U.S. marines aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) completed a successful port visit to Lisbon, Portugal, on December 10. The embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) welcomed members of the Fuzileiros- the Portuguese Marine Corps – aboard Whidbey Island for a visi
U.S. Navy cruiser USS Bunker Hill took part in a maneuvering exercise with People’s Liberation Army (Navy) ships off the coast of Southern California, December 9. The Chinese Navy ships were departing San Diego following a three-day visit. Jiangkai II-class frigates Yancheng (FFG 546) and Daqing (FF
The German Navy’s NH90 Sea Lion naval multi-role helicopter made its maiden flight at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Donauwörth on December 8. The NHIndustries-built helicopters will replace the old ‘Sea King’ which has been in service with the navy for 40 years. The navy is set to start receiving
Shipbuilder BAE Systems has been awarded a five year, $70 million contract to maintain the Australian Navy’s new air warfare destroyers. The announcement was made Friday by the Australian minister for defence industry Christopher Pyne. The contract will see BAE Systems manage the delivery of support
Philippine Navy frigate BRP Andres Bonifacio, a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter, arrived to Philippines on Friday. The ship made a brief stop at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on November 15 before making the final leg of the journey to Philippines. Formerly known as USCGC Boutwell, BRP Andres Bonifa
USS Zumwalt, the U.S. Navy’s next-generation destroyer, completed her maiden voyage reaching the new homeport of San Diego on December 8. Zumwalt departed Bath Iron Works shipyard Sept. 7 and made several port visits to eastern U.S. Navy fleet concentration areas, such as Norfolk and Mayport, Florid
Shipbuilder BAE Systems received a new floating dry dock at its San Diego shipyard on December 8. The 950-foot-long, 55,000-long-ton dry dock is part of the company’s $100 million investment in the yard to service the anticipated increase of U.S. Navy ships on the West Coast. “We have made the strat
Sailors and marines from the U.S. Navy’s Makin Island amphibious ready group will spend the month of December in the vicinity of Djibouti rehearsing amphibious operations and conducting combat sustainment training. The exercise is dubbed Alligator Dagger and led by Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force
The U.S. Navy has contracted General Dynamics Bath Iron Works for the continuation of Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) lead yard services and Flight III upgrade design efforts. This $59 million contract extends the services for engineering, technical support, special studies and Flight III design work f
Canada has taken command of the Combined Maritime Forces’ counter-piracy task force operating in the Middle East region. Commodore Haydn C. Edmundson of the Royal Canadian Navy assumed command on Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 after conducting a change of command ceremony with the Pakistan Navy on De
Members of a hydrographic team embarked on Australian Navy hydrographic survey vessel HMAS Melville recently helped an outback community ensure safe navigation for shipping. The crew deployed on the first detached boat camp conducted for several years to test the detached Survey Motor Boat survey ca
The UK Ministry of Defence announced Thursday that work on two new offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Navy will get underway with a £278M contract with shipbuilder BAE Systems. The two new vessels were named HMS Tamar and HMS Spey. Preparation works were already underway and Minister for Defence
Australian shipbuilder Austal has rolled out Hull 380 at its Henderson shipyard ahead of the launch later this week. Hull 380 is the ninth Cape-class patrol boat designed and constructed by Austal and the first of two to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 2017. The patrol boat will u
German Navy’s air-defense frigate FGS Sachsen will depart its homeport to become the new flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2. Sachsen will be taking the place of Dutch De Zeven Provincien-class frigate HNLMS De Ruyter which has been at the helm of SNMG2 since September this year. The lead s
