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SOUTH CHINA SEA - The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore on Aug. 21. The collision was reported at 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time, while the ship was transiting to a routine port visit in Singapore. Initial reports indicate John S. McCain sustained damage to her port side aft. Search and rescue efforts are underway in coordination with local authorities.

The three new Zumwalt-class destroyers are in trouble. Originally envisioned as a fleet of more nearly three dozen destroyers, and the weapons that justified them, the Zumwalts have faced delays, cuts and staggering cost increases. As the ships teeter on the verge of white elephant status, could they become relevant again by taking on a new role, that of a stealthy ship killer? The Zumwalt-class destroyers were originally envisioned as a fleet of thirty-two destroyers designed to attack targets far inland with precision-guided howitzer shells. Designed in part to support amphibious landings by the U.S. Marine Corps, the Zumwalts were...

Based on Japanese ship spotters pictures, the Asahi destroyer (25DD-class), the latest surface combatant designed for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), started sea trials. 19DD Asahi Destroyer 25DD class JMSDF Japan 125DD-class ASW Destroyer Asahi (hull number 119) during its first sea trials off MHI Nagasaki shipyard. Picture via ship spotter colleague @tamotaro The images and video show the new first-of-class vessel during its initial sea trials which reportedly started July 6th and ended July 26th off Nagasaki in Southern Japan. The two vessels of the 25DD-class are built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in the Nagasaki shipyard....

Translation from Eastpendulum's article Seven and a half years after the start of the project, the first Chinese destroyer displacing more than 12,000 tons at full load was launched, yesterday June 28th at the Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai. This new Type 055 class of first line surface combattant is in the process of becoming the new flagship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy). Until we see this new class of Chinese destroyer sailing the seven seas, let us review what we already know about it. Type 055 1The first Type 055 during the launch ceremony...

China's launched its first Type 055 destroyer today—the most advanced surface combatant Beijing has ever designed and fielded. Pictures of the visually striking ship whipped around the internet, with many people being surprised that China was producing such an impressive warship. The truth is, the Type 055 is the J-20 stealth fighter/interceptor of the high-seas, and it not only is a showcase of China's rapidly evolving surface warfare and weapons development capabilities, but also a sign of what Beijing's overall maritime strategy will be in the not so distant future. When it comes to the Chinese Navy, the Type 055...

China launched what it calls the most advanced and largest warship in Asia on Wednesday, billing it as a major step forward in the modernisation of its navy, the official military newspaper said. The first of the new type 055 guided-missile destroyers, which has a displacement of more than 10,000 tons and was built at the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai, is equipped with air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, the PLA Daily reported. The launch of the ship marks an important step towards China’s dream of having a strong and modern naval force, a member of the Central Military...

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Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) released an animation video showing the future guided-missile destroyer project for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy (ROC Navy) in combat. Renderings of this new project surfaced in June last year (as we reported). This new destroyer project is in line with Taiwan's new naval acquisition plan which was unveiled in late 2015. The new plan called for four new destroyers (among other vessels). ROC Navy Future Destroyer DDG Taiwan NCSIST CGI of the new DDG Project for the ROC Navy. It appears to share some similarities with the DDG 51...

The Zumwalt class stealth destroyer has become a floating example of just how miserably bastardized major defense acquisition programs can get. Now that the news has broke that the ship’s twin Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) won’t even have any ammunition to fire, because each shell costs nearly a million dollars, the Navy should quickly take another, highly proven route to replace the AGS mission set, and even expand it in the process. One of the shining technological stars of recent military operations abroad is the Army’s and the Marine’s High Mobility Mobile Rocket Artillery System, better known as HiMARS. The...

A U.S. Navy destroyer was targeted on Wednesday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, the second such incident in the past four days, U.S. officials told Reuters. The USS Mason, which was accompanied by the USS Ponce - an amphibious transport dock - fired defensive salvos in response to the missiles, neither of which hit the ship or caused any damage as it operated north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Next month the first DDG-1000 Zumwalt class stealth destroyer will be commissioned into US Navy service. The program has been through three name changes since it began two decades ago and the design’s planned production run has been slashed dramatically from nearly three dozen hulls to a measly three. The truth is that the assault on the Zumwalts started long before production was cut. The ship you see today, even in all its exotic glory, is the sad result of a long series of illogical cost-cutting initiatives and spastic fiscal re-prioritizations by the Navy. These misguided measures left the final...

