued the 13th survivor from tanker Rama 2 which sank 140 miles off the island of Socotra in the Gulf of Yemen. The [
Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was joined by two frigates as she embarked on her maiden sea trials. The frigates’ role is to secure the seas around the aircraft carrier as she conducts vital system tests off the coast of Scotland today. HMS Queen Elizabeth left Rosyth, where s
The Australian government is changing its tendering process in an effort to increase the involvement of Australian companies in defense projects. “We are changing the process companies undergo when responding to tenders for defence equipment,” Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said anno
