Watch: US Marines’ new CH-53K filmed carrying F-35 during refuelling
The newest helicopter for the US Marines has been pictured transporting an F-35 while carrying out air-to-air refuelling.
US Marines flew a CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter with the airframe of an F-35C Lightning jet below it.
The King Stallion is the US Department of Defense’s most powerful helicopter and it carried the inoperable aircraft from the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Patuxent River (Pax ITF) to a navy unit located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
The F-35 was without its mission and propulsion systems or outer wings and was transported to the Prototype, Manufacturing and Test (PMT) department of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst for use in future emergency recovery systems testing.
Austal Australia has launched the future ADV Cape Solander, the seventh Evolved Cape-class patrol boat that the company is building for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Like its earlier sisters, the vessel has an aluminium hull, a length of 58 metres, and accommodations for 32 crewmembers and other personnel. Armament will include two pintle-mounted 12.7mm machine guns.
Austal said the Evolved Cape-class vessels will be built with a number of enhancements over the baseline Cape-class patrol boats, improving operational capability and crew capacity compared to the vessels already operated by the RAN and the Australian Border Force.
The boat will also come equipped with Austal’s proprietary motion control system, which consists of roll fins and trim flaps that are automatically-driven to provide improved stability under a range of speed settings.
Delivery of the future Cape Solander is scheduled for later this year.
The navy will use the Evolved Capes in constabulary operations, primarily to the North of Australia, enforcing Australian sovereign immigration and fisheries laws. They will be maintained at the Regional Maintenance Centre North East in Cairns.
NORFOLK (April 25, 2024) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) departs Naval Station Norfolk, April 25, 2024, for a deployment to the U.S. Southern Command area of operations as part of Southern Seas 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Maxwell Orlosky)
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS George Washington (CVN-73), with embarked Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10, and a partial air wing from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 departed Naval Station Norfolk (VA) on 25 April 2024. The CSG is heading for the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of operations as part of the exercise Southern Seas 2024.
Following Southern Seas, USS George Washington will relieve USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) as the forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) aircraft carrier during a historic carrier swap at NAS North Island (CA) this summer. The carrier will sail down the coast of the US, through the Caribbean Sea and enter the Pacific by rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.
This will mark the second time George Washington has served as the FDNF aircraft carrier, arriving in Japan in 2008 as the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be forward deployed to Japan before being relieved by Ronald Reagan in 2015. Following the transfer, the USS Ronald Reagan will head to Washington state for an overhaul before its permanent homeport assignment.
Prior to this week’s planned departure, George Washington completed its midlife nuclear refueling and complex overhaul at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. The normally four-year-long maintenance period stretched to just short of six years due to a number of factors, including supply chain issues and workforce problems that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington began the RCOH period on 4 August 2017, and was redelivered to the US Navy on 25 May 2023.
It has not been reported yet which squadrons will be/are embarked with CVW-7 during this trip.
DZIRHAN MAHADZIR APRIL 24, 2024 2:58 PM – UPDATED: APRIL 25, 2024 7:21 AM
French aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) departed its home port of Toulon for an operational deployment to the Mediterranean called Akila, which will see the French Carrier Strike Group (CSG) for the first time under NATO control for two-weeks. In a press briefing on Apr. 11 to announce the deployment, Rear Adm. Jacques Mallard, Commander of the French CSG, stated that the names of French Navy warships and submarines in the group would not be announced as part of an ongoing experiment by the French Navy to obscure the identity of its warships. Mallard stated this is quite effective and “leads to a certain confusion among our competitors,” though he also stated that the Navy would release the classes of ships involved. The French CSG commander also said they could not disclose the specific names of the partner nations’ ships and aircraft involved, until the respective countries publicly released the information themselves.
During the briefing, Mallard released a slide showing Charles De Gaulle would carry an embarked airwing of 18 Rafale M fighters, two E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWEC) and two Dauphin helicopters, while a land-based Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft will support the French CSG. French Navy ships in the CSG are a Horizon-class air defense frigate, a FREMM-class multipurpose frigate, an attack submarine and fleet oiler BRF Jacques Chevallier (A725). The French Navy has since disclosed that the Horizon-class frigate is FS Chevalier Paul (D621).
