UK defense contractor Babcock has been selected to become marine systems support partner (MSSP) for the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth-class (QEC) aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers. The company said it was selected as preferred bidder for all four elements of a Ministry of Defence program t
RFA Tidespring, the lead ship of the new Tide-class tankers built for Great Britain by the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, arrived in the UK on April 2. Tidespring started her journey from South Korea in February after being officially accepted by the UK Ministry o
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter James seized five tons of cocaine on its maiden voyage and patrol as a coast guard ship. The crew of the CGC James returned home to Charleston, South Carolina, on March 31 following a 60-day, multi-mission patrol. During its maiden voyage, James’ crew contributed to the i
Royal Australian Navy’s oldest warship HMAS Darwin departed Fleet Base West after what will probably be the frigate’s final visit before being decommissioned later this year. HMAS Darwin slipped from the wharf at Fleet Base West and set sail for Sydney recently, signalling the end of the warship’s l
The U.S. Department of Defense last week awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth more than £80m (US$102.2m) to deliver the initial training, engineering, maintenance and logistics support for the UK’s F-35 Lightning II fleet over a three year period. Lockheed Martin has sub-contracted work worth £4
The crew of the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) hosted midshipmen from the Naval Academy during their recent underway for a sustainment exercise. The midshipmen were brought aboard Ike for an extensive tour of the aircraft carrier conducting flight o
U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-Class fast attack submarine USS Pasadena (SSN 752) completed a six-month deployment and returned to her homeport in San Diego, March 30. According to Cmdr. Ken Douglas, Pasadena’s commanding officer, the submarine steamed more than 40,000 miles, completed two major missions v
The U.S. Navy announced it completed a successful flight test of the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) off the west coast of Hawaii. During the March 15 flight test, designated Vigilant Hunter, the AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR searched for, detected and maintained track on a short-range ballistic
Warships from eight nations arrived in Greece for the annual exercise Ariadne which will be taking place from March 31 to April 7. In addition to ships, naval officers from some ten countries will be attending the exercise in the Ionian Sea in the Gulf of Patras. NATO ships from the Standing Mine Co
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia launched the Spanish Navy’s fifth BAM (Buque de Acción Marítima) ship on March 30 at its Cadiz-San Fernando shipyard. Named Audaz, (which translates to bold or audacious) the modular offshore patrol vessel is the fifth of overall nine units the Spanish Navy plans to acqu
The Australian government on Friday released the Request for Tender (RFT) for the Royal Australian Navy’s $35 billion Future Frigate project. The RFT was issued to the three shortlisted designers: British BAE Systems, Italy’s Fincantieri and Spain’s Navantia. Minister for Defence Industry, Christoph
French shipbuilder DCNS has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesian shipyard PT PAL to increase cooperation in the fields of submarine and surface ship construction. The MoU confirmation comes following the visit of French president François Hollande to Indonesia. Indonesia wants
Royal Australian Navy’s hydrographic ship HMAS Melville rescued over 400 stranded guests and staff from Daydream Island off Queensland, after tropical cyclone Debbie hit the region. The hydrographic ship was operating near Townsville when the cyclone hit the Whitsunday Islands, and followed the tail
The U.S. Coast Guard will hold a commissioning ceremony for the National Security Cutter (NSC) Munro on Saturday in Seattle.. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft will preside over the ceremony, accepting the sixth NSC into the military se
