Sailors assigned to U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) toured the Australian Anzac-class Frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH-155) May 9. Blue Ridge Sailors spent time aboard Ballarat learning about how about the Australian navy operates. They were shown damage control bases, machinery control ro
Senior leaders from the Air Force and Navy affirmed on May 8 that the F-35 joint strike fighter remains the centerpiece of the tactical aircraft program and will play a large part in the services’ ongoing modernization plans. Navy Vice Adm. David J. Venlet, F-35 Lightning II program executive office
HMS Ocean took a brief break from her Olympic security training in London to host members of the public as the helicopter carrier opened her gangway. More than 3,500 people took advantage of the free opportunity to tour Britain’s biggest warship while he was moored in the Thames at Greenwich. Amid h
Guided missile frigate USS Nicholas (FFG 47) assisted partner nation forces with the interdiction of a vessel carrying nearly 2,200 kilograms (4,850 pounds) of cocaine, with an estimated street value of more than $363 million, in the eastern Pacific May 6. The interdiction was conducted as part of O
Piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean will be high on the agenda when IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) meets at the Organization’s London Headquarters for its 90th session from 16 to 25 May 2012. A High-Level Segment will
Phoenix Express 2012 (PE12), a multi-national exercise between Southern European, North African and U.S. naval forces, officially kicked off at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operation Training Center (NMIOTC) in Souda Bay, May 7. Phoenix Express is an at-sea maritime exercise designed to improve co
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the next Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer (DDG) will be named the USS Thomas Hudner. Thomas J. Hudner Jr., a naval aviator who retired as a captain, received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman for displaying uncommon valor du
The Royal Navy’s largest ship, HMS Ocean, sailed up the River Thames today to take part in a major military and civilian exercise to ensure the London 2012 Olympic Games are as safe and secure as possible. Royal Marines snipers from 539 Assault Squadron and 43 Commando will be on board the Navy Lynx
April 28, late afternoon, after 24 dense hours and three consecutive replenishments at sea led by EU NAVFOR flag ship Marne, Force Commander Rear Admiral Dupuis received his counterpart from NATO – Operation Ocean Shield. This long sequence started at dusk on April 27 for the command and replenishme
The British duo joined warships from the USA, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – including an old Royal Navy favourite – for the war games in the Gulf of Oman. In the seemingly ever-present haze of the Gulf region, a Trafalgar-class submarine and an approximate American counterpart, USS Pittsburgh, lead a
The guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) received a visit from Commander, Strike Force Training Atlantic (CSFTL), while at sea, on its progress though a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX), May 1. Rear Adm. Dennis E. FitzPatrick, CSFTL, landed on the destroyer via helic
Austal held a keel-laying ceremony for the third Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), one of nine Austal-designed 103-metre US Navy Joint High Speed Vessels under contract with the US Navy. Austal invited Representative Jo Bonner to authenticate the keel. He was assisted by Jeff Cellon who is an “A” Clas
Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset has begun a nine month docking period being undertaken by Babcock at Devonport – marking the first refit to be undertaken under the Surface Ship Support Alliance (SSSA) Class Output Management (COM) Phase 2 arrangements, which officially came into effect last month (Apri
An aircraft at the cutting edge of naval airpower will return to RNAS Yeovilton for its annual Air Day on 23 June. Living up to its name, the Dassault Rafale (‘Squall’, or ‘Hurricane’) will tear through the skies over this key Royal Naval Air Station. The Dassault Rafale M is the French Navy’s most
