Sailors assigned to guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) held a Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony during a port visit to Haifa, Israel, April 27. Vella Gulf’s Commanding Officer, Capt. Robert Katz; Executive Officer, Capt. Francis Castellano, Command Master Chief Scott Nagle; the chaplain, a
A £36M (USD 60.6M) contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been placed with MBDA for the Land variant of the Future Local Area Air Defence System (FLAADSLand). This will fund an Assessment Phase that will demonstrate the adaptation and evolution of core weapon system subsystems (e.g. co
The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Taylor (FFG 50), homeported in Mayport, Fla., departed Constanta, Romania, following a scheduled port visit, May 1. Taylor’s presence in Romania reaffirms to NATO allies that the U.S. Navy shares a commitment to strengthen ties while working toward mutual
Commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group ONE (SNMG1) Commodore Nils Andreas Stensønes took command of NATO’s counter terrorism task force supporting Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR on Wednesday, 23 April 2014. SNMG1 presently consists of the flagship HNoMS THOR HEYERDAHL and FGS MAGDEBURG, and receive
The CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) successfully demonstrated its capability across several different maritime scenarios to Dutch Authorities in Den Helder, The Netherlands, on 29 April 2014. Consolidating its unmatched maritime position, the S-100 demonstrated its ability to support ma
The two French-built Mistral-class warships will be delivered to the Russian Navy and will not be affected by the current EU sanctions imposed amid the Ukrainian crisis, RIA Novosti wrote today. French Permanent Representative to the UN, Gerard Araud, said that the ships were not affected by the s
Four Royal Air Force Typhoons deployed yesterday to take part in the Nato Baltic air policing mission over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The UK fast jets will reinforce the Polish contribution to the air policing mission; a standing defensive mission undertaken by rotations of aircraft from contr
Russian shipyard Nevsky held a keel-laying ceremony of the medium-sized sea tanker “Academician Pashin” pertaining to the 23130 project, on April 26th 2014. The ceremony included traditional christening of the base section of the tanker. The construction of the ship is being carried out in accorda
Work has begun to create a new £6m headquarters to serve as the hub of the Royal Navy’s most important theatre – the Middle East. Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois MP broke ground with a golden shovel at the site of the new UK Maritime Component Command (UKMCC) complex in Bahrain. Nowhere else o
During a port visit to Djibouti, Rear Admiral Jürgen zur Mühlen, met with the Chinese Military Attaché to Djibouti, Ji Mingzhou, on board the EU Naval Force flagship FGS Brandenburg. During the meeting they discussed the key issues related to counter piracy off the Horn of Africa and the successfu
Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Wave Knight returned to Portland, Dorset, on April 24th following a 15-month deployment to the Caribbean. The fleet replenishment tanker has been operating as part of the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Patrol Task (North); this is part of the UK’s year round commitment to the re
On Wednesday 23 April the German Secretary of Defence, Ursula von der Leyen, visited the EU Naval Force flagship, FGS Brandenburg during the German warship’s port visit to Djibouti. In what was her first visit to the German Navy since her inauguration, she met the troops from the European Union’s co
OSI Maritime Systems (OSI) has signed a contract to integrate its flagship software, ECPINS-W Sub, into the UK Royal Navy’s T45 Destroyer Integrated Bridge System (IBS). Under the terms of this contract, OSI will provide software engineering activity to fully integrate ECPINS into the existing IBS
The Royal Navy submarine has concluded its contribution to the search for the signal from the black box of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Working alongside the survey ship HMS Echo, Tireless played an important role in the hunt for the black box signal by using her specialist sonar capabilities.
