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French Carrier Charles de Gaulle Kicks Off La Perouse Exercise in South East Asia

Dzirhan Mahadzir – January 21, 2025 5:07 PM

French aircraft carrier, FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) passes alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Mediterranean Sea, May 2, 2024. US Navy Photo

The French Carrier Strike Group is spearheading the French Navy-led multinational biennial exercise La Perouse 25 that began on Thursday across three critical maritime passages in South East Asia.

The 2025 exercise also marks the first time that South East Asian nations are participating in the exercise, albeit in separate national segments for each country. The French CSG is leading maritime security and cooperation drills with the Indian Navy, Indonesian Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the Malacca, Sunda and Lombok straits.

The French CSG, consisting of carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91), destroyer FS Forbin (D620), frigates FS Provence (D652) and FS Alsace (D656), fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier (A725) and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, is conducting a deployment to the Indo-Pacific known as Clemenceau 25, which began in the last week of November 2024. 

The CSG previously docked in Goa and Kochi, India, from Jan. 3-9 and, subsequently, Indian Navy destroyer INS Mormugao (D67) conducted tactical maneuver and helicopter cross-deck drills with Forbin and a replenishment-at-sea drill with Jacques Chevallier in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, embarked Rafale fighter aircraft on Charles De Gaulle carried out a joint anti-aircraft drill with Indian Air Force Sukhoi and Jaguar fighter aircraft, according to a French Embassy release. Forbin then pulled into Penang Island, Malaysia, on Jan. 12 for a port visit, departing on Thursday to begin the Malacca Strait phase of La Perouse.

La Perouse 25 is divided into three locations – the Malacca Strait, the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait. The objective of the exercise is to provide maritime safety in the three critical straits through the French Navy operating with regional and international partners and sharing information and coordinating actions against multiple threats by using the Indo-Pacific Information Sharing platform (IORIS).

“The strengthening of maritime safety will be at the heart of this exercise, with the development of interoperability between partner navies and the ability to act collectively in the event of a maritime crisis,” read a France Pacific Command (ALPACI) release on the exercise.

The release stated that the exercise participants will train with searches and interventions on vessels suspected of illicit activities, with some of the ships in the exercise playing the role of the suspected ships. 

The Malacca Strait phase ran from Thursday to Sunday, with Forbin drilling first with RMN corvette KD Lekir (FSG26), training ship KD Gagah Samudera (271), an RMN fast combat boat and two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) F/A-18D Hornet fighters in the Malacca Strait, according to an RMN release. Among the drills carried out were simulated local air-defense exercise, air-defense exercise, surface firing exercise, advance interdiction and boarding exercise and a photo exercise.

Forbin then conducted drills with RSN littoral mission vessel RSS Independence (15) in the Singapore Strait, which joins the Malacca Strait’s southern exit. Jacques Chevalier also pulled into Singapore on Thursday for a logistical stop, according to a post by the French CSG on its official X account.

The Sunda Strait phase ran from Thursday to Monday. A French Embassy release stated that Indonesia is providing base support for two French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) participating in La Perouse. A French Air Force A400M transport providing logistical support for Altantique 2s are staging out of Kertajati International Airport, West Java, for the exercise.

The largest part of the exercise, the Lombok Strait phase, taking place from Tuesday to Friday, has the French CSG drilling with an Indian Navy destroyer INS Mumbai (D62), destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG39), RCN frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH341), RN offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey (P234) and U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship USS Savannah (LCS-28), with the ships’ commanding officers gathering on carrier Charles De Gaulle on Saturday for a pre-exercise meeting.

Despite it being the first time Southeast Asian nations have participated in La Perouse, all three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – have limited their participation to a direct bilateral phase close to their own territory. In addition, the French CSG units taking part in the exercise are mirroring the Malacca Straits Patrol initiative, in which Indonesia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand conduct sea and air patrols to provide security in the Malacca Straits, but with each country conducting separate patrols in their own waters and airspace rather than a joint patrol. It is presumed that the national sovereignty aspects over the critical waterways for each nation have resulted in the three countries limiting their participation. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) participated in the previous La Perouse exercise in 2023 but is not participating this year. This is likely because of the JMSDF not having a naval unit currently deployed or transiting the region and later drilling with the French CSG in the upcoming multinational Pacific Steller exercise in the Philippine Sea.

Following La Perouse, the French CSG is expected to operate in the South China Sea before carrying out Exercise Pacific Steller in the Philippine Sea with U.S., Australian, Canadian and Japanese forces. It is likely the French CSG will conduct dual carrier operations with the Carl Vinson CSG, currently operating in the South China Sea and the only U.S. Navy CSG deployed at sea in the Western Pacific, at some point during the French CSG’s deployment.

RAN destroyer Hobart is on a six-week regional presence deployment to Southeast Asia that is expected to conclude by late February according to an Australian Defence Department release.

Ottawa is deployed under the Canadian Armed Forces’ Operation Horizon forward-presence mission in the Indo-Pacific, having left Canada on Oct. 16, 2024. From Jan. 8-11, Ottawa and U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) conducted bilateral operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific in the South China Sea, stated a Thursday release from U.S. 7th Fleet.

