Sailors assigned to the recently commissioned Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will be using a new type of personnel transfer boats with improved maneuvering characteristics. As the new workboats are powered by two water-jets, unlike the current fleet of small boats operated by the Ro
France, Italy and the United Kingdom have renewed an in-service support contract with Eurosam related to the upkeep of the land and naval systems in service with the three countries. The contract extension was awarded to Eurosam, a consortium between MBDA and Thales, by the European Organisation for
The Estonian naval forces are hosting this year’s edition of the international Baltic Sea ordnance disposal drill Open Spirit. The exercise is taking place from May 11 to 25 and will welcome 800 participants, the Estonian defense ministry announced following a January 23 planning conference which to
RFA Tideforce, the final of four Tide-class tankers being built for the UK in South Korea, was named on January 24 in a ceremony at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea. The ceremony was attended by Royal Marine General Gordon Messenger, British ambassador to Republic
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developer UMS SKELDAR has joined the European Defence Fund’s OCEAN2020 autonomous systems project with its Skeldar V-200 UAV, the company announced on January 22. UMS SKELDAR is joining the naval surveillance technology project alongside its partner Saab. OCEAN2020 is t
Polish shipbuilder Remontowa Shipbuilding SA has laid the keel for the first of six tugs to be built for the Polish Navy under a contract signed in June 2017. The first tug, bearing pennant number 860/1, started construction in November 2017 when the first steel was cut. The tugs will be used for po
German Navy frigate FGS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has completed a six-month deployment to the EU-led migrant-rescue operation Sophia and is currently on her way home. The F123 frigate has departed the Mediterranean Sea and is scheduled to enter her homeport in Wilhelmshaven on January 26. During her ti
The Spanish Navy-operated polar research ship B.I.O. Hespérides has started the second phase of the 31st Spanish Antarctic Campaign after a three and a half-month voyage from her homeport in Cartagena. After making port calls in Mar de Plata and Ushuaia, the ship proceeded towards the Antarctic cont
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown arrived at its Halifax homeport on January 19, wrapping up a six-month deployment with NATO’s Standing Maritime Group One (SNMG1). HMCS Charlottetown joined SNMG1 in August 2017, sailing in the Baltic Sea, Northern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean S
The US Navy’s forward-deployed command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) pulled into Valletta, Malta, on January 19, 2018, for a scheduled port visit. During her time in Valletta, Mount Whitney is providing ship tours and enhancing relationships between the two countries. “The sailors and civilian mar
Video footage of smoke billowing near two submarines at the Russian submarine base in Vladivostok emerged on Sunday, but the navy says it is all part of a damage control exercise. According to Russian news agency Interfax, the press service of the Russian Pacific Fleet has denied earlier Russian med
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