U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) returned to its forward-deployed base at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on May 28. Stethem departed Yokosuka in January to begin its 2017 patrol in the Western Pacific. “Over the past four months, our operations provide
In another step towards becoming a commissioned unit of the Indian Navy, the lead ship of a new class of submarines fired her first torpedo this month. The indigenously built INS Kalvari carried out the torpedo firing on May 26, an Indian Navy announcement said. Prior to the torpedo firings, INS Kal
The Indian Navy’s guided missile frigate INS Ganga sailed under her own power one last time on May 27 as she entered the Mumbai harbor ahead of decommissioning. On May 28, Ganga was placed in the non-operational category and will likely be decommissioned before the end of the year, the Indian Navy s
Naval forces from the U.S. and Thailand kicked off the 23rd annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) in Sattahip, Thailand, on May 29. CARAT is a major naval engagement in South and Southeast Asia and provides a regional venue to address shared maritime security priorities, enhance i
The U.S. Coast Guard transferred the former high endurance cutter Morgenthau to the Vietnam coast guard during a ceremony in Honolulu, on May 25. The former U.S. Coast Guard cutter will be renamed CSB 8020 and is expected to improve the Vietnam coast guard’s maritime domain awareness, increase its c
The U.S. Navy’s Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) started a routine patrol departing her forward-deployed base of Sasebo, Japan, on May 26. Ashland and other amphibious ships of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group will embark their forward-deployed Marine
USS Ronald Reagan’s carrier air wing completed carrier qualifications aboard the aircraft carrier on May 22. More than 100 pilots in more than 60 aircraft from nine squadrons based out of Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Iwakuni, Japan, completed almost 700 events, including more than 200 touch and goe
The navies of Republic of Singapore and India concluded their bilateral maritime exercise SIMBEX on May 24. Hosted by Singapore, the exercise started on May 24 at Changi Naval Base RSS Singapura with the at sea phase taking place in the South China Sea. This year’s exercise was the 24th iteration of
The U.S. Navy ordered one of its destroyers to challenge China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea by sailing within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificially built island. According to Reuters, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey sailed near a disputed reef in the Spratly Islands over
The Indian Navy has awarded Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) a $630 million contract for the delivery of LRSAM air and missile defense systems for four Indian Navy ships, the Israeli company announced on Sunday. LRSAM is an air and missile defense system under joint development by IAI and India’s D
The U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) pulled into the port of Shimoda, Japan, May 18, to celebrate the 78th annual Black Ship Festival. The festival commemorates the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry and his ‘Black Ships’ in July 1853, and the signing of the
Ships from the U.S. and the Royal Thai Navy kicked off the joint anti-submarine and maritime domain awareness exercise Guardian Sea on May 22. The drill is taking place in the Andaman Sea and will last until May 28. The bilateral exercise focuses on strengthening U.S. and Royal Thai Navy anti-submar
India and Republic of Singapore started their ongoing bilateral naval exercise SIMBEX-17 with an opening ceremony in Singapore, on May 18. SIMBEX (Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises) first started in 1994 and this year’s edition of the exercise, being held in the South China Sea, is the 24
Participants of this year’s multinational exercise Pacific Partnership had an opportunity to respond to a simulated collision of a cruise ship and a tanker during an emergency response drill. Conducted in Da Nang, Vietnam, as part of the exercise, the activity was led by the Vietnam People’s Armed F
