US defense contractor Northrop Grumman Systems will build another nine E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft for the government of Japan. The company was awarded a $1.36 billion contract modification by the US Naval Air Systems Command for the work. This contract aw
The US and Republic of Singapore navies met in Guam for the beginning of Pacific Griffin 2019, the two nations’ most advanced naval training. The two-week maritime exercise starts September 27 and will take place in the waters near Guam. The exercise is an extension of the longstanding bilateral eng
The Royal Canadian Navy has completed performance trials of the GeoSpectrum Technologies-developed towed reelable active passive sonar (TRAPS) on board the HMCS Glace Bay. The tests aboard the Kingston-class vessel were the final assessment of the system, according to the company. GeoSpectrum reveal
The Italian Navy retired the last of its Minerva-class corvettes in a sunset ceremony at the Augusta naval base on September 25. With the decommissioning of ITS Driade and ITS Minerva after their 30-year service, the navy is advancing its plan of downsizing an ageing fleet. Driade and Minerva were t
The first of the three Royal Australian Navy air warfare destroyers, HMAS Hobart, is leading a nine-ship task group on a deployment across North and South East Asia. In addition to being the first ever operational overseas deployment for the lead ship in the class, the deployment is also the navy’s
China has reached a new milestone in the expansion of its navy’s capabilities with the launch of the nation’s first amphibious assault ship. The Type 075 landing helicopter dock (LHD) was launched in Shanghai on September 25. The new class of ship builds upon the smaller Type 071 landing platform do
The US Navy recently launched its first GQM-163A Coyote supersonic sea skimming target (SSST) from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). The Navy’s aerial targets program office (PMA-208) worked with multiple stakeholders to launch two GQM-163A targets, completing the WFF site activation for an East
Malabar is a long-standing exercise between Japan, India and the US.
US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant crew intercepted a 40-foot self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) transporting 12,000 pounds of cocaine, worth over $165 million. The cocaine was seized earlier this month in international waters in the Eastern Pacific during the cutter’s patrol. The semi-submersible wa
Three US Navy sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush committed suicide last week, the ship’s commanding officer Capt. Sean Bailey confirmed in a post on the ship’s official Facebook page. The deaths came in the wake of a push by the US Navy to address the rising number of suic
US Navy’s Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), along with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), entered the US 7th Fleet area of operations on September 23. Led by amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4), the group arrived in Asia Pacific after spending three months in the US 5th Fleet
The Royal Navy’s second aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has welcomed the first aircraft on its flight deck as it embarks on its maiden trials off the Scottish coast. Less than 24 hours after the ship sailed into open waters for the first time, a Merlin helicopter was guided safely into land on
US Navy ships from the carrier strike group assembled around aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) have welcomed a Dutch frigate into their formation as they completed a major pre-deployment exercise. De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS De Ruyter (FFG-804) worked with Carrier Strike
US shipbuilder Austal hosted a keel-laying ceremony for the future littoral combat ship USS Savannah (LCS 28) at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, on September 20. Savannah is the 14th Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS). “We are honored to lay the keel of what will one day be a magnifice
