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
After spending a year in the harbor conducting major shipyard maintenance, U.S. Navy’s Amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) completed sea trials February 1. Sea trials are conducted after ships complete major shipyard maintenance and tests the ship’s systems and to make sure the ship is ready
The commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, welcomed the NATO International Military Staff (IMS) Director of Operations, Major General Josef Blotz, to the headquarters for a briefing on NATO maritime operations, February 3. During the visit, Major General
30 surface ships, motorboats and auxiliary vessels, more than 1000 servicemen and over 100 pieces of military equipment will be involved in the Russian naval exercise Caucasus 2016. The Russian Navy said that ship formations and Marine units of the Caspian flotilla started preparations for the strat
HMS Ramsey, a Royal Navy minehunting vessel joined her NATO counterparts in Kiel January 21 to practise mine countermeasure operations. The Sandown-class minehunter, usually based in Faslane, arrived in Kiel after first sailing through the famous 98-kilometre Kiel-canal. It took the ship 9 hours to
Sailors assigned to the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) tested the carriers catapult one by performing a ‘no-load’ test on January 28. The success of this firing marked another milestone in the ship’s Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) process. Captain Ron L. Ravelo, Lin
