Five and a half months after departing from her home port of Rota, Spain, the Spanish Landing Platform Dock (LPD), ESPS Galicia, has completed her counter-piracy deployment with Operation Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. ESPS Galicia, under the command of Captain Rafael Fernández-Pinta
The French frigate FS COURBET and the German FGS SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN have been taking part in a complex rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea from October 7. The German frigate FGS SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN, together with the Italian Ship ITS AVIERE belonging to the “Mare Sicuro” mission, was firstly
A team of Royal Navy Clearance Divers have blasted their way through a highly-charged NATO exercise in Iceland – demonstrating their explosive expertise. The team of 12 bomb disposal operatives from Southern Diving Group joined around 200 Tri-Service colleagues from 14 NATO and Partner for Peace nat
Over the weekend, the ships of Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2) entered the port of Barcelona, Spain, for a routine port visit, following a period of support to the counter-terrorism Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR (OAE). SNMG2 currently consists of the flagship German frigate FGS HAMBURG, the Tu
Royal Navy Fleet flagship HMS Ocean has arrived in Toulon, France, for final preparations ahead of Exercise Corsican Lion. The exercise, part of the Royal Navy’s Cougar 15 deployment, provides an ideal opportunity to showcase the ship’s role as an amphibious assault ship. HMS Ocean carries the UK’s
Inhabitants of a remote community on tiny Crooked Island – 250 miles from the Bahamian capital Nassau – were flown to safety as part of a hurricane relief effort led by amphibious ship RFA Lyme Bay. Sailors, soldiers, Royal Marines and airmen all weighed into the relief effort on the Island after ho
French Navy’s frigate FS Courbet joined EU Naval Force MED operation on October 2. The vessel departed from her home base in Toulon, France, with a Panther helicopter from the French Naval Aviation 36F Flottille, allowing it to significantly expand the scope of its sensors. Whilst with EUNAVFOR MED,
Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), led by Portuguese Navy Rear Admiral Alberto Correia, recently departed from three different ports in Scotland for the sea phase of the UK-led Exercise JOINT WARRIOR 15-2. While the scenario of JOINT WARRIOR is fictitious, the importance of realistic and effect
Exercise Trident Juncture 2015, NATO’s biggest and most ambitious exercise in over a decade, started on October 3 in Mons, Belgium. Military and civilian Staff of Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, reinforced by augmenting personnel from various commands throughout NATO, launched the Command Post
A US Marine Corps Osprey has landed on the flight deck of HMS Ocean for the first time in over five years. The landing was the first step in demonstrating the partnership between the amphibious helicopter platform and the US Marines Corps (USMC) ahead of the major NATO exercise, Trident Juncture, wh
The commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), Vice Admiral Peter Hudson, welcomed Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) Chief of Staff Admiral Tomohisa Takei and his staff to MARCOM headquarters recently. The officials gathered for a briefing on NATO operations and discuss opportunit
His Royal Highness (HRH) the Prince of Wales joined thousands of international service personnel for the start of the UK-led military exercise Joint Warrior. Joint Warrior is a multinational exercise linked to the NATO exercise program. It is hosted in the UK and is one of the largest tri-service an
Eight Nations will participate in the Maritime Theater Missile Defense (MTMD) Forum-led Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) At Sea Demonstration (ASD) 2015 this month. The MTMD Forum consists of 10 nations: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingd
Spanish Navy’s Santa Maria-class frigate SPS Canarias (F86) is on its way to join the EU Naval Force’s Operation Sophia. The vessel departed its homeport of Rota Naval Base yesterday to take part in the efforts of decreasing illegal trafficking off the coast of Libya. Canarias will spend some three
