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US, France and Japan prepare for rare 3-carrier exercise in Philippine Sea – By ALEX WILSON STARS AND STRIPES • February 6, 2025

Source – Stars and Stripes

The French aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle steams in the Mediterranean Sea, May 2, 2024. (Mercy Crowe/U.S. Navy) A flotilla of about 10 warships, including the USS Carl Vinson and the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle, are set to train together Saturday in the Philippine Sea, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet. Joining the two carriers for the exercise, dubbed Pacific Steller 2025, are at least eight escort ships and Japan’s JS Kaga, a small-deck flattop called a helicopter carrier, the command announced Thursday in a news release. “Our routine integration aims to showcase our partnership and demonstrate our ability to work together with our French and Japanese allies,” Capt. Matthew Thomas, the Carl Vinson’s commander, said in the release. A 7th Fleet spokeswoman, Lt. j.g. Sarah Merrill, confirmed the exercise will take place in the East Philippine Sea and said it’s an opportunity to advance the three navies’ ability to work together and improve maritime security. “Cooperating with our allies and partners enhances our ability to deter conflict and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” she told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday. The last multicarrier drill in the Indo-Pacific took place in August, with the USS Abraham Lincoln and the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour training together, a first for the U.S. and Italian navies in the region. The Carl Vinson strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton and the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS William P. Lawrence. The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle, currently engaged in its Clemenceau 25 deployment, is escorted by the destroyer FS Forbin, frigates FS Provence and FS Alsace, fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, USNI News reported Jan. 31. The Kaga supports a complement of helicopters. In November, the Kaga completed trials for the first of two rounds of modifications that will allow it to carry the fifth-generation F-35B Lightning II, a short-takeoff and vertical-landing stealth fighter. The training will take place three days after the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold and a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft wrapped up an exercise with the Australian, Japanese and Philippine navies on Wednesday near the Philippines. The drills included the Australian guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart and a MH-60R Seahawk helicopter; the Philippine guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal; and the Japanese destroyer JS Akizuki and an SH-60K helicopter, according to a 7th Fleet news release on Thursday. The operation featured surface maneuvering, line-of-sight communication checks, subject matter expert exchanges and tactics training, Merrill said. ALEX WILSON Alex Wilson covers the U.S. Navy and other services from Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. Originally from Knoxville, Tenn., he holds a journalism degree from the University of North Florida. He previously covered crime and the military in Key West, Fla., and business in Jacksonville, Fla.

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Source – Stars and Stripes

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Crew of USS Stockdale Shot Down Houthi Drones with 5-Inch Gun, Says Admiral

Heather Mongilio – January 30, 2025 2:39 PM

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG-106) and Egyptian Navy El Suez-class corvette ENS Abu Qir (F941) conduct a bilateral sailing exercise in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on Oct. 19, 2024. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO — Sailors with USS Stockdale (DDG-106) used the destroyer’s five-inch gun to shoot down a Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle, the deputy commander of Central Command said Thursday.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper was aboard Stockdale in November, about nine weeks ago, he told an audience at WEST 2025, co-hosted by AFCEA and the U.S. Naval Institute, during a Houthi attack on the ship.

A low-flying Houthi drone came at the ship, he said. The watch stander clocked it, but it was a late detection. A kill order was given, and the sailors prepared to take it out with the five-inch guns. Cooper did not think they would hit, he said, but the guns fired and the drone went down.

“So it was an exciting moment,” Cooper said. “There was a lot going on. But it just gives, to me, it just gives you a sense of this crew is really dialed in and paying attention.”

The Houthis launched more than 140 attacks on merchant vessels and 170 on Navy ships over the 15 months of their campaign in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Cooper said. The Navy downed 480 Houthi UAVs in that time.

The Houthis have ceased action in the Red Sea due to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, although Houthi leadership said it was monitoring the deal and would resume escalatory action if Israel violated it.

But in November, when Cooper embarked on Stockdale, Houthi missiles and drones were still a regular sight in the Middle East.

Stockdale, along with USS Spruance (DDG-111) and Littoral Combat Ship USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) were transiting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, going from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden.

“So it’s busy, and as we’re heading south, I would say that we were in for a fight, and everybody in the crew knew it,” Cooper said.

The crew was prepared, Cooper said. Confident but not arrogant with some anxiety mixed in.

Then the missiles came. One. Then the second. The third. The fourth.

“It was a complex, sophisticated, coordinated attack by the Houthis,” Cooper said.

The first missile was heading off-course, he said, so the sailors let it go. But the remaining three were problems.

Stockdale fired an SM-6 to take out a missile.

“And when you just think about this, it’s a bullet hitting a bullet,” Cooper said. “It’s about 5000 mile-an-hour closure speed on this.”

