US Military Sealift Command operated ships USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) met with the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver while underway in Asia Pacific, on May 15. While it was not stated, the exercise likely took place in the South China Sea as hospital ship USNS Mercy d
The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $23.1 million contract for follow-on production of enhanced laser guided training rounds (ELGTRs) to support the service’s Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) weapons training. The award exercises the initial option of the contract negotiated in 2017 and exte
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on May 14, concluding a seven-month deployment with the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group (TRCSG). Halsey departed Pearl Harbor October 16 to deploy to the US 5th and 7th Fleet
After arriving from France to US early April, French Rafale jets have now joined the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) for a combined Chesapeake 2018 exercise. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG) and French Carrier Air Wing (Groupe Aerien Embarque) departed Norfolk May 7
US Navy ships from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3 have completed a group sail maneuver, working together for the first time in over two years. Led by aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), the CSG included Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) and ships from Destroyer
Raytheon Missile Systems has received a $242 million contract to deliver the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 system for the Qatari Emiri Navy. The contract, announced by the US defense department May 10, was awarded to the company by the US Naval Sea Systems Command and includes foreign milit
Four new high speed patrol boats manufactured by USA-based shipbuilder Metal Shark for the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard (DCCG) have been commissioned on the island of Curacao. The new vessels are the first to be delivered to the DCCG under a 12-boat order announced last year. Designed in-house by Met
Royal Australian Navy landing helicopter dock HMAS Adelaide is making final preparations for a three-month deployment which will include participation in RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise taking place off Hawaii. Adelaide’s journey across the South Pacific to Hawaii and bac
The US Navy’s Seawolf-class fast attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) returned home to Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on May 7 following a tour in the Arctic Circle. Connecticut was one of three submarines taking part in the biennial exercise ICEX that allows the US Navy to assess its operational
Sailors aboard US Navy cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102) returned to their homeports on May 9 after concluding deployments with their relevant carrier strike groups. Returning to Naval Base San Diego with its 350 crew, Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS
US Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) arrived at its new homeport in San Diego on May 8, concluding a homeport change from Sasebo, Japan. Bonhomme Richard departed San Diego in April 2012 for Sasebo, Japan, to replace USS Essex (LHD 2) as the Navy’s only forward-deployed amp
US Navy’s Spain-based Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) completed its sixth patrol in the US 6th Fleet area of operations, returning to its forward-deployed location at Naval Station Rota on May 7. Ross departed Rota Jan. 8, 2018, and in the course of its four-month patr
Chief of US Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson, unveiled plans to reestablish the US 2nd Fleet amid the increasing power competition on a global scale. This was announced during a change of command ceremony for US Fleet Forces Command (USFF) in Norfolk on May 4. Second Fleet will likely be react
US Navy’s future USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) successfully completed acceptance trials May 3 after spending a day underway off the coast of Maine. The US Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) reviewed the ship and its crew during a series of demonstrations while pier side and underway. As in
