March 2018 news

Naval Forces, Defense Industry, Navy Technology, Maritime Security


The Vympel Shipyard in Rybinsk in central Russia has laid down a Project 20360M armament replenishment vessel, the press office of Russia’s Rostec state hi-tech corporation said. The Vympel Shipyard is a subsidiary of the Kalashnikov Corporation integrated into Rostec.

Australia’s new maritime surveillance aircraft the P-8A Poseidon has achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC), five months ahead of the original schedule. Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, congratulated Air Force and CASG on the significant milestone that has been achieved.

Lockheed Martin successfully tested a production-configuration Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) from a U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber. During the test, a B-1B from the 337th Test Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, launched a LRASM over the Sea Range at Point Mugu, Calif., successfully impacting the maritime target and meeting test objectives.

Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Tulsa (LCS 16) successfully completed acceptance trials March 9 after a series of in-port and underway demonstrations for the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. Acceptance trials are the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship to the U.S. Navy. During trials, the U.S. Navy conducted comprehensive tests of the future USS Tulsa, intended to demonstrate the performance of the propulsion plant, ship handling abilities and auxiliary systems.

NBC Nagasaki reports that the latest 25DD class anti-submarine destroyer, the JS Asahi, was officially delivered to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMSDF) at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Nagasaki shipyard. Yutaka Murakawa, the JMSDF chief of staff, led the commissioning ceremony in front of the ship’s 220 crew members and other JMSDF officials.

The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) announced the expansion of their unmanned ocean observation fleet of Wave Gliders to the 9th Regional District,headquartered in Niigata, Japan. This growth is part of JCG’s multi-year, ocean monitoring program to provide enhanced, real-time situational awareness of ocean currents, wave activity, and weather along Japan’s coastlines.Prior to this expansion, JCG deployed fleets of Wave Gliders in four regional districts, forming the first, unmanned ocean observation network in Japan’s history.

Page 2 of 4