French shipbuilder DCNS has informed that the fourth French Navy FREMM frigate, FS Auvergne, started sea trials on September 26. Auvergne left the shipyard just days after DCNS launched the fifth of overall eight frigates the French Navy is to acquire. In its first out at sea, the new frigate will s
U.S. Navy’s annual technology exercise (ANTX) saw an autonomous underwater vehicle launch an unmanned aerial vehicle, all while being commanded by an unmanned surface vehicle. Defense technology company Lockheed Martin demonstrated the integration capabilities of its products by having the Marlin MK
German Navy minehunter FGS Datteln is set return to the navy base in Kiel on September 30 after a three-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. Datteln is currently on its way back from the European Naval Force’s operation Sophia which is aimed at fighting against human smugglers and traffickers
U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) got underway from Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington to conduct routine training on September 27. During the underway, John C. Stennis Sailors will conduct damage control and firefighting training, seamanship training, small
UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that Britain would be sending a Type 45 destroyer to Bulgarian shores in the Black Sea next year. The Royal Navy deployment is part of a broader goal to deepen the defense relationship between the two countries to help tackle security threats in South Ea
German shipbuilder Luerssen is taking over the Hamburg-based former ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems subsidiary Blohm+Voss, Luerssen announced on September 28. The two companies agreed that the price Luersen had to pay for the takeover would not be disclosed. With this acquisition, Luersen wants to round
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $50 million contract option to upgrade four additional Mk 45 naval guns on guided missile destroyers (DDG 51s), converting the guns to a fully-digital Mod 4 configuration. The option, exercised under an initial 2015 award, brings the full value of the contract
A U.S. Navy helicopter squadron made history earlier in September when the MQ-8B unmanned helicopter they operated successfully tracked a target and served as a laser designator for an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter to fire an AGM-114N Hellfire missile The Northrup Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout detected targe
The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) kicked off the seventh-annual naval engagement activity (NEA) Vietnam with a welcome ceremony at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang, September 28. NEA Vietnam has evolved from annual port visits to Da Nang by U.S. Navy ships, which began more than a decade ago,
The Royal Navy is now capable of having its recompression chambers reach stricken submariners and divers faster as a recent trial showed that the navy’s six Type 45 destroyers can fit the chambers to their flight decks. Until now only the Navy’s thirteen Type 23 frigates were able to deploy the emer
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond that recently joined Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, hosted the Commander of the EU Taskforce carrying out the mission. The destroyer sailed from Portsmouth in August to support the operation to counter illegal arms trafficking in order to promote a
U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) arrived in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands for a regularly scheduled port call on September 24. The port call provided Momsen’s crew an opportunity to refresh after four months of operations in the Western Pacific and South China Sea as part
The U.S. Coast Guard announced that commissioning of the service’s sixth national security cutter, Munro, is scheduled for April 1, 2017, at the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal in Seattle. The cutter, which will be homeported in Alameda, California, is named after the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor re
U.S. Navy’s Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) arrived in Guam for a routine port visit on September 24. While in Guam, Chancellorsville sailors had the opportunity to experience the culture and take part in morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) events. The crew wil