“Exercise Noble Wolverine was, for our team, another successful integration between two highly trained and capable navies. The anti-submarine warfare, communications exercises and flying operations were seamless as usual, and occurred in the international waters of an area of the world where undisrupted movement of maritime trade is critical to the region and greater global community,” said Cmdr. Adriano Lozer, commanding officer of Ottawa, in the release.

The release stated that during the operations, Higgins and Ottawa conducted maritime communications training and dynamic coordinated maneuvering.

“The U.S. Navy regularly operates alongside our allies in the Indo-Pacific region as a demonstration of our shared commitment to the rules-based international order. Bilateral operations such as this one provide valuable opportunities to train, exercise and develop tactical interoperability across allied navies in the Indo-Pacific,” read the release.

Carrier John F. Kennedy Leaves Philadelphia for Final Voyage to Texas Scrapyard

John Grady – January 16, 2025 8:41 PM – Updated: January 16, 2025 11:45 PM

The hulk of John F. Kennedy (CV-67) was towed down the Delaware River on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Bryan J. Dickerson for USNI News

The remains of the Navy’s last conventionally-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) is on its way from the Navy’s Philadelphia Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to Brownsville, Texas for dismantling.

Shortly before 9 a.m., tugs maneuvered the hulk down the Delaware River and was attached via a tow line to the ship Laney Chouest and both headed to the Atlantic.

The first ship named for the former president was decommissioned in 2007 at Mayport, Fla., and has been in Philadelphia ever since.

At the carrier’s Mayport decommissioning ceremony, Adm. John Nathman, then Fleet Forces commander, hailed “Big John,” its nickname, as “an icon of American might and freedom.”

Kennedy, built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., was commissioned on Sept. 7, 1968. The ship was christened the year before by the president’s daughter Caroline, then 9. Her mother, Jacqueline designed the carrier’s in-port cabin. A Navy spokesman at the time of the decommissioning said, “it is the only room on a Navy ship with wood paneling.”

The hulk of John F. Kennedy (CV- attached to towing ship Laney Chouest on the Delaware River on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Bryan J. Dickerson for USNI News

For 10 years in Philadelphia, the carrier, the first Navy ship named for Kennedy, was in donation status. That means it can be transferred to a qualified non-profit for restoration and repurposing, often as a museum.

The Navy is expecting delivery of the second John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), a year later than originally projected. USNI News reported earlier that the “The Navy is implementing a strategy to pull baseline work from the Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) into the construction period in order to provide more capability at ship delivery,” the Navy’s shipbuilding budget books [for Fiscal Year 2024] read.

The carrier will also be the second in the Ford-class. Like its predecessor, the carrier is being built in Newport News.

The Navy sold the original JFK  to International Shipbreaking Limited/EMR Brownsville in 2021 for one cent. The work was expected to begin in late 2023, but was put on hold by the Navy until now, the Brownsville Herald reported.

The hulk of John F. Kennedy on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Bryan J. Dickerson for USNI News

The firm had just handled the dismantling of USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) in 2023.

In 2023, Robert Berry, vice president of International Shipbreaking Ltd./EMR Brownsville, told the Brownsville newspaper the Navy “is taking a harder line on security with the JFK than he’s ever experienced in all his years of dealing with that branch of the military, and that this particular ship has more security surrounding it than the other carriers ISL has received in the past.”

The Naval Historical and Heritage Command noted in its ship’s history the original Kennedy conducted 18 deployments including to the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Ligurian, Aegean and Adriatic seas, during a period of escalating tension in the Middle East beginning with the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and neighboring Arab states and off Lebanon in 1983 following the bombing of the Marine Barracks and French forces quarter that claimed more than 300 lives.

USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) towed to Philadelphia in 2008.

In 1991’s Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait, the ship launched a total of 114 strikes and 2,895 combat sorties were flown for a total of 11,263 flight hours.

The carrier’s final combat deployment came in 2003 in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, NHHC wrote. “Of note during the OEF deployment, John F. Kennedy’s aircraft dropped more than 62 million pounds of ordnance on Taliban and al Qaeda targets and supported U.S. and Coalition forces on the ground with close air support, on occasion working with Special Forces units.”

As Kennedy moved down the Delaware River, the historic passenger liner SS United States still remained pier side in Philadelphia. The liner was to be towed in November originally to Norfolk to be cleaned and prepped for sinking as an artificial reef for diving and fishing off Oskaloosa County, Fla., along the state’s Gulf Coast.

The Coast Guard had halted the liner’s movement to ensure its seaworthiness. Although cleared now when it will be moved, now to Mobile, Ala., for the prep work before sinking is still unknown, Oskaloosa County officials said Wednesday.

Although the Coast Guard has cleared SS United States to leave Philadelphia, Nick Tomecek, public information officer for Oskaloosa County, its owner, said no date has yet been set for the towed transit.

The county “hired a marine architect/engineering firm to perform stability tests. Those tests are complete and that data was submitted to the Coast Guard and was approved to allow us to move to the next step,” which is the move.

