The Brazilian Navy has ordered three H135 light twinengine helicopters to be operated by the 1st General Purpose Helicopter Squadron (HU-1), Airbus Helicopters said on Feb. 21, 2019.
The future home of the UK’s P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft is on target for completion, the Royal Air Force stated on Feb. 22, 2019. Once established the facility will hold up to three aircraft, along with maintenance facilities, planning rooms, and office space for the operators and support staff.
Spanish shipyard Navantia opened a new business office in Washington DC to support its ongoing bid for the U.S. Navy FFG(X) frigate competition.
The Hellenic Army Amphibious Special Forces units will be equipped with new fast-craft boats, according to a public tender published in mid-February.
The French Navy (Marine Nationale) announced that the multi-mission frigate (FREMM) Bretagne entered “active service” and is now able to conduct operational missions. “Bretagne” is the fifth of six anti-submarine warfare FREMM frigates ordered from Naval Group by the French Navy.
Royal Navy Tidesurge tanker has been welcomed to the fleet today with a dedication service at Greenock’s Ocean Terminal, the service announced on Feb. 20, 2019. The tanker is the latest of four new Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships acquired under the 450M£ (US$588M) MARS Tanker programme.
During the Abu Dhabi 2019 International Defence Exhibition & Conference (IDEX), Fincantieri and Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding (ADSB) announced that they have reached an agreement in principle to explore future forms of industrial and market cooperation in the UAE shipbuilding segment.
Finnish Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö authorised, on 21 February 2019, the country’s Defence Forces Logistics Command to procure Raytheon’s Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSM) as part of the surface-to-air missile system (ITO20) for the Pohjanmaa-class corvettes of the Squadron 2020 project.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) is completing the first phase of production and moving to full-rate production on concurrent Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) and avionics upgrades of the service’s H-65 short range recovery helicopters, a SAR variant of the French-built AS365 Dauphin.
Following the enactment of the contract with Argentina, Naval Group has started off work on the four offshore patrol vessels, the French shipyard confirmed today. The first vessel to be delivered will be L’Adroit. Developed by Naval Group and built out of its own funds, this vessel had previously been made available to the French Navy since 2011.
