French Navy air-defense frigate FS Chevalier Paul has concluded three weeks of counter-Daesh operations in the Persian Gulf with the US carrier strike group centered around aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. During her time with the carrier strike group, Chevalier Paul provided air defense for
After spending four years in mothballs and another two undergoing a £90m refit, the Royal Navy’s amphibious assault ship HMS Albion is deploying early next week to become the flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2. “It is a huge privilege for us to fly the flag of the NATO task group commander
French shipbuilder Naval Group on February 1 launched the French Navy’s sixth FREMM frigate ‘Normandie’. The shipbuilder floated out its overall eight FREMM vessel 12 months after the start of hull assembly in the building dock on the Lorient site. This launch brought the company a step closer to th
A new Royal Navy small survey vessel that will replace the recently decommissioned HMSML Gleaner will be named HMS Magpie, Royal Navy First Sea Lord Admiral Philip Jones announced. The last HMS Magpie was commanded by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in Malta in the early 1950s. Motor Survey launch Magpie
The US Navy’s newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Omaha (LCS 12) will enter service in a commissioning ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Broadway pier in San Diego. USS Omaha, designated LCS 12, is the 11th littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the sixth of the Indepe
Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has lifted and mounted a 400-metric ton caisson unit into its new Joint Manufacturing Assembly Facility (JMAF). The company says the fixture will speed up submarine construction. “A fixture of this magnitude allows u
Italian Navy amphibious ship ITS San Giusto took over as flagship of the EU NAVFOR operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea relieving auxiliary ship ITS Etna. Etna left the mission after almost two months of operations fighting human trafficking and smuggling networks. During her time deployed to t
US Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) has embarked Marines assigned to 3d Marine Division (MARDIV) at White Beach, Okinawa, ahead of exercise Cobra Gold 2018. Bonhomme Richard embarked 3d MARDIV personnel, vehicles and equipment before continuing a scheduled patrol in which
The Republic of Korea Navy has received the first of eight Daegu-class (FFX II) frigates, ROKS Daegu (FFG-818), South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced on Thursday. Daegu is expected to become operational in the second half of 2018. The frigate was built by Daewoo S
Construction of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s largest ever vessel, the HMNZS Aotearoa, officially started on January 31 with a steel cutting ceremony at Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard in South Korea. The ice-going tanker will be launched in March next year, and enter service in 2020. The ta
The Australian government on Thursday announced that the Air Warfare Destroyer project was removed from the Projects of Concern list due to continuing improvements in shipbuilding performance. Following an independent review by Professor Don Winter and Dr John White and a review by the Australian Na
French autonomous systems developer ECA Group announced its participation in the EU-led autonomous systems integration project OCEAN2020. With Italy’s Leonardo at the helm, ECA Group will join partners from 15 European countries to work on the first cross-European military research program to-date.
Australian shipbuilder ASC signed a collaboration agreement with international engineering consultancy BMT to meet increasing demand for ASC’s submarine platform expertise and experience. The 12-month collaboration agreement, signed at ASC’s submarine headquarters at Osborne, South Australia, will s
US Navy ships assigned to the America amphibious ready group are on the final leg of their return home from a seven-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific. The ships are scheduled to enter Naval Station San Diego on February 2 after stopping at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, late January. Dur
