The navies of Finland and Estonia have started the joint Baltic Shield 2018 exercise in the Archipelago Sea and Gulf of Finland. The exercise got underway on October 1 and is scheduled to conclude October 11. Baltic Shield 2018 is a mine counter-measures and firing exercise for vessel units of the F
US Navy destroyer USS Decatur had a close encounter with a Chinese destroyer during a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea on Sunday. The unidentified Chinese destroyer came as close as 45 ft to USS Decatur in what was described as an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” by US Paci
The US Coast Guard has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division a $97 million fixed-price contract to purchase long-lead materials for an 11th National Security Cutter (NSC). The advance procurement funds will be used to purchase major components for NSC 11, such as steel
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has returned to port with a rescued solo round-the-world yachtsman. Ballarat’s MH-60R ‘Romeo’ Seahawk helicopter recovered Irish national, Gregor McGuckin, from a French scientific research station on Amsterdam Island after he was transported there by Fren
US Navy destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73) challenged China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea with a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the vicinity of the disputed Spratly Islands. On Sunday, September 30, Decatur came within 12 miles of Gaven and Johnson reefs in a region claimed by
UK defense secretary Gavin Williamson on September 30 announced the name of another Type 26 frigate and revealed that the Royal Navy assault ships HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion would not be scrapped. Speaking in Birmingham, Williamson said that the fourth of the UK’s eventual eight Type 26 frigates wil
The biennial Five Power Defence Arrangements exercise Bersama Lima is starting in the South Cina Sea on Tuesday. Involving ships, aircraft and personnel from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK, the exercise will include live fire and command post exercises over a two-week period.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond got underway from Portsmouth on September 29 for maritime security operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The Type 45 destroyer will provide reassurance to allies in the region throughout the autumn. The deployment follows a busy few months for HMS Diamond and her crew
The lead ship of the German Navy’s K130 corvettes, the FGS Braunschweig, is returning from a five-month mission in Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The corvette, manned by the “Charlie” crew, is scheduled to return to her homeport in Warnemünde on October 5. C
The UK has once again joined the club of aircraft carrier operating nations as first F-35Bs landed on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth. Royal Navy Commander Nathan Gray and RAF Squadron Leader Andy Edgell were the first pilots to make history by landing their F-35 Lightning stealth jets on the
The Mexican Navy’s Patrulla Oceánica de Largo Alcance (POLA) corvette is now 78 percent complete as the command bridge – the final Dutch-built module – arrived at the ASTIMAR 20 shipyard in Oaxaca late August. The Mexican Navy announced on Wednesday that the module had been installed and that a cere
The US Navy has awarded two contracts totaling over $9 billion for the construction of Flight III configuration Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. Awarded on September 27, the fiscal years (FY) 2018 – 2022 multiyear procurement (MYP) contracts will see General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (G
In a milestone for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, a Marine Corps F-35B flying from amphibious assault ship USS Essex carried out its first combat strike. The strike took place on September 27 in the US Central Command area of responsibility in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afgha
Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll on Wednesday joined a Japan Maritime Self Defense Force task group led by helicopter carrier JS Kaga for maneuvers in the Indian Ocean. Prior to drills with the Royal Navy, JS Kaga’s group was part of the first known Japanese anti-submarine warfare drill in the
