HMCS Max Bernays will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific in 2024 as part of the country's effort to deepen its naval engagement in the region. (Royal Canadian Navy)

A Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Harry DeWolf-class Arctic patrol vessel will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific as part of the country's effort to deepen its naval engagement in the region.

This deployment was announced by Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair during his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 in Singapore on 2 June.

The vessel, HMCS Max Bernays, will join the RCN's supply ship MV Asterix and a Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver and 300 Canadian Armed Forces personnel at Exercise ‘RIMPAC 2024', the minister added.

Another Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Montréal, which was said to be at Port Klang, Malaysia, on 2 June, was also present in the region at the time of his speech.

Montréal is one of three RCN frigates that will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific region in 2024, Blair said. This decision to deploy three frigates to the region per year was first announced by the Canadian government in 2022.

Meanwhile, Max Bernays

US Air Force armourers handle a JASSM-ER missile of the type that Finland is to acquire for its F-35As. (US DoD)

Finland is to acquire additional Lockheed Martin AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile – Extended Range (JASSM-ER) systems, Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen announced on 31 May.

Having previously procured the baseline AGM-158A JASSM-version of the stealthy next-generation stand-off weapon for the Finnish Air Force's fleet of Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet combat aircraft, this follow-on order of the JASSM-ER will cover the soon-to-be-delivered Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

“The procurement that will be carried out by the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command supplements the F-35 multirole fighter system's capability with the precision-guided munition of a longer than previous range,” Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command said, following the announcement.

The enhancement of the Nackeroo Airstrip will allow Australia and the United States to land numbers of Boeing C-17As and Bell Boeing MV-22s at the site. (Commonwealth of Australia)

Australia's Nackeroo Airstrip has been upgraded to support the operations of large transport aircraft for training exercises, the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has said.

Nackeroo Airstrip is located within Australia's Bradshaw Field Training Area in the Northern Territory. The Australian DoD said on 31 May that upgrades to the airstrip include the “extension of the runway and adding parking positions for aircraft, including [Boeing] C-17A Globemaster and [Bell Boeing] MV-22 Osprey aircraft”.

Satellite imagery from April 2021 shows that Nackeroo initially comprised a 1,700 m-long dirt strip. DoD photographs from May 2024 show that the runway area has now been concertised with a 500 m-wide apron. Janes assesses that this apron supports the parking of up to 10 MV-22s or six C-17As at a time.