French shipbuilder Naval Group (former DCNS) has appointed a new executive director to work with the Commonwealth of Australia on the Australian Future Submarine program. Jean-Michel Billig, the Australia executive director joined Naval Group in May 2017 as special advisor to Hervé Guillou, Presiden
Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards has laid the keel for the first two of an additional six Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarines (NATO reporting name: improved Kilo-class). The ceremony took place on Friday, July 28, in St. Petersburg. The two submarines will be named Pet
Responding to the possibility of new UK aircraft carriers operating in the South China Sea, China’s foreign ministry said the deployment would only “stir up trouble”. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang made these remarks after UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson hinted at the possibility of t
Italian Navy Rear Admiral Fabio Gregori took over command of the EU counter-piracy operation Atalanta from Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado during a ceremony in Djibouti on July 27. EU NAVFOR’s deputy operation commander, Rear-Admiral Alfonso Pérez de Nanclares (Spanish Navy), also
Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Astute has returned to the fleet after completing a major capability upgrade and a sea training period. HMS Astute’s sea training process tested all aspects of the equipment and crew, ensuring that she is ready to respond to emergency situatio
A visit by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan to the Ukrainian port of Odessa on July 24 marked the first UK warship visit to Ukraine in eight years. The Portsmouth-based destroyer led a NATO task group into the Ukrainian port at the start of a three-day visit ahead of exercises with the host nation’s
U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing a four month patrol that began April 3, 2017. At the beginning of the ship’s fifth forward-deployed patrol, Ross and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-miss
After concluding their drills with the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea, ships from the Chinese Navy’s task group are scheduled to visit Finland for a regularly scheduled port call. Three Chinese warships, Type 052D destroyer Hefei (DDG-174), Type 054A frigate Yuncheng (571) and Type 903 replenishment
The European Union migrant-rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea has been extended and will now run until December 31, 2018. EU leaders reached the agreement on July 25 after Italy curbed its protest against how the migrant crisis was being handled by other member states. The extension was expecte
German Navy’s Frankenthal-class minehunter FGS Sulzbach-Rosenberg will be joining NATO’ Standing Mine Counter Measure Group 1 (SNMCMG1) operating in the Baltic and North Seas, the German Navy has announced. The minehunter is set to depart its home port of Kiel, Germany, on July 28 to spend the follo
Belgian Navy frigate BNS Louise Marie concluded her deployment to the EU-led migrant crisis operation in the Mediterranean Sea setting sail home on July 23. The multi-purpose frigate left operation Sophia after the scheduled 34 days of duties, despite calls for the frigate’s earlier withdrawal due t
A Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter has wrapped up its integration aboard a German Navy frigate during her pre-deployment training which started in April this year. The Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton-based helicopter spent seven weeks aboard the Bremen-class frigate FGS Lübeck. This was also t
Following an EU Committee report into the operation Sophia which said the undertaking is not working, EU members seem less willing to continue the mission. The mission which, as the report says, was failing to deliver its mandate of disrupting the migrant smugglers’ networks, was supposed to be exte
French Piriou Naval Services announced it has just completed an extensive refit of the Royal Moroccan Navy patrol vessel Rais Bargach. Rais Bargach is a 65m ocean-going patrol vessel built in 1995 by STX France. It is one of five vessels in the class. Piriou Naval Services, a repair and services bra
