The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified the US Congress July 9 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of 30 Mark V patrol boats and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $ 1 .2 billion. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has requested a
Survey ship HMS Echo has completed a successful mission to make Libyan waters safer and pass on specialist knowledge to the Libyan Navy. HMS Echo used her sophisticated sonar equipment to map unseen wrecks, reefs and rocks off the Libyan coast and make navigation less hazardous. Significant discover
Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) with embarked Carrier Strike Group 11, Carrier Air Wing 11 and Destroyer Squadron 23 arrived in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, July 5 for a scheduled port visit. While in port, the Sailors will have the chance to visit the sites, shop an
Patrol Coastal (PC) ships USS Tempest (PC 2), USS Squall (PC 7) and USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) arrived pierside in Bahrain July 3, as part of a realignment that will see a total of eight PCs permanently stationed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR). USS Hurricane (PC 3) and USS Monsoon (
More than 5,000 Sailors serving as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) returned to their homeports in Norfolk, Va. and Mayport, Fla. July 3, following five months of operations in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and embarked squa
Sailors from HMS Ramsey visited their American minehunting counterparts to see how they do their business ahead of a US-UK-French exercise in the Gulf. The Brits joined Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 – known as the Blackhawks – in Bahrain to see their giant Sea Dragon helicopters find a
Nearly 100 years after France and Australia fought side by side on the Somme battlefields, HMAS Newcastle and FS Somme are united in their security efforts in the Middle East Area of Operation (MEAO). The two warships conducted coordinated maritime security operations over a five-day period in the S
Royal Navy of Oman Takes Delivery of First Khareef Class Warship The first warship built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) as part of Project Khareef for the design, build and delivery of three corvettes, has been formally handed over in a ceremony at HM Naval Base Portsmouth today. Fr
Survey ship HMS Echo has spent 12 days in Malta on the first stage of her 18-month mission to the Mediterranean and Middle East. The Devonport-based hydrographic vessel will be updating charts used by seafarers the world over, courtesy of her hi-tech sonar suites. It’s just under a year since the De
Sandown-class minehunter HMS Ramsey may only be a sixteenth of the size of HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air defence destroyer, but the two vessels are working side by side maintaining maritime security in the region – a task the Royal Navy has been undertaking for over twenty years. Two Sandown and two Hun
For the first time one of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 destroyers has used two helicopters on front-line operations. HMS Dragon doubled her effectiveness for two months flying not the usual one, but two Lynx helicopters from her flight deck. The destroyer, on her maiden deployment, left Portsmouth i
Friends and families of the crew of USS Jacksonville (SSN 699) gathered at the submarine piers to welcome back the Los Angeles-class submarine as she returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after completing a deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf, June 18. ” These Sailors have impres
Ships from the United States of America, T-AKE 9 U5N5 USS Matthew Perry and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), PEACE ARK arrived on June 16 to partake in the ASEAN Defense Minister’s Meeting Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief & Military Medicine Exercise that started the
HMS Dragon Escorts Gigantic LNG Carrier through Strait of Hormuz HMS Dragon helped shepherd a gigantic gas tanker through one of the world’s most important ‘choke points’ during an exercise to hone protecting sea trade. Multinational Amphibious Exercise Dawn Blitz 2013 Kicks Off Marines and sailors
