Helicopter Carrier Warships

Japan will send a large helicopter carrier to the South China Sea and Indian Ocean for a second straight year as it looks to bolster its presence in the strategic maritime region with annual tours, two Japanese officials said.

Japan said on Friday it would send one of its two big helicopter carriers, the largest warship in its fleet, along with two escorts to join three US aircraft carriers for exercises in waters close to the Korean peninsula.

China's first-ever made-at-home aircraft carrier, designed to base fighter jets and helicopters, is nearly complete and could be ready for sea trials next year, according to a leading defence news portal and photos available online.

The US Navy released black-and-white video on Saturday it said was taken by an American helicopter showing an Iranian Revolutionary Guards vessel firing unguided rockets on Dec. 26 near warships including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Strait of Hormuz.

300 kilometres southeast of Chennai, the deck of the United States super carrier Theodore Roosevelt is abuzz with activity. 6 F/A-18 Super Hornet jets catapult off the deck of the ship, 3 helicopters fly in formation nearby and 4 warships from India, the US and Japan sail past the American carrier.

France and Russia have settled compensation issues over helicopter carrier warships that Paris has decided not to deliver to Moscow, President Francois Hollande's office said on Wednesday.

President Francois Hollande won broad domestic applause on Tuesday for defying allies Britain and the United States by confirming plans to deliver a helicopter carrier to Russia, with one backer dismissing the objections as hypocritical.

Japan will send a large helicopter carrier to the South China Sea and Indian Ocean for a second straight year as it looks to bolster its presence in the strategic maritime region with annual tours, two Japanese officials said.

Japan said on Friday it would send one of its two big helicopter carriers, the largest warship in its fleet, along with two escorts to join three US aircraft carriers for exercises in waters close to the Korean peninsula.

China's first-ever made-at-home aircraft carrier, designed to base fighter jets and helicopters, is nearly complete and could be ready for sea trials next year, according to a leading defence news portal and photos available online.

The US Navy released black-and-white video on Saturday it said was taken by an American helicopter showing an Iranian Revolutionary Guards vessel firing unguided rockets on Dec. 26 near warships including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Strait of Hormuz.

300 kilometres southeast of Chennai, the deck of the United States super carrier Theodore Roosevelt is abuzz with activity. 6 F/A-18 Super Hornet jets catapult off the deck of the ship, 3 helicopters fly in formation nearby and 4 warships from India, the US and Japan sail past the American carrier.

France and Russia have settled compensation issues over helicopter carrier warships that Paris has decided not to deliver to Moscow, President Francois Hollande's office said on Wednesday.

President Francois Hollande won broad domestic applause on Tuesday for defying allies Britain and the United States by confirming plans to deliver a helicopter carrier to Russia, with one backer dismissing the objections as hypocritical.