It is a close environment, Cooper said, adding that debris from the missile collision caused a Sea Sparrow launch. More American missiles were launched to take care of further Houthi missiles.

About 11 minutes later, a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile was detected. Aircraft from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), the aircraft carrier leading the carrier strike group, shot down the missile.

An hour and a half later, F-16s under Spruance’s control, handled a land-attack missile. F-16s also shot down drones that were part of a suicide drone attack, Cooper said.

Two destroyers – USS Frank E. Petersen (DDG-121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) – protected Abe while its aircraft launched an attack on Houthi infrastructure.

Then came the low-flying UAV, Cooper said.

Cooper did not say exactly in November when the attacks happened. Based on USNI News’ timeline of Houthi activity in the Red Sea, it likely happened around Nov. 12 to 13.

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

USS George H.W. Bush Pierside to Repair Fouled Seawater Systems

Heather Mongilio – February 4, 2025 5:28 PM

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), transits the Elizabeth River, Nov. 12, 2024. U.S. Navy Photo

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) cut short an underway period and returned pierside Monday evening after experiencing issues with its seawater system, a Navy official confirmed Tuesday to USNI News.

Bush left Norfolk Naval Station on Monday with tugs and returned with tugs that evening, according to ship spotters. The ship returned under its own power, Cmdr. Dawn Stankus, a spokesperson for Naval Air Force Atlantic, told USNI News in an email.

The tugs were nearby for navigational and mooring reasons, Stankus said.

“The ship experienced an unexpected fouling of several seawater systems in the vicinity of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and the crew opted to return to Naval Station Norfolk to correct the problem,” Stankus said in her email.

The ship is currently undergoing investigations and an estimate for repairs is not currently available, she said.

Ship spotters saw the carrier head out from its berth at Naval Station Norfolk, down the James River and into the Chesapeake Bay, but turned around and headed back to the pier with the tug escort.

Bush completed a 10-month availability at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in November and is in the workup process to prepare for its next deployment.

The carrier, the embarked Carrier Air Wing 7 and its escorts wrapped an eight-month deployment on April 23, 2024. The carrier spent 230 days in the Mediterranean as part of the U.S. presence mission to deter Russia from expanding its war in Ukraine.

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Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

Marines Want New Class of Aviation Support Ships 

Marines Want New Class of Aviation Support Ships 

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa

February 4, 2025 6:00 PM

SS Wright (T-AVB-3), one of two Marine aviation logistics support ships.

With the impending retirement of the aging Wright-class, the Marine Corps wants a new class of aviation logistics support ships, according to the 2025 aviation plan released this week.
The Marines currently have two aviation support ships that serve as floating repair stations with detachments of embarked Marines that can perform up-to-depot-level maintenance on Marine aircraft.

Dubbed the Aviation Logistics Support Capability/T-AVB Next, the Marines look to improve their intermediate sustainment abilities as well as those of stand-in forces with the new platform. The service pitched the repair of “battle-damaged aircraft and components” as a potential capability that these future vessels could support.

The Marine Corps identified seven capabilities that T-AVB Next should support: replenishment from combat logistic fleet ships, intermediate maintenance facilities, multiple access points for loading, dual aviation and ground maintenance operations, day and night flight operations, aircraft refueling, sea-based cargo handling and scalable modularity that could support up to 400 deployable maintenance facilities.

“The T-AVB (Next) will enable the rapid deployment of robust intermediate aviation sustainment functions, extending Marine Aviation endurance,” stated the 2025 aviation plan.

SS Wright (T-AVB-3) in the Atlantic and SS Curtiss (T-AVB-4) in the Pacific were launched in the late 1960s and converted into their current roles in the 1980s. While the vessels are operated by the U.S. Maritime Administration, they are permanently assigned to the Military Sealift Command’s prepositioning program to support Marine Corps aviation. Wright and Curtiss are slated for decommissioning in 2030 and 2033, respectively.

The crews are composed of 37 merchant mariners and a Marine aviation maintenance detachment, totaling 362 personnel. The more than half-century-old vessels sustain fixed, tilt-rotary and rotary-wing aircraft through 300 28 ft x 8 ft x 20 ft mobile maintenance facilities, allowing the service to maintain an afloat capability that would otherwise require 75 C-17 sorties to replicate.

In the 2022 aviation plan, the service lauded the vessels for their logistical role in Force Design 2030 objectives and experimentation efforts, stating that “the unique aspect of these vessels has supported operations in multiple roles for joint exercises and operational planning. Continued efforts to modernize the vessels and shape their replacements will redefine how we support the fight in future operating environments.”

In that same 2022 plan, the service specifically called out the Wright-class ships for their ability to support expeditionary advanced basing operations and the new distributed aviation operations concept.

