HMS Ramsey, a Royal Navy minehunting vessel joined her NATO counterparts in Kiel January 21 to practise mine countermeasure operations. The Sandown-class minehunter, usually based in Faslane, arrived in Kiel after first sailing through the famous 98-kilometre Kiel-canal. It took the ship 9 hours to
Sailors assigned to the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) tested the carriers catapult one by performing a ‘no-load’ test on January 28. The success of this firing marked another milestone in the ship’s Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) process. Captain Ron L. Ravelo, Lin
The crew of the U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) completed the first Undersea Warfare Exercise (USWEX) of the calendar year, February 1. The anti-submarine warfare (ASW) team practiced fathometer, a sonic depth finder, familiarization and submarine detection exe
A Spanish Special Naval Warfare Force team (FGNE in its Spanish initials) is training Senegalese and Cape Verdean Forces on special operations missions as part of Exercise Flintlock 16. This multinational exercise is conducted by Sahel and NATO nations within the present Cooperative Security framewo
The Royal Navy has said their new strike fighter will make its UK debut later this year. The F-35B Lightning II stealth jet which will fly from the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers is due to appear at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in July. Royal Navy personnel are current
Australian engineering company Civmec announced February 2 that the company has completed the acquisition of one of Australia’s largest major engineering and shipbuilding companies, Forgacs. In November 2015, Civmec announced it would acquire ‘certain assets and the Forgacs name’ with the aim of exp
Rolls Royce announced January 1 that the MT30 gas turbine they built for the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 Global Combat Ship completed the factory acceptance test. Rolls-Royce built the turbine under a contract to supply MT30 gas turbines for the first three Type 26 Global Combat Ships. The company has
Fighter jets aboard the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle have been conducting airstrikes against the Daesh positions in Syria since November 2015 while the carrier itself was positioned in the Persian Gulf. While the carrier is a powerful offensive ship it lacks armament to protect itsel
U.S. Navy Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (EXMCM) Company 1 teamed up with British Second Mine Warfare Battle Staff (2MWBS) onboard RFA Cardigan Bay in the Arabian Gulf to complete the mine countermeasures squadron exercise (Squadex), January 23-25. Squadex is a mine countermeasures exercise desi
UK’s Aircraft Carrier Alliance has installed the first of just over 3,000 compartments on Britain’s new aircraft carrier. It was handed over for the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth, ready to be loaded with equipment. With the 65,000-tonne ship due to sail later this year, and the ship’s company due to m
U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mustin (DDG 89) and USS McCampbell (DDG 85) completed Guam Exercise 2016 (Guamex) with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) January 23. This annual training exercise allows JMSDF and U.S. Navy to work alongside e
One German corvette and one Spanish frigate participated in a medical evacuation of a migrant previously saved in the Mediterranean Sea. On January 28, German frigate FGS Ludwigshafen am Rhein carried out her first rescue operation on her deployment with Operation Sophia. The frigate embarked a tota
The 6th Fleet is the United States Navy’s operational fleet and staff of United States Naval Forces Europe. It is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. Commanded by Vice Admiral James G. Foggo, III, sailors conduct daily operations, port visits and engage with allies and partners th
U.S. Navy’s expeditionary fast transport vessel USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1), from the Military Sealift Command, arrived in Sekondi, Ghana, for a scheduled port visit January 30. This is the first port visit for Spearhead in support of Africa Partnership Station (APS). The ship is scheduled to embark me
