When the joint UK-US exercise Saxon Warrior kicked off in waters north of Scotland on August 1, 9000 NATO-sailors on 15 warships got underway for the drills. In addition to U.S. and Royal Navy assets, the exercise is joined by the flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1, the Norwegian Navy frig
The boarding party of Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Newcastle trained with the United States Coast Guard members during the frigate’s first port visit while deployed in the Middle East. Australian personnel completed a five-day course delivered by the Coast Guard at the Naval Support Activity i
The Royal Navy marked hundred years of aircraft carrier operations with a Merlin Mk2 helicopter landing and taking off from the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth on August 2. On a clear but windy day at Scapa Flow, pilots Lieutenant Greg Weal and Lieutenant Nick Allen flew their 14-tonne helicopter
Germany is sending its F123 frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to the Mediterranean Sea and EU’s migrant-rescue operation Sophia. The Brandenburg-class frigate is set to depart the German Willhelmshaven navy base on August 7 to join the mission for the second time. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern previously cont
The UK defence ministry’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) office signed a seven-year contract with Babcock International Group to keep Royal Navy ships supplied with items essential for day-to-day maintenance and operations. The contract, announced by defence minister Harriett Baldwin in Portsm
Ships, submarines and aircraft from the navies of Greece and Egypt started training activities as part of the bilateral exercise Medusa 1/2017. The aero-nautical exercise runs from July 30 to August 3 and is being held in the Mediterranean Sea in waters north of Cairo, as well as in Alexandria Naval
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Fort Victoria is back home after over two years of operations. Fort Victoria arrived in Crombie, Fife, after concluding a 26-month deployment. During her 26-month deployment, Fort Victoria carried out a total of 150 underway replenishment operations, issuing 58,634
French shipbuilder Naval Group (former DCNS) has appointed a new executive director to work with the Commonwealth of Australia on the Australian Future Submarine program. Jean-Michel Billig, the Australia executive director joined Naval Group in May 2017 as special advisor to Hervé Guillou, Presiden
In addition to quantity, dredging works that helped prepare Portsmouth Harbour for the arrival of new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers have revealed lots of interesting items. More than 20,000 items, ranging from shoes to sea mines, have been found during the dredging of the approach to the H
German Navy’s newest frigate and the lead ship in its class, the future FGS Baden-Württemberg, has missed its scheduled July 28 commissioning date as it is yet to be handed over by the shipbuilders. According to German news site Wilhelmshavener Zeitung, FGS Baden-Württemberg is still undergoing adju
Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards has laid the keel for the first two of an additional six Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarines (NATO reporting name: improved Kilo-class). The ceremony took place on Friday, July 28, in St. Petersburg. The two submarines will be named Pet
Responding to the possibility of new UK aircraft carriers operating in the South China Sea, China’s foreign ministry said the deployment would only “stir up trouble”. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang made these remarks after UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson hinted at the possibility of t