The slide also showed that surface ships, land-based aircraft and a submarine integrating with the French CSG will come from Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United States, though so far only the Portuguese Navy has publicly disclosed its participation. with the frigate NRP Bartolomeu Dias (F333). Italian Navy frigate ITS Carabiniere (F593), however, was seen departing with the CSG from Toulon.
Mallard also provided a rough time frame of the deployment, stating that the CSG would operate for a short fortnight under NATO command, then would be under the direction of the French Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, for a period to execute national taskings and then participate in the Italian exercise Mare Aperto 24.1, co-organized by France. Mare Aperto would be the last activity before concluding the deployment, the French CSG commander stated, though he also said this could change with a possible option to enter the Red Sea in support of operations there. He also stated that there were no plans currently for the CSG to deploy to the Indo-Pacific.
NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Marie-Doha Besancenot stated that the French CSG will be under the command of STRIKFORNATO (Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO Maritime Staff) from Apr. 26–May 10. In a release on Apr. 18, NATO’s Joint Force Command Naples stated that the French CSG will participate in NATO’s annual Neptune Strike exercise held in the Mediterranean. The exercise demonstrates the alliance’s ability to integrate joint high-end maritime strike capabilities of allied aircraft carriers and expeditionary strike groups to support the defense of the NATO alliance, according to the release.
On Tuesday, the French Navy announcedCharles De Gaulle and Chevalier Paul carried out successful firings of Aster surface-to-air missiles a few hours after departure for deployment. A French Ministry of Armed Forces release stated that Chevalier Paul, as the CSG air defense commander, neutralized an air threat at long range using an Aster 30 missile, while Charles De Gaulle fired an Aster 15 missile hitting its target as well. The targets were remotely piloted vehicles that simulated an antiship missile and a reconnaissance drone. Earlier on Apr. 18, the French Navy carried out a synchronized dual firing of the Naval Cruise Missile (MdCN) by frigate FS Aquitaine (D650) and a Suffren-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN). The frigate was located off the coast of Brittany in northwest France, while the submarine was in the Bay of Biscay between the west coast of France and northern coast of Spain. A single missile was fired each by the frigate and submarine at a target located at the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA) missile test center in Landes, southwest France. Both missiles simultaneously hit the target. The French Navy stated in a news release that the firing was carried out in a manner resembling operational conditions. “The French Navy thus demonstrates its ability to synchronize strikes against land in depth, from different units, and on a single target,” said the release.
The French CSG is not the only French Navy task group on deployment. The French Navy Jeanne D’Arc deployment has been ongoing since Feb. 19 . The Jeanne D’Arc task group consisting of amphibious assault ship FS Tonnerre (L9014) and frigate FS Guépratte (F714) is a combined training and operational mission carrying embarked French Navy cadets along with a French Army battlegroup. The task force wrapped up a three-day exercise with the Brazilian Navy and Brazilian Marine Corps with a joint amphibious landing on the Brazilian island of Marambaia, according to a Brazilian Navy release. Brazil Navy helicopter carrier Atlantico (A140) and frigate Liberal (F-43) took part in the drills and conducted at-sea drills with the two French ships prior to the amphibious landing.
In other developments, the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS Tromp (F803) completed its deployment in the Red Sea on Tuesday and is now heading to the Indo-Pacific, with its first stop being in India, according to a Netherlands Ministry of Defence release. Tromp is expected to participate in the U.S. Navy-led Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise held in summer around Hawaii. The MOD release stated that Tromp will return home in September via the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. Multipurpose support ship HNLMS Karel Doorman (A833) is now on its way to the Red Sea to replace Tromp, with a Netherlands MOD release stating there was a need for logistic support ships and medical capability in the region and the deployment would address this as KarelDoorman has an embarked medical team and a Cougar helicopter for the medical requirement.
