The European Border and Coast Guard Agency was officially launched today, September 6, less than a year after it was first proposed by the European Commission. The launch event took place at the Kapitan Andreevo Border Checkpoint at the Bulgarian external border with Turkey in the presence of Commis
Spanish Navy offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Relámpago, departed its homeport of Las Palmas Naval Station in Canary Islands to integrate into EUNAVFOR’s counter-piracy operation Atalanta. Relámpago will join the Spanish frigate Santa Maria which is already part of the mission. Currently commanded by Du
The Italian Navy has contracted Rolls-Royce to deliver 14 MTU diesel engines for the seven new multi-purpose ocean-going patrol vessels that are being built by Fincantieri. The PPA (Pattugliatori Polivalenti d’Altura) multi-purpose ocean-going patrol vessels form part of the Italian Navy’s fleet ren
Swedish defense and security company Saab announced it would take part in the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise with an anti-submarine warfare training system and a waterborne anti-IED vehicle. Unmanned Warrior is a multinational event, held in Scotland and Wales between October 10 and 21, whic
Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Santa Maria, currently deployed to Operation Atalanta, has arrived in the Seychelles for a port visit. During the port visit ESPS Santa Maria sailors took the opportunity to conduct maritime training exercises with the Seychelles Coastguard and Maritime Police Unit. The tra
French frigate La Fayette joined the EU Naval Forces’ counter-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean on September 28. Two days later, Italian frigate, ITS Euro said goodbye to the mission after 190 days of operations. In addition to carrying out a number of counter-piracy patrols in the
Navy ships currently deployed to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 passed through the fjord of Sogne (Sognefjorden) in Norway yesterday and the group’s photographer took the opportunity to make a couple of amazing photos. The Sognefjord is the largest fjord in Norway and the second longest in the wor
The United Kingdom is starting construction work on the next-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon revealed this as he announced nearly £1.3 billion of funding was awarded to BAE Systems to start the ‘Delivery Phase 1’ of the Successor program.
Navy ships and personnel from eight European countries are set to begin the second European amphibious exercise Emerald Move 2016 (ERMO) off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia on Monday, October 3. The ERMO 16 is an undertaking of the European Amphibious Initiative (EAI), an organization wh
The U.K. Ministry of Defence has given ASV Global a licence to use its Advanced Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Capability technology. The contract has been signed through Ploughshare Innovations, the technology transfer arm of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). The licence is cent
German Navy minehunter FGS Datteln is set return to the navy base in Kiel on September 30 after a three-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. Datteln is currently on its way back from the European Naval Force’s operation Sophia which is aimed at fighting against human smugglers and traffickers
UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that Britain would be sending a Type 45 destroyer to Bulgarian shores in the Black Sea next year. The Royal Navy deployment is part of a broader goal to deepen the defense relationship between the two countries to help tackle security threats in South Ea
German Navy replenishment oiler Rhön (A 1443) is set to leave its homeport of Wilhelmshaven on October 4 to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. Captain Egon Rhauderwiek is looking forward to the deployment following a longer dockyard period. Rhauderwiek said it was very important for him and th
The Royal Navy is now capable of having its recompression chambers reach stricken submariners and divers faster as a recent trial showed that the navy’s six Type 45 destroyers can fit the chambers to their flight decks. Until now only the Navy’s thirteen Type 23 frigates were able to deploy the emer