SS United States on May 23, 2023. USNI News Photo

Tomecek told USNI News Wednesday, “We are currently on budget and on schedule for the vessel reef deployment process.” He added, the entire project cost allocation is $10.1 million. That includes buying the vessel for $1 million, another $1 million to the SS United States Conservancy, and additional funding for the remediation, dock fees and deployment of the vessel as the World’s Largest Artificial Reef off Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

In October, the county took title to the historic ship, effectively ending a three-year-long legal struggle between the non-profit that owned SS United States and Penn Warehouse and Distribution, the owner of the pier where it has been berthed for years.

The dispute centered on the doubling of the berthing charges at the same time as the SS United States Conservancy, established in 2011, was still trying to raise funds to preserve the liner as a museum/hotel, similar to the Queen Mary’s operation in Long Beach, Calif.

At the ceremony transferring the title, Paul Mixon, chairman of the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he was proud of Florida’s ability to “keep that legacy going” through the museum and reefing of the ship. The museum will receive the group’s collections of original artifacts and artwork from the ship, as well as at least one of the vessel’s iconic funnels.

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USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Jan. 13, 2025

U.S. Naval Institute Staff – January 13, 2025 11:22 AM

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Jan. 13, 2025, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.

Ships Underway

Total Battle ForceDeployedUnderway
296
(USS 235, USNS 61)		91
(USS 62, USNS 29)		32
(20 Deployed, 12 Local)

In Japan


Amphibious warship USS America (LHA-6) is in port in Sasebo, Japan. Aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) is in port in Yokosuka, Japan.

America is set to leave Japan and shift homeports to San Diego later this year, USNI News has learned.

In the South China Sea

Sailors prepare to launch a F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the ‘Golden Dragons’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 192, from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Jan. 13, 2025. US Navy Photo

Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), with Carrier Air Wing 2 embarked, is operating in the South China Sea.

Carrier Strike Group 1

Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Anthony Gonzalez Anthony, of Salinas, Calif., fires an M2HB .50-caliber machine gun during a small arms live-fire gunnery exercise on the fantail aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on Jan. 13, 2025. US Navy Photo

Carrier

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), homeported in San Diego, Calif.

Carrier Air Wing 2

An F/A 18E Super Hornet assigned to the ‘Stingers’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), Jan. 12, 2025. US Navy Photo
  • The “Bounty Hunters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 2 – F/A-18F – from Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.
  • The “Stingers” of VFA-113 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Lemoore.
  • The “World Famous Golden Dragons” of VFA-192 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Lemoore.
  • The “Warhawks” of VFA-97 – F-35C – from Naval Air Station Lemoore.
  • The “Gauntlets” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136 – EA-18G – from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.
  • The “Black Eagles” of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 113 – E-2D – from Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif.
  • The “Providers” of Fleet Logistics Squadron (VRC) 30 Det. – C-2A – from Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.
  • The “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Squadron (HSC) 4 – MH-60S – from Naval Air Station North Island.
  • The “Blue Hawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 78 – MH-60R – from Naval Air Station North Island.

Cruiser

Sailors unload supplies aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59) during a replenishment-at-sea with the Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199), Jan. 10, 2025. US Navy Photo

USS Princeton (CG-59), homeported at Naval Station San Diego, Calif.

Destroyer Squadron 1

Ens. Ashleigh Cleveland, of Atlanta, contacts the Combat Information Center while standing watch as the Officer of the Deck in the pilothouse aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104), Jan. 12, 2025. US Navy Photo

Destroyer Squadron 1 is based in San Diego, Calif., and is embarked on Carl Vinson.

  • USS Sterett (DDG-104), homeported at Naval Station San Diego, Calif.
  • USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110), homeported at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In the Antarctic

USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) on Jan. 10, 2025. US Coast Guard Photo

U.S. Coast Guard heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) arrived at McMurdo Station in Antarctica on Thursday to commence its annual icebreaking mission in support of Operation Deep Freeze.

In the Eastern Mediterranean

A tugboat sails alongside the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79) as she arrives in Limassol, Cyprus, Dec. 31, 2024. US Navy Photo

As of last week, the Navy has one independently deployed guided-missile surface warship in the Mediterranean.

  • USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79), homeported at Naval Station Rota.

In the Red Sea

An F/A-18E taxis to a catapult on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) in the Red Sea on Jan. 6, 2024. US Navy Photo

Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) is in the Red Sea.

Carrier Strike Group 8


Carrier

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. 


Carrier Air Wing 1

  • The “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11 – F/A-18F – from Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.
  • The “Pukin’ Dogs” of VFA 143 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Oceana.
  • The “Sunliners” of VFA 81 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Oceana.
  • The “Knighthawks” of VFA 136 – F/A-18E – from Naval Air Station Oceana.
  • The “Main Battery” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 144 – EA-18G – from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.
  • The “Seahawks” of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 126 – E-2D – from Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
  • The “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Squadron (VRC) 40 Det. – C-2A – from Naval Station Norfolk.
  • The “Proud Warriors” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72 – MH-60R – from Naval Station Norfolk.
  • The “Dragonslayers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 11 – MH-60S – from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.

