Cayor , the third and final OPV 58S, was formally handed over to Senegal during a ceremony in Concarneau on 16 April. (Senegalese Navy)

French shipbuilder Piriou has delivered the final missile-armed Walo (OPV 58 S)-class offshore patrol ship to Senegal, completing the three-ship programme.

The last vessel in the class, named Cayor, was formally handed over during a ceremony held in Concarneau, France, on 16 April, the shipbuilder confirmed the same day.

Pilots from the French Navy surveillance frigate Vendémiaire (F734) practice landing aboard the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) during an interoperability exercise. Blue Ridge is the flagship for Commander, US 7th Fleet. (US Navy)

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US military have begun the most complex iteration of Exercise ‘Balikatan', which is seeing the first-time participation of a French Navy warship and vessels from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

MdCN is launched from the FREMM frigate Aquitaine on 18 April. (French Navy)

The French Navy has successfully conducted its first simultaneous test launch of the Missile de Croisière Navale (MdCN)naval cruise missile from a frigate and a submarine.

The test-firing was carried out by the service's lead multimission (FREMM) frigate Aquitaine, positioned off the coast of Brittany, and one of its Suffren (Barracuda)-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), located off the coast of Biscarrosse, on 18 April, the Ministry of Armed Forces of France confirmed the same day.