Although an official announcement has still not been made, Spanish newspapers reported that the Australian Department of Defence has chosen Spanish shipbuilder Navantia as the “preferred bidder” for the construction of two replenishment ships. This news sparked some outrage in Australia as the gover
The Royal Netherlands Navy’s Karel Doorman-class frigate HNLMS Van Amstel is joining NATO’s fight against people-smugglers in the Aegean Sea. The De Schelde Group-built frigate will integrate into NATO’s Standing Nato Mine Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2). The ship was already at sea and is now sailing tow
The Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Rob Kramer visited U.S. Navy’s dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry during exercise Cold Response 2016 on March 8. Cold Response is a biennial Norwegian exercise featuring maritime, land and air operations to underscore NATO’s ability to defend against any threat i
Soldiers from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Republic of Korea, along with the Bonhomme Richards strike group and ROK Navy vessels started exercise Sang Yong 16 in the Republic of Korea on March 9. Ssang Yong, which translates to “Twin Dragons,” is a biennial combined exercise conducted by Nav
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Atalaya (P-74), under command of the Maritime Security and Surveillance Center, has conducted a series of cooperative security operations with the Mauritanian Navy last week, and is now collaborating with the Cape Verdean Coast Guard. While in Mauritania,
German Navy’s combat support ship EGV Bonn, flagship of NATO’s SNMG 2 was the first ship to enter the area of activity for a first patrol around the Greek island of Lesbos last weekend. In the last days, NATO expanded the area of activity into the territorial waters of Turkey and Greece, in close co
Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Cerberus training facility located south of Melbourne, Australia is set to receive a new Kongsberg K-Sim Engine simulator model. The new model will run on the existing Kongsberg K-Sim Engine desktop simulator the Norwegian company delivered to HMAS Cerberus in 2013. The
Having sailed 23000 nautical miles safeguarding the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle in the Middle East, the German frigate FGS Augsburg has bid farewell to the international group and headed home. During the group’s deployment in the Persian Gulf, French aircraft conducted 23 reconnai
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems’ San Diego shipyard a $28,243,900 contract to carry out selected restricted availability work on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76). An SRA includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that wi
Royal Navy’s amphibious landing ship royal fleet auxiliary (RFA) Mounts Bay together with three border force cutters will join the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea that aims to reduce the flow of migrants from Turkey to Europe, the UK Prime Minister said ahead of an EU sumit. RFA Mounts Bay, supported
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) arrived in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to begin conducting counter illicit trafficking operations in support of Operation Martillo, March 2. Operation Martillo (Spanish for “hammer”) is a U.S., European and Wester
Japanese Ministry of Defence on March 7 received the seventh Soryu-class submarine, ‘Jinryu’ in a ceremnoy held at the MHI Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works’ No.3 pier in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. The Jinryu, which translates to “benevolent dragon”, is the fourth submarine to be built by Mitsubishi Heav
U.S. Navy’s 14th Virginia-class submarine, USS Washington (SSN 787), was christened at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries on March 5. Ship sponsor Elisabeth Mabus, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, smashed a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to ma
Ships of the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 recently concluded fire and flood control training in the North of Germany. The exercise took place at the Einsatzausbildungszentrum Schadensabwehr (Combat Training Centre for Damage Control or EAZS) in Neustadt, about 30 miles southeast of Ki
