A German P-3C Orion maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft (MPRA) and its crew have returned to Djibouti to rejoin the fight against piracy as part of the EU NAVFOR-led operation Atalanta. The P-3C, its crew and supporting staff deployed to the Horn of Africa area of operations on March 23 to w
French shipbuilder Naval Group recently announced the selection of first equipment suppliers for the five future intermediate-size frigates (FTI) to be built for the Marine Nationale. As part of the framework construction contract awarded to Naval Group by the French Defence Procurement Agency in Ap
Construction of a new naval testing facility at the Portsdown Technology Park (PTP) in Portsmouth, UK, is set to begin soon, UK defense technology company Qinetiq announced as it unveiled the facility’s design. Together with the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Qinetiq is investing £23m in
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Obangame Express, an exercise sponsored by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and designed to improve regional cooperation, kicked off on March 21 with an opening ceremony in Libreville, Gabon. The annual exercise aims to enhance maritime domain awareness (MDA), information-sharing practices, and tactical
French defense and technology company Thales worked with the Royal Navy recently to see if upgrades in submarine sonar systems could be applied on towed array sonars used on surface ships such as the Type 23 frigates. Sonar 2076 is the Royal Navy’s major sonar platform on all submarines, while the T
UK-based engineering consultancy BMT and Turkey’s ARES Shipyard have received a new order from the Qatari Coast Guard which includes an additional nine vessels. The order was officially signed during Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) last week. The new order cove
The UK defense ministry has awarded a £160 million (approx. $226.5m) contract to a BAE Systems-led team to resolve the power and propulsion system issues experienced by Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers. The Power Improvement Project (PIP) will improve the resilience of the Type 45 class by installing
US Navy’s Harpers-Ferry class dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) and the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) wrapped up their 15-day stay in the Black Sea, transiting the Bosphorus to return to the Mediterranean Sea on March 22. During their time in the Black Sea, US Navy sailors and
Search and rescue experts aboard Royal Navy survey ship HMS Echo recently trained with their Cypriot counterparts sharing their experience with the island’s rescue teams for the first time. The Plymouth-based survey ship has been assigned to the Mediterranean since the tail end of 2016; her crew hav
The German Navy’s sail training ship Gorch Fock will be returning to sea despite its overhaul ordeal and a price tag which started at 10 million euros in January 2016 and reached an estimated 135 million euros as it currently stands. The German defense ministry on March 20 announced it has decided t
Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay arrived in Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) waters on March 19 to help the the British overseas territory with a recent increase in the number of migrant arrivals from Haiti. TCI police and border control officials observed a surge in the number of illegal sloops
