Ships from 13 nations are taking part in the French-hosted exercise Brilliant Mariner which kicked off September 29. The exercise is attended by Standing NATO Maritime Groups one and two and the Standing Mine Countermeasure Group 2 in addition to the French Aero-Naval Rapid Reaction Force (FRMARFOR)
UK defense secretary Michael Fallon on Tuesday unveiled a new Royal Navy fleet support model bringing a spate of existing contracts under new, overarching arrangements. Called Common Support Model (CSM), the arrangement will provide a framework for comprehensive support across the Royal Navy’s fleet
US defense contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems has been awarded a $418.6 million contract to manufacture additional Trident II (D5) missiles. The US defense department did not specify the exact quantity of missiles to be built and the contract has options which could drive its value up to over
Sailors from the Royal Netherlands Navy’s landing platform dock HNLMS Rotterdam carried out a local maritime capacity building (LMCB) exercise with Seychelles military personnel. The activity took place on September 25 and 26 and was part of the ship’s regular EU NAVFOR activities. The LMCB focused
The Brazilian Navy’s first upgraded Super Lynx Mk21B helicopter has performed its maiden flight from the Yeovil facility in southwest England. The flight success was announced by aerospace and defense company Leonardo which is in charge of upgrading eight Mk21B helicopters under a US$160 million con
Taking part in the submarine escape and rescue exercise Dynamic Monarch for the first time, NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) supported the exercise using a new digital underwater acoustic communications capability providing more effective command and control to escape a
A Chinese Navy three-ship task group has concluded a three-day visit to Brunei Darussalam and is currently en route to Cambodia. Composed of Type 052C destroyer Changchun, Type 054A frigate Jingzhou and Type 903 replenishment ship Chaohu, the task group started its deployment on April 23 and has vis
Whether Europe sees the creation of a “naval Airbus” will be known by June 2018. That is the date by which French and Italian shipbuilding giants Naval Group and Fincantieri are to define “a roadmap detailing the principles of the future alliance”. The announcement of the possible merger was made in
Prior to the Chinook helicopter starting sea trials aboard the Royal Navy’s first MARS tanker, UK company SEA has performed a successful simulated flight trial. The company is providing modelling and simulation support to the UK MoD Chinook project team as a method of assessing key aircraft handling
The Royal Navy’s third Type 26, or City-class, frigate will be named Belfast, First Sea Lord Admiral Philip Jones announced on September 27. Whilst the second to be named, HMS Belfast is Ship 3 in the Type 26 programme. Ship 1 is called HMS Glasgow and Ship 2 is yet to be named. The future […
A team of volunteers from Portsmouth Naval Base will be taking a replica of a 19th century schooner on a voyage from Hull to the Solent. The sailors will be replicating a voyage of schooner HMS Pickle which brought news of victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Sailors will step back in time more than
A multibeam survey conducted as part of a maritime archaeology project has confirmed the exact location of the Royal Navy’s WW1 destroyer HMS Pheasant. Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and SULA Diving said they are now a
A Polish shipyard subcontracted for work on the hull of the Royal Danish Navy’s newest Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessel has employed North Korean workers, according to a Danish news report. As reported by DR, Danish shipbuilder and prime contractor Karstensens contracted the Polish shipyard Crist
Ships from the US Navy’s Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BAT ARG), together with 4,000 sailors and marines aboard, returned to Naval Station Norfolk and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story on September 23 following a seven-month deployment. The amphibious group consists of assault ship U
