Leonardo-Finmeccanica, an Italian multinational aerospace and defence company announced July 4 it received an order from the Italian Coast Guard for additional two AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopters. By placing this order the Italian service will bring its AW139 fleet to twelve with options
British defense contractor BAE Systems is upgrading its submarine construction site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria to prepare it for the construction of UK’s new Successor-class submarine. The company informed Tuesday it awarded another major contract and erected the first steelwork for the largest o
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Raytheon Missile Systems a $36.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract option for design agent and engineering support services for the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) upgraded MK-31 Guided Missile Weapon System improvement program. The MK-31 RAM Guided M
A division of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 and maritime assets from other allied nations joined the U.S.-Ukraine co-hosted international exercise Sea Breeze in the Black Sea from July 27 to 30. Personnel from Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine,
German Navy minehunter FGS Fulda is scheduled to depart its homeport in Kiel, Germany to join NATO’s standing mine countermeasures group two on Friday, August 5. Manned by the 42 man strong ‘Charlie’ crew, Fulda will spend the next five months with the maritime group under the command of Captain lie
The U.S. Coast Guard maritime engagement team (MET) and the Royal Navy from HMS Portland (FS 79) recently carried out a visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) exercise at a training site in Bahrain. The exercise was held between July 26- 27 aboard Naval Support Activity Bahrain which included a Shi
Dutch Navy’s De Zeven Provincien-class frigate HNLMS De Ruyter will be taking over as flagship of the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea in September 2016. The German Navy said the Dutch ship would take place of the frigate FGS Karlsruhe which is currently at the helm of the Standing NATO Maritime Group
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) aided in the rescue of 97 migrants adrift in the Mediterranean Sea on July 29. According to the Navy, Carney provided aid for the migrants until the SOS Mediterranee ship MS Aquarius arrived and took the migrants to safety.
Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) recently completed its third Black Sea deployment under the command of Turkish Navy Captain Ramazan Kesgin. SNMCMG2 started its deployment on July 8 in support of NATO’s assurance measures regarding alliance resolve and commitment to collective de
On Friday 29 July 2016 Rear Admiral Jonas Wikstrӧm (Swedish Navy) handed over the role of Deputy Operation Commander (DCOM) of the European Union’s counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia to Rear Admiral Cristobal Gonzalez-Aller (Spanish Navy). The handover took place at the operational He
Operation Atalanta’s warships are deployed off the coast of Somalia to ensure that the pirate attacks that terrorized seafarers in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden for a number of years are not allowed to resurge. In order to ensure that the EU NAVFOR warships are able to maintain their counter-pir
Ukrainian naval forces participated in the Sea Breeze 2016 air component demonstration at the Kulbakino Air Base in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, July 22. The air component of the exercise is designed to showcase the air-based capabilities of the Ukrainian Naval forces and training conducted by allies and part
Military leaders and maritime forces from participating nations attended the Sea Breeze 2016 opening ceremony in Odessa, Ukraine, July 24. Sea Breeze, now in its 15th iteration, is an air, land and maritime exercise designed to improve maritime safety, security and stability in the Black Sea. “The t
Commander Tim Berry has assumed command of the Royal Navy warship HMS Somerset based at Plymouth Navy Base. Tim was born and raised in South Somerset and joined the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer in 1997. He has seen active service in a number of global hot-spots in the last 19 years. He said: [&he