The Type 404 multi-purpose tender Main recently completed modernization to become Germany's newest submarine tender and supply vessel. The modifications made at Elsflether Shipyard took approximately one year. Improvements include the addition of torpedo storage and handling room for up to 16 torpedoes, a diving chamber for eight divers, and a fueling station for the diesel, oxygen, and hydrogen used on board German submarines. To better support boats tying up alongside, fenders have been added to both port and starboard sides amidships. Two MLG 27-mm naval guns have been fitted to provide an improved close-in defensive capability. New electronics include retractable bow sonar, an underwater telephone, and an advanced Automatic Identification System to improve collision avoidance and navigation while assisting with the tracking of naval assets. Though modifications are extensive, dimensions and full-load displacement remain unchanged at 100.58 meters and 3,590 tons, respectively.
This past September, the U.S. Navy and a number of Asian navies concluded Malabar 07-2, one of the world's most important annual naval exercises. This year the exercises were expanded beyond the typical U.S.-Indian Navy bilateral scope to include military assets from Australia, Japan, and Singapore. The successful six-day exercise in the Bay of Bengal testing antisubmarine warfare, anti-piracy, and humanitarian operations involved 28 ships, 150 aircraft, and more than 20,000 personnel.
Among the ships involved were the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and the Indian aircraft carrier INS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes), shown being overflown by F/A-18 Super Hornets, Indian Air Force Jaguars, and Indian Navy Sea Harriers. Other ships taking part included the Australian frigate Adelaide and replenishment oiler Sirius, Indian destroyers Ranvijay and Ranjit and the frigate Brahmaputra, Singaporean frigate Formidable, and the Japanese destroyers Yudachi and Onami. Additional U.S. warships involved were the cruisers Cowpens (CG-63) and Princeton (CG-59); the destroyers Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), Mustin (DDG-89), John Paul Jones (DDG-53), Chafee (DDG-90), and Higgins (DDG-76); and the submarine Chicago (SSN-721).
On 5 September 2007 the Latvian Navy took delivery of its newest warship, the mine-hunter Viesturs. Numbered M-05, the ship is the former Dutch Alkmaar-class mine countermeasures ship Scheveningen, transferred from the Netherlands under a 57-million Euro contract signed in August 2005. The Viesturs joins one retired Dutch sister, the Imanta (ex-Harlingen), already in Latvian service, and will soon be joined by three additional sister ships, which will be transferred to Latvia around 2009.