RFA Cardigan Bay will play an important role in helping aid reach the people of Gaza (Picture: Royal Navy)
A Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel will provide accommodation to hundreds of American soldiers and sailors in the eastern Mediterranean who are helping to deliver aid to Gaza.
The US military has started the construction of a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to facilitate the delivery of vital humanitarian aid.
RFA Cardigan Bay is sailing from Cyprus to help support the international effort to build the pier which is set to be completed early next month.
The pier will initially support the delivery of approximately 90 truckloads of international aid, with plans to increase capacity to 150 truckloads once fully operational.
“It is critical we establish more routes for vital humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza and the UK continues to take a leading role in the delivery of support in coordination with the US and our international allies and partners,” Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said.
“The crew of RFA Cardigan Bay are central to the UK’s contribution to the multinational plan to greatly expand the flow of aid into Gaza.
“This will complement the priority of getting more aid in via land routes and Ashdod port in Israel, by enabling tens of thousands of tonnes to be delivered directly from the sea onto the beach.”
The use of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship means American forces can support the aid effort without having to put US boots on the ground.
RFA Cardigan Bay is a large landing ship dock that is designed to quickly offload troops and their equipment either using landing craft or from her large flight deck.
Cardigan Bay’s sister ship RFA Lyme Bay delivered the UK’s first maritime shipment of aid for Gaza in January.
The 87 tonnes of life-saving aid supplies, which included thermal blankets, shelter packs and medical supplies, were delivered to Gaza via Cyprus.
Due to its proximity to Gaza and its hosting of both British sovereign and US bases, the aid delivered via the US-built pier will also transit through Cyprus.
For several weeks, specialist British military planning teams have been helping to work out the safest and most effective maritime route.
They have been embedded with the US operational HQ in Tampa, Florida, and in Cyprus.
RFA Lyme Bay has delivered nearly 90 tonnes of UK humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza (Picture: MOD)
The US construction project involves the assembly of an approximately 1,800-foot causeway, known as a Trident Pier, along with a roll-on, roll-off discharge facility situated about three miles off Gaza’s coast.
“The effort to deliver humanitarian assistance from the sea is fully supported by the Israeli Defense Force with whom we have been and will continue to work very closely from fixing the JLOTS [Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore capability] pier to the shore to providing force protection,” said a senior US defence official.
Once fully operational the pier is expected to be able to deliver enough supplies to feed the 2.3 million population of Gaza.
Meanwhile, the RAF has completed its ninth air drop of 11 tonnes of essential aid to Gaza.
BAE Systems Naval Ships business in Glasgow is continuing to progress the outfit of the lead Type 26 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigate for the UK Royal Navy (RN) ahead of the ship’s planned handover in 2026.
The future HMS Glasgow, the first Type 26 frigate for the Royal Navy, is progressing towards completion. Picture from December 2023 courtesy of George Allisson / Uk Defence Journal.
The future HMS Glasgow – the first of eight Type 26 ASW frigates ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence – has now received both its bow mounted and towed array sonar systems, and is shortly to receive its MK 45 Mod 4 5-inch medium-calibre gun.
Glasgow has been in dry dock in Scotstoun, on the north bank of the River Clyde, since its float-off in late 2022. Scotstoun is Naval Ship’s focal point for final outfit, commissioning test and trials; steelwork and major ship construction activity is undertaken at its sister Govan yard, which lies on the south bank of the Clyde.
Sir Simon Lister, managing director of BAE Naval Ships, said that work continues to insulate, paint and outfit Glasgow in Scotstoun. “We intend to move her into [the wet dock] for final test and commissioning in the autumn of this year,” he said. “Cardiff [ship 2] will then take her place in dry dock.”
Lister estimates Glasgow to be at least 65% complete, with all structural steelwork is complete, and major equipment installations are underway.
“We’re preparing to fit the [main] gun, we’ve fitted the bow sonar [Sonar 2150], and we are currently testing the towed array sonar [Sonar 2087]. All the engines are in, shafts and so on are in. We’re at that stage of connecting and installing the last few pipes, wiring up the ship, and setting-it-to-work prior to testing and commissioning.”
