The Royal Netherlands Navy offshore patrol vessel HNLMS Friesland has seized 406 kilos of cocaine from a vessel in a joint operation with the Sint Maarten coast guard. The drugs were seized on Thursday after a suspect vessel was spotted by Friesland’s NH90 helicopter. According to the Dutch Navy, th
After halting a competition for the construction of five Type 31 frigates late July, the UK defense ministry has now relaunched the process. The program was halted on July 24 due to what the defense ministry identified as inadequate competition prior to awarding competitive design phase (CDP) contra
The UK Royal Navy and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force are scheduled to conduct their first joint amphibious exercise in Japanese waters next week. Taking place on August 23 and 24, the exercise will be spearheaded by Royal Navy amphibious assault ship HMS Albion and the JMSDF tank landing ship
The final of four Royal Navy Tide-class tankers – RFA Tideforce – has arrived in Cornwall, UK, where it will now undergo military customization and armament before starting sea trials. Customisation work, including the installation of communications equipment and defensive systems, will be performed
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri is boosting its logistic support capabilities with the acquisition of automation, command and control systems specialist Vitrociset. Fincantieri announced August 7 that it signed an agreement with commercial high-tech company Mer Mec for the joint and equally split ac
After ceding command over the EU-led counter-piracy operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa to the Spanish Navy, the Italian Navy has deployed its newest FREMM frigate – ITS Federico Martinengo – to support the mission. The frigate got underway from its homeport in Taranto and joined the operation
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland returned to her homeport at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Devonport on August 10, concluding a seven-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific. Sutherland and her crew got underway on January 9, becoming the first Royal Navy vessel to operate in Asia Pacific in rece
Italian authorities have found 20 tons of hashish after intercepting a Panama-flagged research ship, the country’s law enforcement agency said. On 9 August, Italian police units intercepted research ship Remus in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship was taken to Palermo in Sicily for further investigatio
After dropping off the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in North Carolina, nearly 1,200 sailors aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) entered their homeport of Mayport, Florida, on August 9. USS Iwo Jima returned from a six-month deployment to the US 5th and US 6t
The Swiss-Swedish company UMS Skeldar has been contracted to deliver a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the German Navy. According to the German website Augen Geradeaus !, the contract between the German defense procurement agency BAAINBw and the Saab subsidiary
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond escorted two Russian warships as they passed through the English Channel on Tuesday. The destroyer sailed from Dover to monitor the Russian destroyer Severomorsk and cruiser Marshal Ustinov as they sailed from their Severomorsk homeport for operations in th
German Naval Yards and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) – two Kiel-based shipbuilders – are joining forces to compete against a Dutch proposal for the design and construction of the German Navy’s new MKS180 ships. TKMS signed an agreement with German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK) on August 3 under which
Royal Navy’s amphibious assault ship HMS Albion has wrapped up a five-day visit to Tokio, Japan, becoming the largest RN vessel to visit the country in a quarter of a century. The 20,000-ton ship pulled alongside on August 3 and hosted over 6000 members of the public during an open weekend. During t
Technology company Elbit Systems has received an approximately $85 million contract from the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) to supply Electronic Warfare (EW) suites for the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 6-class corvettes. As informed, the contract will be performed over a 10-year period. The EW systems t
