Thales UK has signed a contract with Autonomous Surface Vehicles Ltd (ASV Ltd) to develop a re-configurable Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) to meet the challenges of future off-board Mine Countermeasures (MCM) operations. The vessel has been jointly designed to meet a number of key requirements and d
Gowind® offshore patrol vessel L’Adroit returned to her homeport of Toulon on 29 June 2012 after a two-month mission in the Mediterranean. DCNS has made the ship available to the French Navy for three years. The client Navies, in turn, is using the ship primarily for government missions at sea. Duri
Sailors on survey HMS Echo completed the Full Monty in the sweltering heat of the Mediterranean. The ship’s company mirrored the advance of the legendary WW2 general from Tobruk to Tripoli 70 years ago by cycling the 630-mile distance. Sailors from the survey ship clambered on to exercise bikes to c
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected to supply the Platform Management System (PMS) for the Royal Navy’s fifth Astute-class submarine, Anson. Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit will supply the PMS for Astute Boat 5 under a performance partnering arrangement (PPA) with BAE Syste
Fresh from maritime security operations in the Indian Ocean, Merlins of 814 Naval Air Squadron decamped to Stavanger to hunt three diesel boats determined to ‘sink’ a German tanker. Normally they don’t make it quite as easy as this for the Navy’s top submarine hunters to find them… The tell-tale mas
Babcock has successfully delivered a long term contract to upgrade the 4.5 inch Mk8 naval gun to Mod1 standard, with the completion June of the last gun system upgrade to programme and cost. Babcock undertook the first Mk8 Mod1 upgrade under the contract in 2005. The seven year programme has involve
A further milestone has been reached in the assembly of the first of the UK’s new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers by Babcock at Rosyth, where the massive Super Block 03 (SB03) has been moved 90 metres north to meet Lower Block 02 (LB02) in a major hydraulic skidding operation, as part of Ass
Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced the launch of the second Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) at the Navantia shipyard in Spain. The launch represented a major milestone in the shipbuilding process and was attended by the Chief of Navy, Vice
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope gave a keynote speech yesterday to international naval leaders, historians and maritime experts, underlining the importance of the aircraft carrier to the future of the Navy – and the nation. Addressing the Future Maritime Operations Conference at the globall
Brand-new £1bn destroyer HMS Dragon saluted the seven cruise ships of world’s famous P&O line last night as they gathered in the Solent to mark the firm’s 175th birthday. The seven liners – displacing more than half a million tonnes in total – conducted a sail past out of Southampton, with HMS Drago
On June 25, Force Commander Rear Admiral Dupuis visited the headquarters of the Tanzanian Navy to meet General Omar, Commander of the Navy. Tanzania faces the scourge of piracy off its coasts and is therefore intrinsically concerned. Its navy works daily in Tanzanian territorial waters to combat pir
Spain and Australia have agreed today that the Combat Supply Ship Cantabria will operate with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from February to November 2013. This deployment will be the longest and most extensive that the Navy ship will have made to date. Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral General
One of the Royal Navy’s newest warships HMS Diamond has been working with one of her French counterpart near-identical twin ships in the Mediterranean Sea. The Type 45 destroyer took part in a series of exercises with FS Forbin, a French Horizon Class destroyer which looks similar to the Royal Navy’
Thousands of people gathered on historic Plymouth Hoe to pay tribute and show their support for the military at the national Armed Forces Day event. Prime Minister David Cameron, the Earl of Wessex and the First Sea Lord were among the dignitaries who witnessed fly and sail pasts, plus a parade by 1