Sir Simon Lister, managing director of BAE Naval Ships
Glasgow is due to be formally named during 2025. Sea trials are planned to start in early 2026, with handover to follow later that same year.
Following handover, the RN will undertake a period of training and work-up on Glasgow. “They are planning for an initial operating capability in the 2028 timeframe,” said Lister.
While acknowledging that the first-of-class build had been challenging, Lister said that lessons learned are already improving performance on subsequent ships:
“We’re shrugging off the challenges of the prototype, and the design is now finished. The amount of change that’s in the programme is being eroded all the time – so the amount of change in ship 3 is one tenth of the amount of change that’s in ship 2.”
HMS Cardiff, the second Type 26 frigate, is progressing towards structural completion on the Govan hardstand. It will be the last Type 26 assembled in the open. Picture by Richard Scott.
The second Type 26, the future HMS Cardiff, is progressing towards structural completion on the hardstand in Govan, with work underway to fit and align the ship’s shaft lines. Float-off is planned for the third quarter of 2024, after which Cardiff will be moved to dry dock in Scotstoun to continue fitting out.
All Type 26 frigates from ship 3 (HMS Belfast) onwards are planned to be consolidated under cover within a new Wet Basin Hall assembly facility now taking shape on the Govan site. According to Lister, blocks of Belfast will start moving into the hall at the end of this year. “The facility will not be completely finished until August/September next year,” he said, “but because the roof [is going to be on] we will take advantage of the weather protection that provides over the winter.”
Construction work underway on the new Wet Basin Hall in Govan. BAE Systems plans to have sections of HMS Belfast inside by the end of 2024. Picture by Richard Scott.
BAE Systems forecasts that the productivity and efficiency benefits accruing from the new covered assembly hall will realise significant time and cost reductions in future Type 26 builds. “The business case for building the Wet Basin Hall is based on our ability to accelerate production and use less hours in building the ships,” Lister said. “We aim to reduce the build duration from the first-of-class being 96 months to the eighth being 60 months. And more than that we intend to compress the interval between ships from 18 months to 12 [months].”
HMSM33 is an M29-classmonitor of the Royal Navy. Built in 1915, she saw active service in the Mediterranean during the First World War and in Russia during the Allied Intervention in 1919. She was used subsequently as a mine-laying training ship, fuelling hulk, boom defence workshop and floating office, being renamed HMS Minerva and Hulk C23 during her long life. She passed to Hampshire County Council in the 1980s and was then handed over to the National Museum of the Royal Navy in 2014. A programme of conservation was undertaken to enable her to be opened to the public. HMS M33 is located within Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and opened to visitors on 7 August 2015 following a service of dedication. She is one of only three surviving Royal Navy warships of the First World War and the only surviving Allied ship from the Gallipoli Campaign, the other being the Ottoman minelayer Nusret, preserved in Çanakkale. Construction[edit] M33 was built as part of the rapid ship construction campaign following the outbreak of the First World War by Harland and Wolff, Belfast. Ordered in March 1915, she was launched in May and commissioned in June; an impressive shipbuilding feat, especially considering that numerous other ships of her type were being built in the same period.[1] First World War[edit] Armed with a pair of 6-inch (152 mm) guns and having a shallow draught, M33 was designed for coastal bombardment. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Preston-Thomas, her first active operation was the support of the Britishlandings at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in August 1915. She remained stationed at Gallipoli until the evacuation in January 1916. For the remainder of the war she served in the Mediterranean and was involved in the seizure of the Greek fleet at Salamis Bay on 1 September 1916.
Members of the Royal Navy and the navies of New Zealand and Australia have gathered on board the last remaining ship from the Gallipoli campaign to mark Anzac Day.
A wreath was laid during the service on board the monitor vessel HMS M.33 which is in dry dock next to HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Members of the Royal Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal Australian Navy take part in an Anzac Day service of remembrance on board HMS M.33 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (Andrew Matthews/PA)
The service was led by Royal Navy Chaplain Ralph Barber and was accompanied by two buglers from the Royal Marines School of Music performing the Reveille.
Troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – shortened to Anzac – were landed on the western shore of the Gallipoli peninsula on April 25 1915 as part of the failed campaign that lasted into 1916.
Eileen Clegg, from the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) which helped organise the service, said: “Anzac Day is the most important day of commemoration in New Zealand and Australia, and HMS M.33 serves as an excellent symbol of the sacrifice made in Gallipoli and beyond.
“This event allows anyone, serving or not, to honour this sacrifice from those who lived and served thousands of miles away.”
Members of the Royal New Zealand Navy replace their caps during an Anzac Day service of remembrance on board HMS M.33 (Andrew Matthews/PA)
An NMRN spokeswoman said: “Anzac Day, which takes places annually on April 25, was originally commemorated to honour those from New Zealand and Australia who lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War.
“HMS M.33 supported the landings at Gallipoli in 1915, and is the only surviving ship from the campaign.”
Able musician Orson Paine at the Anzac Day dawn service in Gallipoli on 25 April 2024. Photo: Supplied / NZDF
A commander involved in Anzac Day services in Gallipoli is proud of his contingent for rising to the challenge after their luggage was lost in transit.
New Zealand Defence Force representatives played a full part in the ceremonies, despite earlier uncertainty after uniforms and instruments went missing during the Dubai floods last week.
But Major Peter Bowyer said Kiwi ingenuity got them through, with the uniforms they did have being swapped and resized.
“As the commander, I’m just so proud of the contingent for what they’ve done. There were some challenges but I think we’ve [made] a fantastic representation.”
The uniforms they did get back in time were swapped and resized, as members without roles in the ceremony wore civilian clothes, Bowyer said.
Meanwhile, the Anzac spirit helped ensure the Royal New Zealand Navy’s bugle player could perform The Last Post.
Able musician Orson Paine’s bugle never made it, but a member of the Australia Defence Force band loaned him their cornet, Bowyer said.
Traditionally The Last Post is played on a bugle, but he said Paine was a professional.
“He’s a very capable musician and I’m sure he would have provided a very good Last Post … on anything.”
USS George Washington (CVN-73) returning from sea trials on May 25, 2023. HII Photo
Carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) is set to depart Naval Station Norfolk, Va., this week for its new homeport in Japan, the Navy announced on Wednesday. George Washington is scheduled to leave Norfolk on Thursday to sail down the coast of the U.S., through the Caribbean Sea and enter the Pacific by rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.
The carrier will be part of U.S. 4th Fleet’s Southern Seas 2024 event that will team Washington up with the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78), and Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall (T-AO-189). The carrier will embark with a partial air wing from Carrier Air Wing 7, Naval Air Force Atlantic announced. Outlined earlier this month, Southern Seas will have the U.S. group sail with warships from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay. Washington plans to make port calls in Brazil, Chile and Peru. An international staff will of about 24 officers from 11 partner nations will serve on the carrier.
“This international staff will receive instruction from U.S. Naval War College professors and will work alongside embarked Destroyer Squadron 40 personnel,” reads a statement from U.S. Southern Command.
The international staff will include officers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Following Southern Seas 2024, “George Washington will relieve USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) as the forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) aircraft carrier during a historic carrier swap at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., this summer. This will mark the second time George Washington has served as the FDNF aircraft carrier, arriving in Japan in 2008 as the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be forward deployed to Japan before being relieved by Ronald Reagan in 2015,” reads a statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic.
Following the transfer, Reagan will head to Washington state for an overhaul before its permanent homeport assignment.
Prior to this week’s planned departure, George Washington completed its midlife nuclear refueling and complex overhaul at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. The normally four-year-long maintenance period stretched to just short of six years due to a number of factors, including supply chain issues and workforce problems that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington began the RCOH period on Aug. 4, 2017, and redelivered to the Navy on May 25, 2023.
During the RCOH, the Navy conducted an extensive quality of life study that revealed sailors living aboard the carrier had some of the toughest living conditions in the Department of Defense. The investigation followed the death by suicide of nine GW sailors from 2017 to 2022.
