After concluding several days of drills with the Egyptian Navy, the French task group composed of helicopter carrier BPC Tonnerre and destroyer FS Chevalier Paul pulled into Aqaba, Jordan, to embark US Marines on December 4. The French Task Group 473.1, together with sailors and marines from Naval A
The French Navy is considering allowing UK’s Royal Marines greater access to its amphibious ships should the Royal Navy’s HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion amphibious assault ships be axed as part of defense cuts. This was revealed by senior French officials, according to a report in Financial Times, who s
A team of Dutch and Swedish sailors and marines have returned from a three-month deployment to the Horn of Africa as part of the EU counter-piracy operation Atalanta. Dutch Navy landing platform dock HNLMS Rotterdam returned to her homeport Den Helder on December 3 with an embarked Swedish boarding
The Russian Navy commissioned the Project 21180 icebreaker ‘Ilya Muromets’ in a ceremony at the Admiralty Shipyards on November 30. Though it is likely to remain the only vessel in its class due to high construction costs, Ilya Muromets is the first icebreaker built for the navy in 40 years. The ves
Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth returned to Plymouth on December 1, concluding a nine-month deployment. Since leaving Devonport in March, the ship has travelled over 40,000 miles through the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and wider Middle East regions. While on counter-narcotics patrols
The Finnish Navy’s three Pansio-class minelayers have completed their midlife upgrade program, Atlas Elektronik Finland Oy – the prime contractor on the project – announced. FNS Pyhäranta, the third and final vessel to undergo the upgrade, was delivered to the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Comman
The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22) and embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Souda Bay, Greece, for a scheduled port visit, Nov. 27. This is San Diego’s second port visit in Souda Bay during this deployment. While in port, the crew will con
The UK defense ministry has announced a new homeporting plan for the Royal Navy’s thirteen Type 23 frigates. After the relocation is complete, all eight anti-submarine warfare frigates will be calling Plymouth their home, while the remaining five general-purpose variants will be based in Portsmouth.
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland will be joining sister ship HMS Argyll as it deploys to the Asia Pacific region next year. This was announced by the new UK defense secretary Gavin Williamson who addressed the crew of HMS Sutherland Friday morning during a visit to HM Naval Base Devonport
A new £18 million contract for work on the Royal Navy’s Long Range Radar (LRR) was announced by UK defense minister Harriett Baldwin as she visited BAE Systems’ Great Baddow site on November 23. The contract will ensure the continued availability of Long Range Radar (LRR) equipment on the UK’s six T
When Royal Navy aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth got underway from Rosyth in June this year, the ship sailed with a specialized night vision goggle (NVG) lighting suite developed by UK-based lighting specialist Consolite. As the company explained, the aircraft carrier’s original design did not incor
A French Navy amphibious task group got underway from the Toulon naval base on Wednesday, November 21, for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. Composed of Mistral-class amphibious assault ship LHD FS Tonnerre and the Horizon-class air defense destroyer FS Chevalier Paul, the task
Albanian Navy Iliria-class patrol boat ALS Oriku has wrapped up a full year of operations with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), concluding the Albanian Navy’s first ever NATO deployment. Deploying with SNMG2 in November 2016, the Damen-built patrol boat spent over four thousand hours on p
The French Navy has received a new visual defense simulator (Simdav) at its base in Brest, the system manufacturer Naval Group announced on November 22. Brest is the second base to receive the Simdav after Toulon received one at the end of 2016. Both deliveries are part of a 5-year modernisation and
