Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has seized £1.6m of narcotics on the infamous ‘smack track’ – the heroin smuggling route between the Makran Coast of Iran and Pakistan and East Africa. Less than two weeks after seizing three tons of cannabis on the so-called ‘hash highway’, the Portsmouth-bas
San Pedro-based fast response cutter (FRC) returned to its homeport on December 8 following a two-week patrol that included the ship’s first drug bust, the US Coast Guard said. The crew of the recently commissioned FRC Forrest Rednour interdicted approximately 1,000 pounds of marijuana from a suspec
The future USS Billings (LCS 15), the US Navy’s new Freedom-variant ship, has completed its acceptance trials in the waters of Lake Michigan. They were completed on December 7 after a series of graded in-port and underway demonstrations on the Great Lakes for the Board of Inspection and Survey. “The
The French Navy plans to install seven tracking and illumination (STIR) radars on its frigates for their gun and missile fire control, defense technology company Thales said. As informed, five of the radars will be installed on board future intermediate-size frigates (FTI), and two will be placed on
The future USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002), the US Navy’s third Zumwalt-class destroyer, was launched at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard on December 9. The newbuilding was translated from land level to the Kennebec River over the weekend. “It’s important for the DDG 1000 program and shipy
The US Navy has awarded a $346.5 million contract modification to General Dynamics Electric Boat to provide research and development and lead-yard services for Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. Under the contract modification, Electric Boat will undertake development studies and othe
The European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) celebrated ten years of maritime operations on December 8. Commanded from its military HQ in Northwood, London, the European Union Naval Force was officially launched on December 8, 2008. Codenamed Operation Atalanta, it is a naval force generated by EU Mem
Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived in Portsmouth today following the completion of initial fast jet trials in America. The 65,000-ton carrier’s first transatlantic deployment, which began in August, saw her embark two F-35B Lightning II test aircraft, from the Integrated Test
Three shipbuilding teams have received funds from the UK to continue developing their plans for the construction of Type 31e frigates. On December 10, 2018, the country’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) awarded three contracts for the Competitive Design Phase. The contracts have been awarded to consortia
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has received two more Boracay-class fast patrol boats (FPB) newbuilds built in France. The FPB 72 MKII boats arrived at Subic Port on December 6, 2018, the coast guard said. The two units will be commissioned in the PCG service as BRP Malamawi (FPB 2403) and BRP Kala
The US Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy offloaded more than 5,100 pounds of seized cocaine in San Diego on December 7. This follows a 49-day counterdrug patrol in the Eastern Pacific aboard Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Edmonton with an embedded US Coast Guard law enforcement detachment. Wor
Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) ships Varyag, Admiral Panteleyev and Boris Butoma arrived in Visakhapatnam to participate in Indra Navy, the Indo-Russian maritime exercise. The 10th edition of the bilateral exercise will be conducted off Visakhapatnam from December 9 to 16, 2018. Indra Navy aims to i
The US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) has completed the testing of the ship’s defense capabilities during Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT). As explained, CSSQT tested Abraham Lincoln’s ability to operate onboard weapons systems, including the close-
Royal Canadian Navy has decided to enhance the detection systems of its Halifax-class fleet. The country’s defense ministry announced a contract with Saab Microwave Canada worth $21.7 million. As informed, the contract encompasses an electronically-stabilized antenna set for the Sea Giraffe 180 (SG-
