Navy vessels from Finland and Estonia are set to take part in a mine countermeasure exercise that will take place in the Archipelago Sea and in the Gulf of Finland between October 10 and 14. The exercise is called Baltic Shield 2016 and will include firing and mine counter-measures exercises. Accord
The Italian Navy has contracted Rolls-Royce to deliver 14 MTU diesel engines for the seven new multi-purpose ocean-going patrol vessels that are being built by Fincantieri. The PPA (Pattugliatori Polivalenti d’Altura) multi-purpose ocean-going patrol vessels form part of the Italian Navy’s fleet ren
Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Santa Maria, currently deployed to Operation Atalanta, has arrived in the Seychelles for a port visit. During the port visit ESPS Santa Maria sailors took the opportunity to conduct maritime training exercises with the Seychelles Coastguard and Maritime Police Unit. The tra
Work on upgrades to the Royal Navy’s Portsmouth-based Type 23 frigate, HMS Westminster, have been completed at Portsmouth Naval Base, UK. The multi-million pound refit on the 24-year-old Duke Class frigate has followed several busy years of deployments across the globe and includes upgrades to weapo
French frigate La Fayette joined the EU Naval Forces’ counter-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean on September 28. Two days later, Italian frigate, ITS Euro said goodbye to the mission after 190 days of operations. In addition to carrying out a number of counter-piracy patrols in the
Royal Navy’s unmanned and autonomous systems display exercise Unmanned Warrior 2016 has gotten underway as the teams headed north to Scotland for six weeks of exercises. Over 50 unmanned vehicles from more than 40 suppliers, major international companies and smaller bespoke contractors, academic ins
Navy ships and personnel from eight European countries are set to begin the second European amphibious exercise Emerald Move 2016 (ERMO) off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia on Monday, October 3. The ERMO 16 is an undertaking of the European Amphibious Initiative (EAI), an organization wh
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded QinetiQ an 11-year, £109 million contract extension to continue to develop and de-risk Royal Navy mission systems and infrastructure through integration and testing at Portsdown Technology Park, Portsmouth, UK. The renewal of the naval combat system integration
German Navy replenishment oiler Rhön (A 1443) is set to leave its homeport of Wilhelmshaven on October 4 to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. Captain Egon Rhauderwiek is looking forward to the deployment following a longer dockyard period. Rhauderwiek said it was very important for him and th
The Royal Navy is now capable of having its recompression chambers reach stricken submariners and divers faster as a recent trial showed that the navy’s six Type 45 destroyers can fit the chambers to their flight decks. Until now only the Navy’s thirteen Type 23 frigates were able to deploy the emer
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond that recently joined Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, hosted the Commander of the EU Taskforce carrying out the mission. The destroyer sailed from Portsmouth in August to support the operation to counter illegal arms trafficking in order to promote a
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) will head a U.S. Navy contingent demonstrating 10 technology projects during the first-ever Unmanned Warrior joint exercise hosted by the British Royal Navy. Unmanned Warrior is part of a larger, British naval exercise called Joint Warrior, which provides a se
The U.S. Navy has awarded Saab Defense and Security USA a $38 million contract to provide the AN/SPN-50 (V)1 shipboard air traffic radars for aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. According to Saab, the first award for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the progra
The Finnish Navy said it would be joining the European exercise Emerald Move 16 which is set to take place in Italy in September and October. The main objective of the exercise is to showcase the participating countries’ ability to command and maintain augmented amphibious brigade-level units and de
