Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat returned to its Perth homeport on July 14, following a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. The frigate’s 200 officers and sailors worked together with the international Combined Maritime Forces to seize nearly 20 tonnes of illicit drugs worth an esti
The UK is sending Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan to the Persian Gulf in the wake of an escalation of tensions in the region following the scrapping of the Iran nuclear deal and a spate of attacks on commercial tankers. HMS Duncan was operating in the Black Sea when the ship’s new tasking was announced
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
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has seized more than 2.1 tonnes of hashish and 345 kilograms of heroin in two boarding operations in the Arabian Sea. The Australian Navy said the seizures were worth approximately AU$105 million and AU$103.5 million respectively. The interceptions took pl
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced it has been awarded a follow on task order (TO) to provide training-related products and services in a variety of disciplines to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF), the Naval Force of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Awarded by the Naval Air Warfare Center
US Military Sealift Command’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk, Dec. 17, completing a 10-month deployment in the US Fifth Fleet and US Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. “Some of the missions USNS Big Horn undertook during this deployment included
After making two narcotics interceptions in late November and early December, Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon has now carried out the largest drug haul in the history of the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). According to CMF, Dragon seized and destroyed just shy of 10,000 kg of illegal n
The navies of Australia, France and the US concluded a four-day ‘Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement’ (SHAREM) 195 exercise in the Arabian Sea on December 18. Participating ships included French navy F70AA-class air defense destroyer FS Cassard (D 614), and Royal Austral
Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has seized three tons of hashish in a Persian Gulf operation, the Royal Navy informed. The Portsmouth-based destroyer was on patrol in the Middle East when they came across a suspicious dhow – a type of vessel common to the Middle East – in a notorious drug sm
Qatari Emiri Naval Forces recently completed Eastern Sailor 19, an exercise conducted annually with the US Navy and US Coast Guard. Eastern Sailor 19 is an annual, bilateral surface exercise between the US Navy and the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces serving to expand levels of cooperation between the two
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57) met up with Egyptian Navy’s Descubierta-class corvette ENS El Suez (F-946) for a passing exercise (PASSEX) on October 21. Cmdr. Ian Scaliatine, commanding officer of Mitscher, welcomed El Suez’s leadership aboard Mitscher f
Royal Navy amphibious assault ship HMS Albion has arrived in Oman ahead of the start of an exercise that will see the involvement of over 4,000 British personnel. Exercise Saif Sareea (Swift Sword) is the largest combined military exercise for UK forces since 2002 and HMS Albion will be in charge of
The Royal Saudi Navy (RSN) has handed over command of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Combined Task Force 152 (CTF152) to the Kuwait Coast Guard (KCG). The change of command ceremony took place at the CMF Headquarters in Bahrain on September 12. As explained, this is the first time a CTF is under the
In an effort to ensure maritime security in the Gulf of Aden, the Singapore-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 conducted focused operation on behalf of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). The operation, Vigilant Lion, which ran from August 31 to September 8, involved adjacent forces in CMF, the Europ
