The US Navy christened its second expeditionary Expeditionary Sea Base, the USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), in a ceremony in San Diego, California, on October 21. The ship’s namesake, Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams, spoke at the ceremony, and his two daughters, Travie Ross and Tracie Ross,
The US-hosted amphibious drill Bold Alligator will be joined by Mexican, Canadian and French Navy ships in addition to personnel from a number of other ally countries. Bold Alligator 2017 (BA17) started in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on October 18 and will run through October 30 around Camp Lejeun
US sailors and marines from Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3 and 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) gathered in Southern California to kick off the amphibious exercise Dawn Blitz 2017. Dawn Blitz 2017 is a scenario-driven amphibious exercise designed to train and integrate the staffs of ESG-3
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 joined NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, to take part in a series of experiments and trials last week. Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond, Turkish Navy’s TCG Barbaros and Spain’s ESPS Blas de Lezo visited Italy after
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its carrier strike group arrived in Busan, South Korea, for a port visit on October 21. USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem (DDG 63) and USS Chafee (DDG 90) pulled into Busan after participating in Maritime Counter S
While bringing soldiers and marines from Australia and Tonga to New Zealand for exercise Southern Katipo 2017, Royal Australian Navy landing ship HMAS Choules became part of the exercise scenario at Picton Harbor. Choules demonstrated her versatility when she arrived alongside at Picton in New Zeala
Mine countermeasure experts form the UK and US navies embarked the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Cardigan Bay to complete the Mine Identification and Exploitation Exercise 2017 . The exercise allowed for US and UK forces to share knowledge of mine countermeasures (MCM) capabilities in searching, identi
The second in a batch of five new Batch 2 River-class patrol vessels has been named in a ceremony in Scotland. Future HMS Medway was named on Friday by Wendy Fallon, wife of UK defense secretary Michael Fallon. The Royal Navy has previously named the first and third ship in the class. While being th
The first of Royal Australian Navy’s new Aegis-equipped destroyers HMAS Hobart got underway on October 18, setting sail for the first time as a commissioned warship. Her departure from Fleet Base East, Garden Island, Sydney on Wednesday heralded the much anticipated return to sea for the Guided Miss
Collaborating under an Integrated Program Office (IPO), the US Navy and Coast Guard released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for the detail design and construction of a Heavy Polar Icebreaker (HPIB). Released on October 19, the draft RFP is for one HPIB, with options for two additional HPIBs. The
The management of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems Australia (tkMSA) announced it completed the buyout of the business from its parent company. On September 1, the ownership of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems Australia transferred to its management team who renamed the company to Australian Maritime Technolo
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) conducted its first flight operations with an F-35C stealth fighter on Oct. 18 during training off the coast of Southern California. An F-35C Lightning II, the Navy variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, landed on and launched from Carl Vinson during d
The US Navy will be christening its future Freedom-variant littoral combat ship Little Rock (LCS 9) in a ceremony at Canalside, Buffalo, on December 16. The announcement was made by the Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer on October 18. The future LCS 9, commanded by Cmdr. Todd Peters, is the t
Boeing has recently awarded Lockheed Martin two contracts to upgrade its IRST21 sensor system for use on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F fleet. The Block II contracts provide up to $100 million for developing advanced software, performing hardware upgrades and delivering prototypes. These efforts will fur