Cruiser

A sailor shoots a shot line from the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64) to the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (TAO-E-8) during a replenishment-at-sea in the Red Sea. US Navy Photo

USS Gettysburg (CG-64), homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. 

Destroyer Squadron 28

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) approaches the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (TAO-E-8) before a replenishment-at-sea (RAS) in the Red Sea on Jan. 3, 2025. US Navy Photo

Destroyer Squadron 28 is based in Naval Station Norfolk, Va., and is embarked on Harry S. Truman.

  • USS Stout (DDG-55), homeported at Naval Station Norfolk.
  • USS Jason Dunham(DDG-109), homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla.
  • USS The Sullivans (DDG-67), homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

Guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN-729) is operating in the Middle East. The Ohio-class submarine carries 154 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles as well as special operations forces.

U.S. ships continue to patrol the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, the U.S.-led multinational effort to protect merchant vessels moving through the region. Houthi forces in Yemen continue to attack merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, while U.S. naval forces in the region have continued strikes against Houthi weapons that U.S. Central Command says are a threat to naval and merchant ships.

On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command forces performed multiple strikes against two Houthi underground weapon storage facilities in Yemen. The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to CENTCOM.

In the Persian Gulf

U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters are forward-deployed to the region under Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA). PATFORSWA deploys Coast Guard personnel and ships with U.S. and regional naval forces throughout the Middle East. Initially deployed in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, PATFORSWA is now a permanent presence based out of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In the Eastern Pacific

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Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) departed Bremerton, Wash., last Monday, according to ship spotters.

In addition to these major formations, not shown are others serving in submarines, individual surface ships, aircraft squadrons, SEALs, Special Purpose Marine Air-G

A new era for Australian naval firepower: Successful Tomahawk launch for RAN

10 December 2024 – By: Stephen Kuper

HMAS Brisbane fires a Tomahawk Weapon System off the coast of San Diego, USA (Source: Defence Image Library)

Australia has joined an exclusive club following the successful firing of a Tomahawk cruise missile by HMAS Brisbane, a major milestone for the future firepower of the Royal Australian Navy.

The successful test firing makes Australia one of only three nations alongside the United States and United Kingdom to acquire, and now fire, the Tomahawk cruise missiles. HMAS Brisbane, a Hobart class destroyer, has successfully fired a Tomahawk missile during a test and evaluation activity conducted off the west coast of the United States.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles celebrated this capability milestone, saying, “The successful test firing of the Tomahawk missile demonstrates the strength of our alliance and defence cooperation with the United States, in support of a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.”

With an extended range of up to 2,500km, the Tomahawk is a world-class capability, which allows maritime platforms to perform long-range precision strike against land targets. Acquiring this capability significantly enhances the ADF’s ability to deter against any potential threat and keep Australians safe.

“By enhancing our own Defence capabilities, and by working with partners, we change the calculus for any potential aggressor so that no state will ever conclude the benefits of conflict outweigh the risks,” the Deputy Prime Minister added.

This Tomahawk firing follows the firings of the Naval Strike Missile and Standard Missile 6 earlier this year and is a practical demonstration of the speed at which the Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to enhance the lethality of Navy’s surface combatant fleet.

Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Pat Conroy echoed the sentiments of the Deputy Prime Minister saying, “The Tomahawk is the jewel in the crown and a step change in our firepower, deterrence and ability to strike land-based targets at ranges never before available to the Royal Australian Navy.”

Australia will acquire more than 200 Tomahawk missiles, which will be deployed in its Hobart class destroyers and future Navy platforms including Virginia class submarines and, subject to feasibility studies, the Hunter class frigates.

Canadian Frigate Destroys Target in Joint U.S.-Navy Littoral Missile Shoot

Gidget Fuentes – December 2, 2024 6:01 PM

Sailor observes as the Canadian Halifax-class frigate HMCS Regina (FFH-334) transits San Francisco Bay as part of a Parade of Ships evolution during San Francisco Fleet Week 2024, Oct. 10, 2024. US Navy Photo

NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Canadian warship HMCS Regina (FFH-334) visited California last month for something of a sailor’s ideal day: Killing a target at sea.

The crew did just that, albeit on the second try.

The Halifax-class frigate fired a Harpoon Block II anti-ship missile at a surface target in the Navy’s Point Mugu Sea Range off the California coast Oct. 23 during a U.S. Navy Joint Littoral Targeting Exercise 2024, Canadian Armed Forces announced last month.

The initial strike, though, didn’t exactly go as planned. The missile lost communication with the intruments that measure the . “Without getting into too many of the technical details, there was an issue with the first missile,” the frigate’s commander, Cmdr. Jeremy Samson, told Canadian TV on Oct. 24. “When you fire a missile on a range, there are safety procedures to make sure the missile is doing what it’s supposed to, and losing that communication can cause you to order the missile to destruct.”

Sea range operators tracking the missile terminated its flight less than a minute after Regina launched the Harpoon, Royal Canadian Navy officials confirmed to USNI. A second Harpoon II missile launched and flew without issue and successfully struck the target, officials said.

