US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), dubbed the world’s most expensive ship with a price tag of over $13 billion, departed Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS) after 15 months of repairs. The ship started trials after undergoing rectification work on a
After sustaining significant damage in a collision with a merchant tanker in August 2017, Japan-based US Navy destroyer USS John S. McCain has completed repair and rectification work and is now ready for at-sea trials. The ship was refloated in November 2018 but subsequent tests revealed issues with
The Royal Australian Navy Adelaide-class guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne retired in a ceremony at her home port of Garden Island in Sydney after 27 years of service. The 138m-long ship was decommissioned on October 26 as the last remaining of six built for the Australian Navy. Melbourne has st
The US Navy is set to commission its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Indianapolis (LCS 17), in a ceremony in Burns Harbor, Indiana, on October 26. The future USS Indianapolis, designated LCS 17, honors Indiana’s state capital and largest city. It will be the fourth ship to bear the
The German Navy has received its first NH90 Sea Lion naval multi-role helicopter from Airus Helicopters, with two more to follow by the end of the year. In total, 18 Sea Lions have been ordered for the German Navy, with deliveries expected to be completed in 2022. The selection of the Sea Lion as th
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently undergoing extensive F-35B flight trials with the aim of determining the operational limits of both the ship and the fifth-generation stealth jets it is poised to operate. One of the trial evolutions included loading one of the jets with w
French shipbuilder Naval Group has hosted a steel-cutting ceremony for the French Navy’s first Fregate de Taille Intermediaire (FTI) frigate at its Lorient site. The lead ship in the class, to be named after the French sailor and general Pierre-Alexis Ronarc’h, is scheduled to be delivered in 2023.
Nova Scotia-based ABCO Industries has completed sea trials for the Royal Canadian Navy’s 12-meter landing craft in the summer of 2019 and delivered the first vessel in October 2019. They will supply these support boats for each of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) currently under construct
Ex USS Robert G. Bradley was retired in 2014 and is being transferred to Bahrain.
The Australian government is sending Anzac-class frigate HMAS Parramatta to the Korean Peninsula where it will support an operation to enforce UN Security Council sanctions imposed against North Korea. HMAS Parramatta’s sanctions enforcement mission will be part of a broader East Asian deployment. T
The Russian Navy’s second Project 22350 frigate, Admiral Kasatonov, has begun state trials ahead of the ship’s delayed delivery which is expected to take place by the end of the year. According to the Northern Shipyard, Admiral Kasatonov has already passed a number of checkpoints, including tests of
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) recently concluded operations above the Arctic Circle while monitoring Russian maritime activity on Oct. 16. The service said the ship’s presence in the Arctic Circle reinforced the United States’ commitment to regional
Defence IQ have released the annual Surface Warships Global Market Report – download a copy here. The current Surface Warship market is booming with a forecast of $155.16 billion over the next ten years. This report provides an in-depth look at the acquisition priorities for the world’s navies and i
The wreck of an Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier that was part of a six-ship fleet involved in the Pearl Harbor attack has been found by researchers aboard R/V Petrel. IJN Kaga was found resting 5,400 meters below the surface of the Central Pacific, after being scuttled by the Japanese on Jun