The future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), the largest and most technologically advanced destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy, has departed Bath Iron Works shipyard where it has been under construction for more than half a decade. At a total of cost of nearly $4 billion, the DDG 1000 is also the most expensive destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy.

Recent pictures from China confirm that the first hull of the next generation Type 055 Guided-Missile Destroyer (DDG) for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) entered final assembly stage at the Jiangnan Changxing naval shipyard located near Shanghai. The information is reported from our colleagues from East Pendulum. Through photos taken by Shanghai-based spotters, we can witness the chronological assembly of the first Chinese destroyer displacing over 10,000 t: October 2015: Type 055's First construction block emerges May 2016: Spotter's picture showing an entire section: Large aft module showing an helicopter pad (left) and hangar (right) at...

OTTAWA — Canada’s last destroyer will be taken out of service in the spring, leaving the country’s navy reliant on allies for longer-range air defence for at least the next seven years. HMCS Athabaskan, and similar destroyers, provided command and control capabilities over the years for the Royal Canadian Navy as well as what was called area air defence. But Athabaskan, Canada’s last destroyer, will be taken out of service within the next year, most likely in the spring, Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, the new commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, told Postmedia Wednesday. Canada’s warships still have the capability to...

China recently produced another “carrier killer” destroyer, the latest in an ever-expanding fleet of Chinese ships capable of threatening American naval power in the highly-contested Asia Pacific. The eleventh People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer, an elite class of guided-missile destroyers, took to the waters just last week. As is, China already has more of these ships than Japan has Aegis destroyers. The newest addition to China’s collection of Type 052D destroyers was built by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC). This is the second ship of this type that DSIC has completed. The first is currently in...

TOMBSTONE — Nelson Mitchell drew cheers and salutes from spectators lining Tombstone’s Allen Street, as he waved to the crowd from the back of an antique convertible. Mitchell served as grand marshal for the eighth annual Salute to the Buffalo Soldiers parade on Saturday, a celebration that commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Buffalo Soldiers and honored Mitchell, the last African American survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. “He’s a celebrity,” said Charles Hancock, president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers, an organization based out of Sierra Vista. “He was clearly the star attraction for today’s ceremony and...

Pictures of a scale model and computer renderings of a new guided-missile destroyer project for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy (ROC Navy) emerged last week in the 中国军事中國軍事武器 (China Military Chinese Weapon) magazine. This new destroyer project is in line with Taiwan's new naval acquisition plan which was unveiled late last year. The new plan called for four new destroyers (among other vessels). CGI of the new DDG Project for the ROC Navy Based on the picture and images, one of the key feature of the new destroyer class is a large mast with four AESA radar arrays presumably...

China Defense Blog has republished a series of photos depicting life on one of China's most modern ships. The photos show a world not too different from western navies, albeit with more spartan living conditions. Hefei, a Type 052D guided missile destroyer, is roughly the equivalent of the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Displacing 7,000 tons, Hefei has a Type 346 phased-array radar system for detecting aerial threats. It's equipped with 64 HQ-9 "Red Banner" missiles, roughly comparable to the SM-2 standard surface-to-air missile system, eight YJ-62 anti-ship missiles, a single 130-millimeter dual purpose ship gun, two close-in weapon systems,...

Royal Navy's most advanced destroyers break down in the Gulf because the water is too WARM, bungling defence chiefs admit Britain's £1billion a piece Type-45 Destroyer ships break down in warm water and are being retrofitted with diesel generators, defence chiefs have admitted. Complicated Rolls Royce gas turbine engines work in the cold water around Britain but the vessels have been left adrift in the Gulf on several occasions because of failures. The problem first became apparent when HMS Daring lost all power in the mid-Atlantic in 2010 and had to repaired in Canada. The ship needed fixing again in...

The Leader-class destroyers, expected to be equipped with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles and S-500 air defense systems, could soon be added to Russia's impressive arsenal of cutting edge military equipment. Russia's Ministry of Defense is currently reviewing the design and could ink the ship building contract in the near future. "Presently, a preliminary design of Project 23560 Leader is under consideration at the Russian Ministry of Defense," Igor Ponomarev, vice president of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), told RIA Novosti earlier this week. After the project is given the green light, "we will develop a technical design of the ship and...