Whilst deployed on operations in the Middle East, HMS Defender’s helicopter Miss Adventure has celebrated her 35th birthday. The Westland Lynx Mk 8 helicopter normally based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovil has been embarked on the fifth Type 45 Destroyer since the Ship departed Portsmouth at the b
On 10 December 2014 Spanish Navy warship ESPS Navarra headed for home after completing a deployment with the EU Naval Force in the Indian Ocean. ESPS Navarra joined Operation Atalanta, the EU’s counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia, on 23rd July. Since then she has completed a range of dut
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon today visited Defence facilities in Plymouth and Devonport, meeting key Royal Navy personnel and engaging with city officials and industrial partners over forthcoming investment plans to transform part of the naval base for commercial use. The visit marks a number of
On Monday 8 December Spanish warship ESPS Rayo joined the EU Naval Force. The ship will be deployed at sea in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden for the next 6 months. Following an intense period of operational sea training, ESPS Rayo departed her home port of Las Palmas on 17 November, with an [&hel
After covering 7,300 miles attached to a NATO minehunting force in and around the Mediterranean Sea, the Sandown-class ship HMS Grimsby has parted company with her Allied friends. The ship has spent the autumn with NATO’s Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 2, working under the Italians with vessels
The incoming Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) maritime security and counter-terrorism task force, Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), conducted successful staff talks with the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) Command in Naples, Italy, on 1 December 2014. During the visit, C
The past few days have seen unusually intense Russian air activity over the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Air activity intensified on December 6 and has continued during the first days of the week. No violations of Finnish airspace have been observed. Most Russian packages have departed from b
On Friday 5 December EU Naval Force Spanish frigate, ESPS Navarra, rendezvoused at sea with the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, off the coast of Somalia. After sailing near to each other, the Commanding Officer of ESPS Navarra, Commander Alejandro Cuerda Lorenzo, and two Spanish journalis
General Dynamics UK has been awarded a contract by AgustaWestland to provide mission system equipment for UK AW101 Merlin Mk4/4a helicopters. This contract is part of the Merlin Life Sustainment Programme (MLSP), which was awarded to AgustaWestland by the UK Ministry of Defence in January 2014 to co
Seventeen more lives were lost in a recent migrant tragedy that occurred in the Strait of Sicily. During rescue operation on December 4, the Italian Navy vessels managed to rescue 278 migrants from three vessels south of Lampedusa. Sixteen deaths were presumably caused by hypothermia and dehydration
Pyotr Velikiy, Russian Navy’s fourth Kirov-class battle cruiser, yesterday deployed on a mission to undertake submarine seeking exercises. The main goal of these drills is to provide the crew of Pyotr Velikiy, as well as the submarines involved in the exercise, with practical experience. The exercis
HMS Bulwark made a stunning entrance to the Grand Harbour of Valetta Malta this week almost a year to the day since her last. Nearing the end of a 4 month Cougar 14 deployment to the Gulf and Mediterranean, the Fleet Flagship paid a short port visit to recuperate from her busy operational schedule o
