The Spanish government approved EUR 4.3 billion of funds for the construction of five new F-110 frigates for the Spanish Navy on March 29. The council of ministers authorization comes roughly a month ahead of the construction start which is scheduled to take place in May this year. The new generatio
The Brazilian defense ministry has selected the Águas Azuis Consortium as the preferred bidder for the construction of the Brazilian Navy’s Tamandaré-class corvettes. The consortium, formed by thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Embraer Defense & Security and Atech, will build a total of four ships under t
Royal Navy auxiliary landing ship dock RFA Mounts Bay served as the test bed for a mobile US Navy minehunting force during a recent test off the coast of Virginia. The test included helicopters, divers, remote-controlled boats and automated surveying machines and was intended to see whether a task f
France-based defense contractor Thales is opening a UK office for work on the Royal Navy’s future Type 31 frigate program. The company said it would be joining the Babcock-led team which is proposing the Arrowhead design for the new class of general-purpose frigates for the Royal Navy. Should the Ar
Ship from Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG) 1 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasure Group One (SNMCMG) 1 completed a scheduled port visit to Plymouth, England, before taking part in an eight-ship maneuver off the UK coast. SNMG-1 and SNMCMG-1 staff took advantage of time in port by having forc
A joint French and British program to develop a new generation of anti-ship missiles has passed the “key review” phase, French missile maker MBDA has announced. The review was completed two years into the FC/ASW (future cruise/anti-ship weapon) concept phase, and was carried out jointly by the UK’s
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll returned to her homeport at HMNB Devonport, completing a nine-month deployment to Asia Pacific. The service’s oldest frigate deployed to Asia on June 18, 2018, and sailed all the way to Japan for drills with Japanese and US Navy units. The warship covered the
US Navy’s Ohio-class cruise missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) arrived in Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece, for a scheduled port visit on March 14. While the Kings Bay, Georgia, homeported USS Florida is on a routine deployment in the US 6th Fleet area of operations, it is rare for the
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing its eighth forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) patrol of Europe and Africa. Donald Cook began its patrol Nov. 17, 2018 to conduct naval operations in the US 6th Fl
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) transited the Bosphorous Strait on March 1, wrapping up ten days of Black Sea operations. While in the Black Sea, the ship conducted operations at sea with the Turkish Navy and completed a port visit to Odesa, Ukraine in
The sixth Warspite, a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, earned more battle honors than any other single warship in Royal Navy history.
The Finnish defense ministry on February 21 announced it is buying Raytheon’s Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) systems for its Pohjanmaa-class corvettes of the Squadron 2020 project. The surface-to-air missile system (ITO20) will be installed on all four ships in the class. The exact number of miss
FS Bretagne, the French Navy’s fifth FREMM frigate, has officially entered service after completing its maiden deployment. The French Navy admits ships into active service only after they complete their first operational tasking. Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) configured FS Bretagne started constructi
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and ships from NATO’s Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) entered the Black Sea on February 19. Donald Cook entered the Black Sea after last visiting the region in January 2019, when it visited Batumi, Georgia and con
