The US Navy’s Military Sealift Command-operated hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) arrived in the US 7th Fleet area of operations on March 10 to serve as a platform for exercise Pacific Partnership 2018 (PP18). PP18 is scheduled to have more than 800 US military personnel stationed worldwide, workin
HMAS Toowoomba has strengthened the Royal Australian Navy’s ties to international navies after hosting personnel from the United Kingdom and New Zealand during Exercise Ocean Explorer 2018. A junior officer from each country worked onboard the frigate during navy’s premier fleet warfighting activity
Shipbuilding company Navantia has selected Adelaide-based Navantia SAGE Automation Group (NSAG) to supply the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) for its Future Frigates bid. The selection follows the transfer of IPMS technology to Australia in support of the Navantia Australia designed Can
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has evacuated an ill government staff member from the Antipodes Islands in its second medical evacuation in three weeks. Offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington, which was on a resupply mission in the Auckland Islands, was retasked on March 3 to evacuate a Depart
Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha has arrived in Canada where she will undergo combat management system upgrades at Seaspan’s shipyard in Victoria, British Columbia. The 25-day passage to British Columbia was marked by a brief port visit in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor where Te Kaha and her crew
The wreck of one of the first US Navy aircraft carriers has been located on the floor of the Coral Sea, 500 miles off the eastern coast of Australia. The USS Lexington was discovered 3,000 meters (about two miles) below the surface by the expedition crew of research vessel (R/V) Petrel on March 4 –
US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) sailors and personnel are all set for seven days of bilateral exercises as part of exercise MultiSail 2018 which starts March 8. MultiSail is an annual bilateral training exercise that improves interoperability between US and Japanese forces. In
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga made another drug interception in the Arabian Sea intercepting eight tonnes of hashish aboard two vessels. The drugs, worth an estimated AU$400 million, were seized during an operation on March 3. Warramunga has now seized 19.5 tonnes of hashish and 1.5
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived in Vietnam on Monday, marking the first visit of a US aircraft carrier to the country after the end of Vietnam War in 1975. Carl Vinson and its 5,000 crew anchored two nautical miles off the port city of Danang for a four-day visit to the country. [&h
US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) got underway from her new homeport in Sasebo, Japan, to complete a pre-deployment readiness assessment before switching to operations as part of the ship’s first patrol in the Indo-Pacific region. Wasp is undergoing a Naval Surface Forces-led ready fo
Royal Australian Navy submariners have developed a new solution for the temporary accommodation on board Collins-class submarines as an alternative to wooden beds currently in use. The sailors from Fleet Support Unit – West at HMAS Stirling designed and built the “Submarine Accommodation Capsule”, d
Australian defense industry minister on March 2 announced the signing of a AU$1.2 billion program for the five-year upkeep of Royal Australian Navy Anzac-class frigates. The sustainment contract has secured the jobs of almost 1700 workers minister Christopher Pyne said on Friday. The contract is an
US Navy’s San Diego-based Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105) visited Sasebo, Japan, on February 28 to discuss its upcoming integration into a new and improved type of patrol the navy intends to undertake. While in port, Dewey’s leadership and tactical watchstanders met
Royal Australian Navy base HMAS Cairns will soon be able to welcome larger naval ships, including amphibious assault ships and aircraft carriers, as it is set to benefit from a planned upgrade to the Port of Cairns. The AUD$120 million upgrade to the Port of Cairns is closer thanks to the finalisati
