Amidst heightened tensions with China over maritime sovereignty and fishing rights, the government of the Philippines has agreed to give the U.S. military access to four more base sites on its territory. The new locations for forward-deployed assets could assist the U.S. in responding to any potential Chinese aggression in the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea, according to analysts. U.S. forces have the right to rotate through the Philippines thanks to a 2014 mutual-defense treaty, but the locations are subject to agreement. The new deal brings the total number of approved U.S. basing sites to nine. The exact sites were not…
A French warship has seized a major shipment of weapons from a dhow off the coast of Yemen, according to the Wall Street Journal. It is the latest in a series of arms interdictions in the region as allied Western navies crack down on the smuggling routes connecting Yemen’s Houthi rebels with their Iranian suppliers. The French warship (unnamed in reports) intercepted the smuggling vessel on January 15, and a boarding team found 3,000 rifles and 20 antitank missiles. The U.S. military was involved in coordinating the interdiction, and Central Command confirmed that it occurred “along routes historically used to…
The Brazilian Navy confirmed that it plans to move forward with a controlled sinking of the decommissioned aircraft carrier NAe São Paulo in Brazilian waters. While they will not disclose the exact timing or location it is expected that they will move forward expeditiously after warning that the vessel was at severe risk of losing stability and buoyancy and after clearing a last-minute hurdle when a court refused a possible injunction to halt the sinking. All of this is happening as a war of words is also taking place between the Turkish scrappers and the Brazilian authorities. The Navy issued an official…
A charity backed by the UK Ministry of Defence is working to salvage and restore the minehunter HMS Bronington, better known as the “King’s ship” for the time she spend under the command of the Prince of Wales. HMS Bronington is a wooden-hulled minehunter built at a yard in Yorkshire in 1953. In 1976, she transferred to the home waters of the Firth of Forth for a 10-month period under the command of His Royal Highness Lt. The Prince of Wales. She was decommissioned in 1988 and transferred to a charitable trust for preservation and display. The trust closed in 2006, and her…
Hyundai Heavy Industries’ autonomous navigation plans have moved ahead towards commercialization with approval in principle from the Korean Register (KR)…