The 2025 document states that there will be a “critical shortfall” if the Pentagon does not replace the ships.

“We require a standing capability to conduct afloat aviation sustainment activities to support EABO and DAO,” stated the 2025 aviation plan.

Marines Want New Class of Aviation Support Ships  – USNI News

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

Royal New Zealand Navy to honour history at Waitangi Day celebrations

The Chief of Navy says he is honoured to be attending Waitangi Day celebrations and continuing the Royal New Zealand Navy’s long history of playing an important role in celebrating the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Every year on 6 February, New Zealanders and visitors alike gather at Waitangi. The RNZN is invited annually by Te Tai Tokerau to attend Waitangi Day and perform a range of full ceremonial duties.

Representing the RNZN will be Chief of Navy Rear Admiral (RADM) Garin Golding along with a large contingent of Navy personnel.

“I have been to Waitangi many times, but my first as Chief of Navy will certainly have special significance,” said RADM Golding.

“The invitation by Te Tai Tokerau has always been a great honour for our Navy and an absolute privilege to be part of.”

“This day is a taonga for our nation and we’re grateful we can share it with the people of this region, other New Zealanders and visitors to our shores.”

RADM Golding will be joined this year by Chief of Army, Major General Rose King, and Chief of Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Darryn Webb.

This year the RNZN’s multi-role sealift vessel HMNZS Canterbury, will be anchored off Waitangi between 4-6 February.

Other RNZN involvement in the celebrations will include the Navy band performing at the Village Green in Paihia on Tuesday the 4th with a Beat Retreat and Ceremonial Sunset Ceremony at the Treaty Ground flagpole on Wednesday evening, 5 February.

A 50-person Guard of Honour will conduct the ceremonial lowering of the New Zealand White Ensign, signifying the end of the day.  This will be reviewed by the Chief of Navy.

At midday on Waitangi Day, Tuesday 6 February, HMNZS Canterbury will fire a 21-gun salute to observe the 185th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The RNZN Māori Cultural Group will also give a series of performances on the Treaty Grounds.

RNZN WAITANGI DAY PROGRAMME IN THE BAY OF ISLANDS

Tuesday, 4 February

2-3pm:                        Navy Band Concert at the Village Green in Paihia

4pm-4.45pm:              Navy Band Concert on the Te Tii Marae grounds

Wednesday, 5 February

8.30am-9am:              Navy Band perform at Te Whare Rununga (Upper Marae)
5pm-5.45pm:              Beat Retreat and Ceremonial Sunset Ceremony, with Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Garin Golding as Reviewing Officer

Thursday, 6 February

5am:                            Dawn Service at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds

8.30am-9am:              RNZN Band perform at Te Whare Rununga (upper marae)

9am-10am:                 Church Service

11.30am-11.50am:     RNZN Māori Cultural Group perform on the Treaty Grounds

11.50am – 12.15pm:   RNZN Guard of Honour march on and form at the Flag Pole – 21-Gun Salute fired from HMNZS Canterbury

12.15pm-12.55pm:     RNZN Band concert alongside the Treaty Ground Flagpole

5pm-5.30pm:              Closing ceremony – Ceremonial Sunset Ceremony, with the Chief of Navy as Reviewing Officer.

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

HMS Sutherland – last Royal Navy Type 23 frigate to undergo life extension refit goes back to sea

HMS Sutherland – last Royal Navy Type 23 frigate to undergo life extension refit goes back to sea

Following LIFEX and engine upgrade refit period lasting 49 months, HMS Sutherland sailed from Devonport this afternoon.

More than 4 years after being handed over to Babcock, ‘the fighting Clan’, HMS Sutherland left the wall to begin sea trials. Her refit was the second most time-consuming of the class, only HMS St Alban’s pandemic-hit refit took longer.

SafeFrame Container

Each frigate undergoing life extension (LIFEX) refit has a hull survey and repairs, the Sea Wolf missile system was replaced with Sea Ceptor and a wide range of other upgrades and refurbishments. Other important additions are the foundations and cabling needed to take the Naval Strike Missile system (canisters to be embarked at a later date) and the news S2150 bow-mounted sonar.

While delivering an important capability boost, the work has mostly taken longer than expected, each vessel is has effectively been a unique project. As each ship was stripped down and surveyed, different levels of hull corrosion, structural problems and equipment deterioration were revealed. Work on the ship that was launched in 1996 included more than 800 steel hull inserts and 11,500 weld repairs – a total of 5km of welding.

The Power Generation Machinery Upgrade (PGMU) propulsion improvement project involves fitting new equipment within the existing structural and compartment constraints and integrate with the ship’s legacy services and systems. Around 8 km of new cable and 600m of new pipework has to be installed. The new diesel-generator sets have to be placed into the Forward Auxiliary Machinery Room (FAMR) below decks. The Upper Auxiliary Machinery Room (UAMR) is on the main deck level and is more easily accessible via deckhead soft patches but was also completely stripped and much equipment re-sited.

