More than 4,500 sailors and marines from the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are scheduled to depart U.S. Navy Base San Diego for a deployment to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations, February 12. Before being certified to deploy, the indivi
The UK Ministry of Defence has announced an additional £201 million of funding to support further design work for the Royal Navy’s next generation of nuclear submarines. The funding is within the £3.3 billion Assessment Phase of the Successor programme and will enable BAE Systems to develop the desi
HMS Ceres, Leeds’ first Royal Naval Reserve Unit has been formally commissioned by The Princess Royal at a dedication ceremony February 6. Ceres has existed in various forms as a naval establishment in Yorkshire over the past 70 years and, until last year, was a satellite unit of HMS Calliope on Tyn
Saab Seaye, a manufacturer of electric powered Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) systems, hosted an international group of mine countermeasures specialists at its Fareham, Hampshire, UK facility. The group, that included the Deputy Director of The NATO Underwater Research Centre, saw a range of existi
Ships of the Standing NATO Maritime Group ONE (SNMG1) arrived in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for a scheduled port visit February 5, during their deployment to the North and Baltic Seas to enhance maritime security and to contribute to international stability. SNMG1’s visit to Amsterdam precedes the
Russia’s re-emergence as a strategic challenge and how NATO is going to respond to it was the center-discussion at the Surface Warship Summit in Bucharest, Romania, held January 26-28. Speaking at the summit, Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone CB CBE, Commander of Allied Maritime Command, said: “The combi
The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Commander’s Conference took place in Bahrain on February 2 2016. The bi-annual conference brings together senior military representatives from CMF members, to update them on CMF’s achievements, assess operational effectiveness and discuss, in an open forum, ways of
India hosted the International Fleet Review at Visakhapatnam from February 4-8. Australia was represented at the Review by HMAS Darwin, in company with 75 warships from 24 countries including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, France and Japan. Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, j
After spending six months at sea, German Navy’s Frankenthal-class mine hunter Weilheim returned to its homeport in Kiel, Germany on February 7. The German Navy 3rd Squadron ship was part of both the German contribution to NATO’s mine countermeasures group, the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Gro
The crew of the U.S. Navy’s next aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) held their first all-hands general quarters (GQ) damage control drill February 4. General Quarters, Battle Stations, or Action Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the all hands aboard a s
German Navy’s combat support ship EGV Bonn, together with the Italian frigate ITS Libeccio and the Canadian frigate HMCS Fredericton, headed for the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish frigate TCG Barbaros joined them in Aksaz, Turkey. The group conducted a range of drills before and after their port cal
The new U.S. DoD acquisition plan includes nine new Virginia-class submarines, 10 new Aegis destroyers, 40 new littoral combat ships, 13 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and 16 more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets than originally planned. The U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told this to a crowd of 150
The Letter of Intent, signed February 4 between the Netherlands and Germany, breaks the ground for the development of the Joint Support Ship initiative and the amphibious operation capability. Germany is thereby acquiring new capabilities while the Dutch Navy is enabled to equip its ships more effic
The crew of the Royal Australian Navy’s guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne made their fifth drug seizure in Operation Manitou as they seized around 65kg of heroin from a dhow in the Indian Ocean. The hidden drugs were discovered when Melbourne’s boarding party searched a suspect vessel during Mel