“HMCS Regina’s crew were well prepared for this possibility. Live-fire naval exercises are partially conducted to test a warship’s adaptability to changing circumstances,” Commodore David Mazur, the Canadian Fleet Pacific commander, told USNI in an email response to questions about the missile exercise. “After the destruction of the first missile, HMCS Regina’s combat team rapidly launched a follow-on missile that successfully reached its target.”

“Safety is paramount during any military live-fire exercise, with communications with the missile and range facility verified before launch,” Mazur said. “If communication is lost – even temporarily, and for any reason – the range will terminate the missile in flight. In this case, the range lost tracking of the missile about 15 seconds after launch and immediately initiated the Command Destruct process.”

The scenario-driven exercise put the crew, along with embarked fleet staff, through the paces of coordinating with their joint U.S. counterparts through the processes from identifying threats and targets, developing targeting packages and doing the actual strike mission in the Navy’s instrumented sea range.

“These exercises allow Canada’s ships and sailors to advance important skills under immersive conditions,” Mazur noted.

The live-firing drill wasn’t just about killing the target. Rather, it focused on “tactical development” and training the crew and commanders on current threats at sea, officers said.

The ship’s RGM-84 Harpoon Block II missile “can fire surface-to-surface, but it can also do surface-to-shore. We’re testing out some capability and targeting processes for Canada and to respond to a situation that you might see like what’s going on in Ukraine right now,” Mazur said during an interview last month aboard the 440-foot patrol frigate at the San Diego 32nd Street naval station. “So we’re trying to push the envelope.”

In training with the U.S. Navy to hone the ship’s strike capability, Regina sailors and Mazur’s command staff worked through the intricate details, planning and processes at the tactical and operational level that a live-fire strike at sea requires.

An artist’s representation of a Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile. Boeing Image

“It’s the development of the intelligence pictures, the development of the situational awareness that gets you to the point where you can say, ‘I’m in danger and I need to shoot at something.’ We don’t practice that very often,” he said. Regina fired a Harpoon during a 2020 Rim of the Pacific sinking exercise.

The targeting enterprise, he added, was “the very first time we’ve done it in this depth, using our operational headquarters, going all the way up to our strategic headquarters.”

Regina operated on the Point Mugu range and responded to the threat with two other Canadian ships in the navy’s simulated live, virtual and constructive environment.

“So we’re doing it all up on our own,” Mazur said, “and that allows us to test our own chain of command without full integration and reliance on someone else’s.”

They deliberately operated closer to shore, rather than farther out to sea, Mazur explained.

“You can see how Ukraine is targeting things in the Black Sea. We have focused mainly on, I would say, the very tactical level. There’s a box ashore and the ship gets an order and fire[s] at the box ashore,” the commodore said. “We’ve done those kinds of shots and we fired at sea during [Rim of the Pacific exercises] and other things where the ship develops its own picture with an aircraft and shoots.”

It’s historically rare for an RCN frigate crew to fire live Harpoon missiles. HMCS Vancouver (FFH-331) did the previous run during the summer’s Rim of the Pacific exercise, Mazur said. “We’ve never really done the complexities of littoral and targeting” that involve the complex coalition environment with aircraft, artillery, forces ashore and friendly shipping in the mix, he said.

“We learn something new every time, particularly how to be more interoperable with more partners,” said Cmdr. Tyler Smith, a missile exercise planner.

The Esquimalt, British Columbia-based Regina had traveled to join in San Francisco Fleet Week activities and get equipment and communications installs for the missile exercise as the crew prepared intently for the live-fire exercise.

“We’ve been studying like crazy here,” Sub-Lt. Adam Beaupré, a junior officer aboard Regina, said a few days before the exercise. “It’ll be really awesome to see that go off.”

Regina’s crew averages 167 but nearly maxed out its berthing with 236 for the missile exercise. The crew routinely trains for missions involving humanitarian aid, disaster relief and search and rescue, said Chief Petty Officer First Class Timothy King, the senior enlisted sailor and equivalent to a command master chief.

“As we progress… we become warfighters,” King said.

Ahead of the rare live-fire missile drills, the crew focused on technical skills and the required missile readiness inspections, torpedo readiness inspections and weapons certifications.

“Harpoon, we don’t fire often,” King said. “We’re more of a support role and a first-line defense against submarines… That’s the bread and butter.”

Lt. Cmdr. George “Scott” Dyson, Regina executive officer, said the frigate is optimized for anti-submarine warfare.

“If you add us to an American task group, you get a ship that’s not so super awesome at shooting down aircraft,” Dyson said, “but we’re good at hunting and fighting submarines.”

King noted that Canadian patrol frigates routinely are invited to the Navy submarine commander’s course in Hawaii to give submarine commanders practice evading detection.

“We’re a more frustrating opponent. I mean, they still kill us all the time,” said Dyson. Los Angeles or Virginia-class U.S. submarines they encounter during training are “formidable opponents. They make us put the ship through the full envelope of its capabilities.”

While in San Francisco, Regina exchanged some crew with amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD-25). The ships first met at sea while lining up with other vessels for Fleet Week’s parade of ships, an initial handshake between the bridge teams.

