The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a helicopter support contract worth £580 million to AgustaWestland, sustaining more than 1,000 jobs across the UK. The deal, worth over half a billion pounds, will provide maintenance support to the Royal Navy’s Merlin Mk2 and Mk3 helicopters over the next five
On Tuesday 25 March 2015 the XXI (21) Spanish Air Force team, which has been deployed as part of the European Union’s counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia for the past four months, held a Transfer of Authority (TOA) ceremony in Djibouti to hand over their duties to the new XXII (22) cre
Joint High Speed Vessel USNS Trenton (JHSV 5) successfully completed Acceptance Trials (AT) on March 13, 2015 in the Gulf of Mexico; the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship. This milestone achievement involved the performance of intense comprehensive tests by the Navy while underw
Senior enlisted leaders met at U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) headquarters for the annual Senior Enlisted Leadership Training Symposium (SELTS) March 23-25. The symposium allows senior enlisted leaders from around the Pacific Fleet to gather and review the effectiveness of current policies and ways to
For various reasons, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) has not deployed since 2004. But after a highly successful combat systems ship qualification trial (CSSQT), Wasp has sent a clear, concise, and concussive message to the fleet: She is back in the fight. After completion of a successfu
US Navy’s USS Germantown (LSD 42) organized and conducted a successful beach cleanup in order to give back to the local community. On March 21, over 80 sailors volunteered their Saturday morning to help clean up Shirahama Beach. The event aimed to improve community relations and demonstrate that USS
Embarked Navy personnel conduct a small-arms weapons familiarization course utilizing the M-240B machine gun on March 23, 2015. The operation was conducted aboard the Military Sealift Command’s joint high-speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1) in the Gulf of Guinea. Spearhead is on a scheduled deploym
Sailors stationed on board the U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) rendered assistance to a fishing vessel suffering from mechanical difficulties March 25. Five Filipino nationals had been fishing at sea when their boat’s motor stalled out, and the vessel was taken out by the current, le
Commodore Brian Santarpia, Canadian Commander of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), recently completed a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to further deepen the cooperation and information sharing relationship between the Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF) and Combined Maritime Forces’ (CMF) counter-
The Spanish Navy’s patrol vessel ‘Vigía’ P-73 recently took part in a search and rescue operation in the Alboran Sea. In collaboration with the Spanish Maritime Safety Agency, the Navy rescued 26 immigrants who started their journey from the coast east of Melilla, Morocco. While Vigía was conducting
Joint high-speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1) and its embarked detachment of U.S. Navy Sailors, civil service mariners, Cameroonian military personnel and U.S., Spanish and British Marines wrapped up their participation in Exercise Obangame Express 2015, March 25. Spearhead is on a scheduled deplo
The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer was awarded the 2014 Battle Effectiveness (Battle “E”) Award for Commander, Amphibious Squadron 1. The announcement was made via naval message from Commander, Naval Surface Force Pacific. In addition to the 2014 award, Boxer also was the recipient in 2011, 2012
Personnel and ships from Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. Navy Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) from Japan led by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 kicked off Multi-Sail 2015, March 22, in Guam. Multi-Sail is an annual DESRON 15 led exercise that is designed to assess combat syste
US Navy’s Tactical Tomahawk missile underwent a successful production acceptance test on March 19 in Indian Head, Maryland. The test conductors used functional ground test (FGT) capability at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division’s (NSWC IHEODTD) La
