Sentinel , the testbed for Australia's Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial project. (Austal)

Australian shipbuilder Austal has completed the sea acceptance trials phase for the country's Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT), the company announced on 23 April.

The milestone, which included an endurance trial, was achieved by the project's testbed – a decommissioned Armidale-class patrol boat now known as Sentinel. The vessel was formerly in service with the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Maitland and retired in 2022.

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said the country needs more blue-collar workers to meet navy shipbuilding needs at yards like Newport News Shipbuilding, shown here. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

To address the shortage of workers needed to build the number of ships needed to meet US Navy (USN) fleet plans, the country should seek to bring in more legal immigrants from foreign shores, according to US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

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.