Between 2017-202, HMS Sutherland was the hardest working of the RN’s surface escorts and was the last ship in the fleet to carry the Sea Wolf missile system. Newly refurbished, Sutherland can expect to work just as hard in an even more threadbare fleet and serve well into the 2030s until replaced by by a Type 26 frigate.

With the LIFEX programme now completed, Babcock is now tasked with keeping the surviving Type 23s frigates going into the 2030s. HMS Kent is currently in the Frigate Support Centre undergoing an extensive post-LIFEX upkeep period.

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

Defence industry celebrates first Arafura accepted by Defence

The first Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel, NUSHIP Arafura, conducting Sea Trials in August 2024 at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. Photo: Luerssen Australia.

Defence companies have celebrated the successful acceptance of first Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel by Defence.

Defence company Nova Systems supports the NUSHIP Arafura ahead of delivery to the Royal Australian Navy.

Nova Systems’ maritime team has been involved in the SEA 1180 project for more than seven years supporting Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group.

The OPVs make up part of a wider Navy Minor War Vessel Fleet providing essential capabilities for the Australian Navy and replacing the Armidale Class and Cape Class Patrol Boats.

Nova Systems has played a pivotal role throughout the construction of the new contemporary fleet of OPVs, offering extensive expertise in naval architecture, Test and Evaluation, engineering management, logistics, seaworthiness and acceptance activities.

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme

Royal Navy pips New Zealand in Bay of Islands regatta

03 February, 2025

The Tri-Nations Sailing Challenge between Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom navy teams involves crews of 10 battle for bragging rights among their peers, while chasing regatta prizes.

This year, the Royal Australian Navy was unable to field a crew, leaving the Britons and New Zealanders to duel it out in last month’s event.

In a best-of-three event, Royal Navy enjoyed an emphatic win in the first race, and only just managed to pip the Kiwis to the line in the closing moments of races two and three.

The teams used the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Chico-40 yachts, maintained by the Navy’s Experiential Learning Squadron (ELS) for training purposes. The competition has previously run in New Zealand in 2008 and 2016, with the Royal Navy now three from three.

Aboard yacht Manga II, the New Zealand crew with skipper Hamish Ivey looked ready to seal the deal with home advantage, experience and familiarity with their own vessels.

But Commander Stephen Walton RN, skipper and tactician on Mako II, emphatically kept the Kiwis out of reach after the first race over 35 nautical miles, crossing the line 0.9nm miles ahead of New Zealand.

In the second race, the Kiwis were first across the start line and maintained a lead until the Brits, taking a gamble with a large spinnaker in marginal conditions, overtook with 200 metres to go.

The Tri-Nations Sailing Challenge between Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom navy teams involves crews of 10 battle for bragging rights.

“That’s yachting for you,” says Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Badham, Tri-Nations event coordinator and ELS coxswain. “These guys have so much experience.”

He says they wanted the Royal Navy team to have a great time in New Zealand, including being welcomed onto the Navy marae. They were taken out sailing on the Hauraki Gulf to get them used to handling the Chico-40 yachts.

Commander Walton says he brought a very strong team to New Zealand for the event.

“There were about 25 applicants to come to this. We take it really seriously, and I couldn’t go back to the UK and hold my head up high if the Kiwis put one over us. It’s a huge distance to come and compete at that level.”

He says they had to work very hard to get around the Kiwi boat in races 2 and 3.

“These Chico 40s are really good boats. They challenge people, and they’re hard work. Racing on them, everything is about leadership, team work, resilience and taking minor tactical opportunities. We got two really lucky breaks.”

That included making the “margin call” of hoisting a large spinnaker in 16-18 knots winds.

“You’ve got to make these calls, and I was confident we could hold it.”

The Royal Navy team also took trophies in the overall Bay of Islands Regatta competition, coming second in their division in both line honours and on handicap. Their helm, Lieutenant Emma Barry, was named best female helm in the Island Division.

They have made the most of their time in New Zealand, with both crews visiting Great Barrier Island on their return to Auckland. Some members have met the Great Britain Sail CP team, others have gone white-water rafting, and there was a possibility of a visit to Hobbiton.

While Commander Walton would come to New Zealand any time for a competition, he would like to see the invitation returned and the Royal Navy hosting a Royal New Zealand Navy team in the United Kingdom.

“I can’t tell you enough how well looked after we have been. The Kiwis have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and put us in the right place to perform well. After the final race of the series, they played ‘Rule Britannia’ on their speakers when they came alongside – that itself was almost worth the journey.”

Source: currinsnavalandmaritme