The Frankfurt am Main (A1412) combat support vessel, the largest ship class in the German Navy, arrived on Feb. 17 in Kiel in preparation for the deployment of the integrated Naval Rescue Centre (iMERZ). New cranes and a launching device for the tenders are also to be integrated.
On the night of February 8, the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) joined the French Navy (Marine Nationale) Carrier Strike Group, also known as Task Force 473, currently deployed as part of the “Foch” mission.
The Belgian Navy’s future research vessel Belgica was launched on 11 February 2020 at the Freire Shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The delivery of the ship in Zeebrugge, Belgium, is scheduled for the last quarter of this year.
The French Armament General Directorate (DGA) is to supply four H160s to the French Navy for search and rescue missions through a partnership between Airbus Helicopters, Babcock, and Safran Helicopter Engines. The contract was awarded on January 31, 2020. The French Navy will start operating these helicopters in 2022 for a period of ten years.
India will receive two Project 1135.6 frigates currently under construction at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad in west Russia by the end of the first half of 2024, the press office of Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation told TASS.
Airbus Helicopters and the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) are pursuing a new set of studies to further the militarization of the H160 and to define its associated support ecosystem in the context of the Joint Light Helicopter program (Hélicoptère Interarmées Léger: HIL).
The U.S. Department of Defense on Feb. 4 confirmed in a statement that U.S. Navy had fielded W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) warhead, adding that this capability would strengthen deterrence and support U.S. commitment to extended deterrence.
Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine delivered the future USS St. Louis, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 19, to the U.S. Navy.
The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) yesterday took delivery of the Shunkō (PLH-42) patrol vessel. A large patrol boat, the Shunkō has been built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)’s Shimonoseki Shipyard & Machinery Works in South West Japan.
The RAF’s new submarine-hunting Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) has touched down for the first time in the UK. The aircraft is the first of a new £3 billion programme, including the purchase of nine state-of-the-art Poseidon jets, which will improve the UK’s ability to track hostile targets below and above the waves.