While trailing Somerset, “we were communicating back and forth, trying to get us off each other,” Beaupré said. “But now that I know exactly what’s going on in there, it’s just so much better. We know who’s going to talk to you, how that communication is going to go.”

Navy Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Antonio Castro, who spent some time embarked aboard Regina, said both ship crews’ seamanship skills were equally matched, a benefit if they were to meet at sea or during an underway replenishment. Somerset sailors “would adapt very, very well” if they were aboard Regina, Castro said, and vice versa. “That’s important for our relationships.”

Sailors also spent time standing watch on the other ship’s bridge.

“Now when I’m working with a Canadian warship, I know exactly what’s going on in their heads, how they’re operating, what they’re thinking,” said Lt. jg Jacob Pratt. “I think that’s very important, especially because we’ve demonstrated such a close partnership that we are going to be working with each other continuously in the future.”

Partnerships and defense

Amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA-7) leads the Parade of Ships during San Francisco Fleet Week (SFFW) followed by amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD-25), Royal Canadian Navy Frigate HMCS Regina (FFH-334), U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL-750), and Unmanned Surface Vessel Ranger (OUSV-3), on Oct. 11, 2024. US Navy Photo

The Royal Canadian Navy’s relationships with its U.S. ally and other partners are expected to strengthen across the Indo-Pacific with continuing deployments, a defense policy update that includes more military investments in force modernization and Arctic security.

Last month, the frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH-341) deployed to support multinational sanctions against North Korea. “It’s going to be integrating with (USS) George Washington (CVN-73) and carrier battle group off Guam and the Japan area for a period of time,” Mazur said, noting that “more and more out-of-area deployers between Russia and China [are] going up towards the Arctic, doing research and training together.”

Regina and her crew are no stranger to China’s PLA Navy and its expanding influence across the Pacific.

In late July, while in the Bering Sea, the frigate encountered the Chinese research vessel Xue Long 2, one of three Chinese icebreakers routinely operating in the Arctic. Regina “was shadowing the Chinese,” Mazur said. Xue Long was reportedly part of a four-ship Chinese task force the U.S. Coast Guard cutter encountered, and it was tracked and monitored by the Royal Canadian Air Force CH-148 Cyclone helicopter embarked on Regina.

The recent Bering deployment – described in an official Facebook post as an “Arctic awareness and sovereignty mission” – was notable for another reason: In reaching the Bering Strait, Regina reached Latitude 69 degrees and became Canada’s “first West Coast frigate to cross the Arctic Circle.”

Such treks may become routine as China’s presence and Russia’s activity in the Arctic, Ukraine and in the Baltic Sea ramp up, said Mazur. “Everything’s slowly coming closer to North America, and we just have to … make sure there’s no seams between us, the U.S. Coast Guard, and [the] U.S. Navy.”

“You will see our ships continuing to deploy, at times integrating with the U.S. Navy, at times integrating with other friends and allies in the Indo-Pacific and achieving our own national objectives. You’ll see ships coming down here on a regular basis and going back up north,” he added.

The newest addition to the Pacific fleet is the HMCS Max Bernays (AOPV-432), its first Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessel, and a second OPV, the Robert Hampton Gray, will deliver “in about 18 months,” Mazur said.

The six ships in the class will do maritime, sovereignty and surveillance operations in Canadian waters, including the Arctic, according to the RCN. They also “provide a little bit of deterrence… and demonstrate we have a capability up there,” Mazur said. “We’ll build that depth of knowledge going up north, working with the U.S. Coast Guard.”

The DeWolf class “brings us a capability of a ship that has extremely long range, which frigates do not necessarily have, so you’re always having to worry about resupply and fuel and all these things, whereas our Arctic patrol vessel can go extremely long range and not need resupply,” he said. “So they will give us a capacity to transit long distances throughout the Indo-Pacific.”

Related

China tests carrier-like ship, but mystery vessel’s purpose remains murky

Images show ship with flight deck that can carry drones and helicopters, but it is not clear whether it is for civilian or military use

Hayley Wongin Beijing

Published: 7:00pm, 3 Dec 2024

China has tested a mysterious, carrier-like vessel featuring a large flight deck that is likely to be used for drones and crewed helicopters, according to photos and videos circulating on social media.

While the ship’s size and configurations are similar to the Chinese naval Type 075 landing helicopter dock, its light aircraft carrier design with three, instead of two, protruding island-like structures has made it a first of its kind.

The ship, measuring some 200 metres (656 feet) long, is believed to be docked at a facility owned by shipbuilding company Comec on Longxue Island in the southern city of Guangzhou. US military news site The War Zone, which was the first to report on the vessel, said it was probably a civilian research ship capable of supporting naval missions.

Comec, formerly Guangzhou Shipyard International Company, is a subsidiary under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) focused on commercial vessels.

According to The War Zone, the ship seems to have been launched between September 10 and October 9.

A video circulating on social media last week showed the vessel appeared to be sailing under its own power as little as two months after its launch, suggesting it was built very quickly.

