Finnish Minister of Defence, Jussi Niinistö, has authorized the nation’s Defence Forces to start the Finnish Navy project, Squadron 2020. The aim of the project is to construct four new corvette-size fighting ships for year-round operation in the special weather and ice conditions at the Baltic Sea.
Sailors from the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1) are preparing for their deployment in 2016 to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. Their aim will be to support the international collaborative capacity-building program Africa Partnership Station (APS). Sail
After spending 32 years of service in the Indian Navy, INS Godavari, the nation’s first indigenously designed and built warship Indian Naval Ship Godavari is scheduled to be decommissioned on December 23, 2015. With her decommissioning, INS Godavari (F-20) will complete its full life cycle, meeting
German Navy frigate FGS Hamburg entered her homeport in Wilhelmshaven, Germany on December 20 thereby concluding her duty as flagship of the Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG2) during the second half of 2015. On June 25, Rear Admiral Jörg Klein (German Navy) assumed command of SNMG2 in Kiel, German
The U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command on December 21 awarded Lockheed Martin Aeronautics two contracts worth $1.255 billion. The first is a $1,171,206,489 advance acquisition contract for the advance procurement of long lead time materials, parts, components and effort to maintain the planned pr
Australian-based shipbuilder Austal announced December 21 that its Austal USA subsidiary has been awarded a contract for $51,7 million to its 11-ship $3.5 billion Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract for the U.S. Navy. This contract modification is expected to increase to $198,385,545 over three year
The Royal Navy’s auxiliary ship RFA Lyme Bay has returned home after patrolling the Atlantic, visiting 16 nations, helping with two disaster relief operations, and making a $53million cocaine bust. RFA Lyme Bay sailed into Falmouth, England at the weekend having completed a six-month patrol of the N
Commander Robert Shu relieved Commander Christopher England as the commanding officer of the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) during a change of command ceremony at Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY), December 15. England was Fitzgerald’s comma
The Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri launched ‘Luigi Rizzo’, the sixth of overall ten Multi Mission European Frigates (FREMM) at the Riva Trigoso shipyard in Italy on December 19. Fincantieri is building the 10 FREMM vessels for the Italian Navy within the framework of an Italo-French cooper
The French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91) took charge of U.S. Navy’s Commander Task Force 50 on December 20 to conduct first airstrikes against ISIL as the CTF 50 flagship. When the FS Charles de Gaulle entered what is known as the U.S. 5th fleet area of operations on December 7, it [&
The Swedish defence and security company Saab announced December 18 that it signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Material Administration for the yearly overhaul and modification of the Swedish Navy’s Stockholm-class corvettes. The two Swedish Navy vessels are HMS Stockholm and HMS Malmö. The a
The U.S. Navy might have to give up on acquiring 52 littoral combat ships and reduce the number to 40 and decide on only one shipbuilder. U.S Defense Secretary Ash Carter told this to the Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in a December 14 memo, first reported by Defense News. Carter said that the funds saved
The Canadian Navy’s hunter-killer submarine HMCS Windsor returned to Halifax December 17 after a three and a half month deployment to Western European waters. HMCS Windsor, along with HMC Ships Athabaskan, Halifax, Montréal, Goose Bay, and Summerside left Halifax in the early fall. The submarine is
The U.S. Navy announced the christening ceremony of the newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship, USS Omaha (LCS 12), that will take place in Mobile, Alabama, December 19. Omaha, designated LCS 12, honors the city of Omaha, Nebraska. Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy, who will serve as princi
