The Romanian-hosted exercise Sea Shield 2019 concluded in the Black Sea on April 13. In addition to Romanian Navy units, the annual drill was joined by five NATO ships which are part of the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2). In total, over 20 ships and crews from Romania, Bulgaria, Canada, Gr
Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose arrived in Bahrain on April 3 to start a three-year mission in the Persian Gulf state. Montrose sailed into the UK’s new support facility in Bahrain after a six-month journey, which saw her cover 47,000-miles from her home in Plymouth. From Bahrain, she will conduct r
German Navy F124 frigate FGS Hessen is scheduled to depart its Wilhelmshaven homeport on April 11 to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2). The air-defense frigate will replace another German vessel currently deployed to the mission in the Aegean Sea. Combat support ship Bonn deployed to
German Bundeswehr Technical Center for ships and naval weapons, maritime technology and research (WTD 71) recently completed sea trials of the SeaSpider anti-torpedo torpedo in the Baltic Sea. The trials were carried out sometime in 2018 from a WTD 71 multipurpose vessel in cooperation with defense
NATO’s Allied Maritime Command hosted a ceremony on the 70th anniversary of the alliance to ceremonially activate a new command called Commander Surface Forces NATO (COMSURFNATO). This April 4 activation is part of NATO’s Command Structure Adaptation (NCS-A) remarking new NATO at its birthday. One o
A Royal Australian Navy task group composed of a helicopter carrier, frigates, and a submarine arrived in India ahead of the start of exercise Ausindex. This is the second time India is hosting the exercise, which was first held in September 2015 at Visakhaptnam. Landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberr
The US 2nd Fleet (C2F) is scheduled to lead the major Baltic Sea exercise BALTOPS 2019, seven months after the command was re-established at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. The US 2nd Fleet, which falls under operational control of the US Fleet Forces Command, was set up again after previously bein
The UK defense ministry has announced an investment of £75 million into new Royal Navy robot and autonomous mine-hunting technologies. The funding boost will be spent on two new autonomous mine-hunter vessels with sonars to enable remote mine-hunting at higher range, speed and accuracy in the Persia
Royal Canadian Navy and Spanish Navy frigate assigned to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) arrived in Odesa, Ukraine on April 1 for a routine port visit. Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto and Spanish frigate ESPS Santa Maria arrived in Odesa after patrolling in the Black Sea with fellow SNMG2 s
Royal Navy auxiliary landing ship dock RFA Mounts Bay served as the test bed for a mobile US Navy minehunting force during a recent test off the coast of Virginia. The test included helicopters, divers, remote-controlled boats and automated surveying machines and was intended to see whether a task f
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster got underway from Portsmouth to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) for a deployment to northern Europe and the Baltic. The Duke-class frigate is scheduled to conduct exercises within her task group as well as a variety of port visits that wil
Ship from Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG) 1 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasure Group One (SNMCMG) 1 completed a scheduled port visit to Plymouth, England, before taking part in an eight-ship maneuver off the UK coast. SNMG-1 and SNMCMG-1 staff took advantage of time in port by having forc
Mine countermeasures ships from eight NATO and ally navies are set to gather in the Baltic Sea at the end of May for the “Baltic Mine Countermeasures Squadron Exercise”. The exercise is hosted by the German Navy’s 3rd Mine Minesweeping Squadron and is in its third iteration. The two-week drill will
Construction on the fourth Italian Navy Multipurpose Patrol Ship (PPA) kicked off with a steel-cutting ceremony at Fincantieri’s Riva Trigoso Shipyard in Genoa on March 14. While being the fourth in its class, this ship will be the first in the “full” configuration, meaning it will be equipped with
