Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri officially started construction of the first of two Qatari Navy offshore patrol vessels in a ceremony at its Muggiano shipyard on February 27. The two OPVs will be built as part of a larger, 4 billion euro, contract which will see Finantieri deliver a total of seven s
The US Navy’s future littoral combat ship USS Billings (LCS 15) will enter service in a ceremony at Key West, Florida, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer has confirmed. The event will take place in August 2019 with the specific date yet to be announced. The future USS Billings is the 17th littora
Mistral-class helicopter carrier BPC Tonnerre and frigate FS La Fayette kicked off the French Navy’s annual Jeanne d’Arc mission which sees a task group spend five months on operations around the world. During this year’s edition, Tonnerre and La Fayette will first sail to the Eastern Mediterranean,
Austal USA has held a metal cutting ceremony on the US Navy’s Independence-class littoral combat ship Canberra (LCS 30). Austal LCS Program Director Dave Growden had the honor of starting the router to cut the first piece of aluminium, signaling the start of construction. The LCS is a 127m frigate-s
The wreckage of US Navy’s World War II destroyer USS Strong (DD 467) was discovered by the expedition crew of Paul G. Allen’s research vessel (R/V) Petrel resting 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) below the surface of Kula Gulf, north of the island of New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands. The destroyer
US Navy’s Independence variant littoral combat ship Charleston (LCS 18) is set to enter service in a ceremony at Charleston, South Carolina’s Columbus Street Terminal, on March 2. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott will deliver the commissioning ceremony’s principal address. Charlotte Riley, wife of f
The Royal Norwegian Navy’s sunken frigate HNoMS Helge Ingstad is ready to get out of the water after spending over four months on the sea bottom in the Hjeltefjorden fjord. As informed by Norway’s defense ministry, weather conditions and forecasts have finally allowed for the operation to start. HNo
Royal Navy attack submarine HMS Astute and Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans met up in the tough waters of the Atlantic Ocean recently to work together on their anti-submarine warfare capabilities and conduct personnel transfer training. St Albans’ Merlin helicopter from 814 Naval Air Squadron – aka the
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) was delivered to the US Navy after it completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico in December 2018. The ship was delivered by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division in a document signing ceremony on February 22. The si
The US Senate has approved $655 million dedicated to the design and construction of a new heavy polar security cutter in an appropriations package last week. Also included in the funding are $20 million to acquire long lead-time materials for a second polar security cutter, and $400 million for offs
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded VT Halter Marine a $39.8 million contract for the construction of additional units of the new class of barracks ships, the Auxiliary Personnel Lighter – Small (APL(S)). VT Halter Marine received a $77.9 million contract in September 2018 to design and bui
Royal Australian Navy’s communications and information systems sailors will benefit from a new simulator at the Defence Force School of Signals Maritime Wing at HMAS Cerberus. The learning system simulator was developed by Australian company Cirrus and was accepted by the School of Signals in Decemb
The US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) has arrived at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) where it will spend the next 28 months, undergoing planned maintenance. The 103,000 ton, 1,092-foot aircraft carrier completed the dry docking procedure on February 21. The dry-dock
The Finnish defense ministry on February 21 announced it is buying Raytheon’s Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) systems for its Pohjanmaa-class corvettes of the Squadron 2020 project. The surface-to-air missile system (ITO20) will be installed on all four ships in the class. The exact number of miss
