US Coast Guard’s 42-year-old icebreaker Polar Star arrived at its Seattle homeport following a six-month maintenance period at Mare Island Dry Dock in Vallejo, California. The icebreaker received extensive repairs and upgrades to engineering and electronic systems while completing the dry dock avail
The navies of Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands have signed a contract with Thales for the delivery of new Mode 5 and Mode S identification friend or foe (IFF) systems for their Karel Doorman-class frigates. The upgrade to the latest NATO IFF standard will enable the vessels to perform military
F-35 Lightning fighter jets have dropped first test bombs during flight trials on board the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. The inert GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided precision bombs were dropped off the east coast of the USA, marking another significant milestone in the carrier’s tri
The Croatian Navy performed a test firing of its RBS-15B anti-ship missile, sinking a target vessel in a maneuver conducted as part of the country’s largest military drill since the Croatian War of Independence. The sinking exercise (SINKEX) took place on October 14 in the “Dugi Otok” training range
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding a $136.7 million contract for the procurement of long lead time materials for the US Navy’s sixth Expeditionary Sea Base ship. Long lead time contracts are awarded to contractors to establish pre-production
UK defense technology company Qinetiq has ordered Saab’s integrated communication system, TactiCall, for use at their Shore-based Information Facility (SIF), a testing facility in Portsdown, near Portsmouth in the UK. QinetiQ’s SIF is used to carry out the testing and evaluation of communications eq
South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries held a keel-laying ceremony for the first of two frigates built for the Philippine Navy under the Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP). The ceremony took place in Ulsan, South Korea, on October 16, and was attended by the Philippine flag-officer-in-comm
US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is currently at pier 14, Naval Station Norfolk, where sailors are performing maintenance in support of the ship’s pierside shipyard availability period. This maintenance phase is designed to ensure Abraham Lincoln is capable of car
BAE Systems has launched HMS Tamar – the fourth of five Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessels – lowering it into the water at its Govan yard. Tamar was then towed three kilometers downstream to the firm’s Scotstoun facility, where fitting out takes place. There she joins the third ship in the
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) recently became the first US Navy aircraft carrier to be fitted with a carrier-based Unmanned Aviation Warfare Center (UAWC), the US Navy has announced. During a brief ceremony attended by Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic, Rear Adm. Roy Kelley, and Commande
The Royal Thai Navy has contracted engineering and risk management consultancy company BMT a contract to support the Royal Thai Navy’s (RTN) new midget submarine program. From its offices in Bath, UK, BMT will recommend submarine-specific engineering management best practice to help the RTN minimize
US shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries started fabrication of the future amphibious assault ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8) at its Pascagoula shipyard on October 15. LHA 8 is the second ship named in honor of the Bougainville Island campaign in World War II and is scheduled to be delivered in 20
EU NAVFOR personnel joined the Chinese PLA(N) (Peoples Liberation Army) Navy for the first combined exercise at China’s new military base in Djibouti. The crew of ITS Federico Martinengo and members of the Chinese PLA(N) based in Djibouti conducted a medical evacuation exercise after EUNAVFOR person
Former Australian Navy frigate ex-HMAS Darwin will not be turned into a dive wreck off the coast of Tasmania as the island state’s government decided not to accept the Commonwealth’s gift. While the frigate was offered for scuttling off the East Coast for free, the Tasmanian government figured out i
