The US State Department has cleared Greece to buy MH-60R multi-mission helicopters with support equipment under a deal estimated to be worth $600 million. The US approval comes less than six months after the Greek government announced its intention to buy the MH-60R. The Hellenic Navy is expected to
The UK’s first Poseidon MRA Mk1 (P-8A) maritime patrol aircraft has completed its first flight, marking another milestone ahead of delivery in early 2020. Following this first test flight, the aircraft will transfer from Boeing Commercial Airplanes to Boeing Defense, Space and Security to be fitted
The 13th vessel in the US Navy’s Spearhead-class of expeditionary fast transport (EPF) ships will be named USNS Apalachicola (T-EPF 13), Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer has announced. Construction of the ship is set to start in late 2019 after shipbuilder Austal USA received a long-lead tim
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat returned to its Perth homeport on July 14, following a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. The frigate’s 200 officers and sailors worked together with the international Combined Maritime Forces to seize nearly 20 tonnes of illicit drugs worth an esti
The UK is sending Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan to the Persian Gulf in the wake of an escalation of tensions in the region following the scrapping of the Iran nuclear deal and a spate of attacks on commercial tankers. HMS Duncan was operating in the Black Sea when the ship’s new tasking was announced
The Royal Malaysian Navy’s second Keris-class littoral mission ship (LMS) was launched in Wuhan, China, by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) on July 12. Named Sundang (with pennant number 112), the LMS is the second of four ships in the class ordered under a RM1.17 billion (approx. US$2
The Netherlands defense ministry has awarded Dutch shipbuilder Damen a contract for the refit and upgrades of three Royal Netherlands Navy ships. As part of the midlife upkeep (MLU) contract, Damen Shipyards Den Helder will modernize support ship HNLMS Pelikaan, along with hydrographic survey vessel
The US Navy’s newest, digitally-built, aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) now has a complete flight deck after shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries lifted the final bow section into place. The addition of the upper bow section at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division is one of
Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster is preparing to welcome crew back on board, two years after starting her overhaul in 2017. Upgrades to the ship included the installation of the new Artisan 3D radar, improved navigational radar and the new-generation Sea Ceptor missile system which replaces the now-
Italian Navy special forces – the Operational Raiders Group (Gruppo Operativo Incursori) – received the first of two high-speed multi-purpose vessels from Intermarine on July 8. Angelo Cabrini was delivered a little over a year after it was launched and will support missions of GOI, which is part of
Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose has chased off five Iranian Revolutionary Guards vessels trying to impede the passage of tanker British Heritage in the Persian Gulf on Thursday. According to media reports, HMS Montrose positioned itself between the tanker and Iranian vessels and issued verbal warnin
The Chilean Navy has awarded French defense contractor ECA Group a contract to upgrade the steering consoles of Scorpène-class submarines. The contract is part of the country’s wider submarines modernization program which will also see two Type-209 boats receive some features of the Scorpene-class s
US Navy destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) returned to its Spanish homeport at Naval Station Rota on July 7, completing its eighth forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) patrol. The Arleigh Burke-class ship departed for patrol on March 8 to carry out naval operations in the US 6th Fleet area of operations. R
An Adelaide-based composite materials developer has become the latest Type 26 global combat ship supplier, the Australian defense minister announced during a visit to BAE Systems’ Govan shipyard in Scotland. Linda Reynolds, the Australian defense minister visited Govan to witness the build progress