The ship was spotted next to China’s large unmanned combat vessel JARI-USV-A, known as Orca, in October.

More photos circulating on American and Chinese platforms offered a closer look at the ship, showing two sets of markings on the vessel’s open flight deck. This type of flight deck is typically used for rotary-wing aircraft, either crewed or uncrewed.

But there were no clear signs – such as military-style markings or a hull number – that it was a military ship. There were also no signs of catapults or arrester cables that would be used for heavier fixed-wing aircraft, The War Zone reported on Tuesday.

The ship has a distinctive arrangement with three island-like structures along the starboard side of the flight deck. The multi-storey middle island appeared to be larger and taller than the other two.

“The superstructure nearest the bow includes a bridge and conventional-type mast, while the larger central one has a rear-facing glazed tower area for managing flight operations, plus a prominent mast, although the spherical radome seen on top in previously published images is missing here,” the report said.

“Finally, the structure closest to the stern houses the ship’s exhaust stacks.”

Open-source images collected by The War Zone suggest that the vessel has a simpler and cheaper design than military carriers or multifunctional amphibious assault ships and is more likely to be a private venture by CSSC than a project of the Chinese navy.

However, the line between China’s civilian and military vessels and technology is not always clear, and the facility where the ship is believed to be docked has hosted both civilian and military vessels, further muddying the picture of what the new ship will be used for.

The new vessel will add to China’s expanding range of domestically developed light and amphibious carrier vessels as the country builds up its maritime capabilities.

China has expanded its civilian research fleet and now has 64 vessels in use, according to a recent report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

US Navy fits first shipborne hypersonic missile system to stealth ship Zumwalt

3rd December 2024 at 8:35am

The US Navy is adding its first-ever shipborne hypersonic missile system to one of its stealthy guided missile destroyers.

The potent weapon is being retrofitted to USS Zumwalt, with the missile tubes replacing gun turrets that were never activated because they proved too expensive.

The work is underway at a shipyard in Mississippi, and once complete the warship will be capable of conducting fast, precision strikes from greater distances.

The latest development comes as the US continues its arms race with Russia and China to develop and implement new hypersonic weapon technologies.

Travelling beyond Mach 5, at five times the speed of sound, hypersonic weapons have added agility to their speed, making them far harder to shoot down.

This could see hypersonic missiles transforming the future battlefield.

All three of the Zumwalt-class destroyers are to be equipped with four missile tubes, with each one taking three missiles, giving a total of 12 hypersonic weapons per ship.

Bryan Clark, a defence analyst at the Hudson Institute, told the AP new agency that the initial inactivated gun turrets had been a “costly blunder”.

He said this was an opportunity for the US Navy to “take victory from the jaws of defeat here, and get some utility out of them by making them into a hypersonic platform”.

For the last two decades, the US has been developing several types of hypersonic weapons, but recent tests by both China and Russia have added pressure to begin rolling them out.

Related topics

After a decade away, USS George Washington returns to Japan in homeport shift By ALEX WILSON STARS AND STRIPES • November 22, 2024

People gather to greet the aircraft carrier USS George Washington as it returns to Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Nov. 22, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Hundreds of sailors stood in dress blues as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington pulled into Tokyo Bay on Friday morning for the first time in nearly a decade. Scores of onlookers were joined by mascots and vendors while the U.S. 7th Fleet Band, high school cheerleaders and traditional Japanese musicians welcomed the ship’s return to the place it called home from 2008 to 2015. While many of the carrier’s approximately 3,000 sailors are new to Japan, others, including its skipper, Capt. Timothy Waits, served aboard the George Washington during its previous deployment to Japan. Many of the returning sailors specifically requested the assignment, Waits said at a pierside news conference. “I think that serves as a testament to the people and the culture of Japan, as well as the strong relationship between our two nations,” he said. Among the new arrivals was 10-year-old William Prentiss, of Albuquerque, N.M., who was there to welcome his father, Cmdr. Jacob Prentiss, a supply officer aboard the George Washington. “I’m really excited to see him. I haven’t seen him in six months,” he told Stars and Stripes ahead of the ship’s arrival. Amanda Murillo and her son, Ethan, of Houston, were waiting to welcome Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Murillo. “We’re grateful to have my husband home,” she said pierside. Family members and friends cheer pierside as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrives at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. Nov. 22, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) The George Washington left Yokosuka in 2015 for a midlife nuclear refueling and maintenance period at Newport News, Va. The process was significantly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other setbacks. Its sister ship, the USS Ronald Reagan, took its place as the centerpiece of the 7th Fleet’s carrier strike group until it left Yokosuka on May 16 for its own scheduled maintenance period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash. During their 2015 interchange, the two ships swapped nearly two-thirds of their respective 3,000 crew members. This time around, only about 350 sailors from the Ronald Reagan, or 13% of its crew, moved to the George Washington before it departed for Japan. Moving that many sailors and families, as well as a ship the length of Tokyo Tower — 1,092 feet — is “no small feat,” said U.S. Embassy to Japan deputy chief of mission Katherine Monahan. “[The ship’s] arrival here today clearly illustrates America’s steadfast commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance and our collective security and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region,” she said at the news conference. The George Washington arrived less than a week after its aviation component, Carrier Air Wing 5, returned to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southwestern Japan. The wing, which departed with the USS Ronald Reagan in May, returned with several changes to its roster. Strike Fighter Squadron 147, a unit of F-35C Lightning II fighter jets, replaced Strike Fighter Squadron 115’s F/A-18E Super Hornets. While other F-35 models are prominent in Japan, the 147th brings the first C variant, which is equipped for arrested landings, squadron commander Cmdr. Christopher Case told Stars and Stripes on Nov. 17. The newer aircraft are an example of how the U.S. is ensuring peace and prosperity in the region, said U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. “China knows what this USS George Washington can do today, because these are superior aircraft than they were nine years ago,” he told reporters Friday. “America’s deterrence and credibility are seen, heard and believed.” 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.

