U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) took part in a passing exercise (PASSEX) with a ship from the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea as it departed Constanta, Romania, October 20. Mount Whitney participated in a minesweeping exercise with Romanian Navy corvette Admi
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has contracted Canadian OSI Maritime Systems to supply two integrated bridge systems (IBS) to the Royal Australian Navy for the AOR (auxiliary oiler replenishment) program. The IBS is based on OSI’s warship INTS (integrated navigation & tactical system) design which OSI
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Portland is currently in Simonstown, South Africa, where the crew started their month-long break during a nine-month deployment. After adding 18,000 miles to her odometer in a patrol which has taken the frigate from Plymouth, through the Mediterranean, Suez and Strai
The U.S. Navy said its future guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) successfully completed Alpha trials on October 18, after spending two days underway off the coast of Maine. The trials were conducted by shipbuilder Bath Iron Works (BIW), a subsidiary of General Dynamics. Alpha tria
Minehunters from the US and UK kicked off the mine countermeasures exercise 17-1 in the Persian Gulf with a photographic exercise formation on October 19. The bilateral exercise encompassed the full spectrum of mine countermeasures (MCM) from mine detection and identification to mine clearance with
The Royal Malaysian Navy has selected Terma’s Scanter 6000 radar as their combined navigation and helicopter control radar for the country’s two Lekiu-class frigates mid-life modernization and service life extension. This is the second radar delivery contract the Danish company has signed during the
Airbus Helicopters and DCNS have signed an agreement to collaborate on designing the future tactical component of French Navy’s aerial drone (Système de Drones Aériens de la Marine – SDAM) programme. Under the terms of the partnership, Airbus Helicopters will be responsible for designing and develop
A Czech squadron of Gripen fighter jets have reached the second week of their air-maritime integration and carried out joint missions with Danish, French and Icelandic vessels off Iceland. Currently in charge of providing air interception capabilities for Iceland under NATO, the Czech JAS-39 Gripen
Senior lawyers from the US Navy and the Royal Navy met at the stone frigate HMS Excellent for formal joint talks concerning aircraft carrier operations. With the Royal Navy on the cusp of returning to ‘big deck’ aircraft carrier operations when HMS Queen Elizabeth joins the fleet next year, it is ke
The U.S. Navy is currently modifying its Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) to make it capable of deploying the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Scheduled to be completed in March 2017, Essex will be the third big-deck platform to feature the upgrades and will be the first to do a
U.S. Navy’s helicopter mine countermeasures squadron (HM) 15 carried out annual airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) training at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) for almost two weeks earlier in October. HM-15’s annual helicopter advanced readiness program (HARP) HAWKEX t
In collaboration with the French defence procurement agency (DGA), DCNS has unveiled the French Navy’s new FTI (Fregate de Taille Intermediaire) medium-size frigate design at Euronaval in Paris, France. According to DCNS, the 4,000-tonne front-line frigate will be equipped for anti-submarine warfare
Russian cruiser-carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and other ships from its strike group were escorted off the Norwegian coast as they were sailing towards the Mediterranean. NATO said it deployed ships that were under its command to monitor the presence of Russian warships, noting it was routine procedure i
The U.S. Navy has awarded Austal USA a contract to provide engineering and management services support of the Post Shakedown Availability for the Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10). The US$12 million cost-plus-award-fee order is seen as a boost to the company