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2024-11-22/uss-george-washington-japan-15930839.html
Source – Stars and Stripes

USS Boxer Leaves Western Pacific Ahead of San Diego Return – Sam LaGrone – November 12, 2024 5:29 PM

USS Boxer (LHD=4) arrived in Guam for a port visit, Oct. 30, 2024. US Navy Photo

Amphibious warship USS Boxer (LHD-4) has left the Western Pacific and is expected to make a port call to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, before returning to San Diego, USNI News has learned.

Boxer is expected to arrive in Hawaii later today, a Navy official told USNI News, for a port call ahead of a transit to Naval Station San Diego, Calif., and the return of 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit elements to Camp Pendleton. Boxer left U.S. 7th Fleet over the weekend, an official told USNI News.

The big deck’s return to California marks the end of an abbreviated deployment that began in July after the ship was sidelined in April for three months of emergent repairs to fix a rudder that failed just days into its deployment.

Following the pier side repair, Boxer traveled to the Western Pacific and drilled with U.S. allies in the South China Sea and assisted in humanitarian aid in October in the Philippines following the landfall of Typhoon Krathon.

Boxer’s planned return will wrap a disjointed deployment that saw the three-ship Amphibious Ready Group leave across several months. Amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) deployed in January to the Indo-Pacific and returned to San Diego in August after participating in the Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise in Hawaii.

In April, USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) left for deployment, which was a first for the embarked Amphibious Combat Vehicles. Harpers Ferry delivered the vehicles to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Okinawa and exercised across the Western Pacific.

The delay of Boxer’s deployment and subsequent repair problems became a prime of example of the Navy and Marine Corps mismatch between the supply of amphibious warships to meet the needs of the Marine Expeditionary Units.

During the deployment delay, the Navy and Marine Corps agreed to baseline definitions of readiness to better coordinate Marine training with the availability of amphibious warships to transport the MEUs.

“The obvious 800-pound gorilla in the room is the state of the amphibs,” retired Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, then the Marine deputy commandant for combat development and integration, said earlier this year.
“We have over 20 years of operations in the Middle East and [U.S. Central Command],” he added. “We’ve ground our forces up pretty good, right. We flew the paint off our aircraft. We drove the paint off the bottom of the hulls of the ships. I mean, we just kept going without really due regard of what needed to be done and now we’re paying for it.”

Once back in San Diego after its four-month deployment, Boxer is set to enter an 18-month availability that will begin next year.

HMS Excellent parade Ground in action

Remembrance troops put through their paces at HMS Excellent before Cenotaph role

5th November 2024 at 5:28pm


Watch: Remembrance troops put through their paces at HMS Excellent before Cenotaph role

Personnel at HMS Excellent have been practising to make sure they are ready to lead commemorations at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Sunday.

Forty-eight members of the Royal Marines Band Service lead 65 Royal Navy sailors and officers, 31 Royal Marines and eight members of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, in London.

But now, HMS Excellent resounded to the sound of boots and music, as sailors and Royal Marines prepared for their role.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Glynn Moffet is State Ceremonial Training Officer for the Royal Navy and told BFBS Forces News talks start “within the state ceremonial training group around March” in preparation for the event.

“But actually, the culmination of training starts three weeks before delivery of the National Act of Remembrance,” he said.

Watch: Princess Royal lays wreath at 80th Operation Market Garden commemoration event in Arnhem

From ships and submarines to bases and barracks, all personnel want to be at the nation’s focal point of remembrance.

And many have very personal reasons for volunteering.

Marine Benjamin Dixon, 40 Commando, said his “great-grandfather served in World War Two so it’s a perfect opportunity to remember him”.

Meanwhile, Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer Adam Jamieson said his great-uncles were in the RAF.

He explained one of them was a prisoner of war, while another was shot down in the North Sea.

“He’s commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, so straight away that’s one reason for wanting to do it,” he said.

Three weeks of hard training is almost at an end – but they’re more than ready for their role leading the nation in remembrance. 

Petty Officer naval nurse Soriana Mackie said personnel were “feeling and remembering about how important it is for us to be here”.

“To be marching, not just to be here as part of the Royal Navy, but to be representing the Queen Alexandra Royal Navy Nursing Service,” she said.