USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Sailors said goodbye to their family and friends July 25, as the ship departed Naval Base Kitsap for San Diego to embark Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9. The carrier, with its embarked air wing, USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), and Destroyer Squadron Twenty-one, which includes USS Pinck
The Type 23 has been called away from the Response Force Task Group to become the primary surface combatant in support of the NATO Operation Unified Protector. Sutherland has already carried out her first boarding operation, under the auspices of UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973, and se
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $549,999,711 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-10-C-0015) for long lead materials and components associated with the manufacture and delivery of 19 lot eight UH-1Y build new
Apache helicopter pilots have found their sea legs on the unfamiliar setting of HMS Illustrious. The newly-refitted helicopter carrier – fresh from her £40m refit – has swapped Harrier jets for the imposing outlines of the Army gunships. Crews from 664 Squadron, 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, took the c
INS Godavari has successfully foiled a piracy attempt on a Greek ship MV Elinakos in the Gulf of Aden. Eight Somali pirates attempted to hijack the Greek ship in the early morning of 16 Jul. INS Godavari was escorting four other ships at the time in the Gulf of Aden, when she received the distress [
More than 5,500 Sailors and Marines serving in the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG) arrived in Norfolk July 15, returning from a six-month deployment supporting operations in the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea. USS Enterprise (CVN 65), along with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, Carrier St
BPC Dixmude – the third Mistral/BPC-type force projection & command vessel for the French Navy – arrived in Toulon after sailing from Saint-Nazaire on 6 July. Over the coming six months, DCNS will settle the ship’s combat system. The ship will be delivered to the French defence procurement agency DG
Two yachtsmen owe their lives to the fliers of 771 Naval Air Squadron after a dramatic rescue in a gale 100 miles off Cornwall. Aircrewman Sgt Tony Russell RM was forced to dive into the Atlantic and under a liferaft to haul one of the sailors to safety after the men had abandoned the […]
HMS York returned to cheering crowds of families and well-wishers at Portsmouth Naval Base last week following a varied and wide-ranging deployment to the South Atlantic and Libya. The Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer sailed into the base in spectacular style, with a powerful 15-gun salute to the Second
Portsmouth based warship HMS Westminster has been formally recognised by the American Armed Forces for her contribution to operations in Libya earlier this year. The Type-23 frigate was initially deployed to Libya on Operation Ellamy to take part in humanitarian operations and evacuate refugees, tak
LAET Greg Coulter ‘dances‘ on the surface of the Indian Ocean as HMS Sutherland practises winching drills in the middle of a major amphibious exercise off the shores of Saudi Arabia. The Devonport-based Type 23 frigate is the escort for the Cougar 11 task group – the Navy’s key deployment of the yea
Ploughing through seas whipped up by the monsoon season, HMS Iron Duke and St Albans perform a traditional sail past in the Indian Ocean as one Portsmouth-based frigate hands over Gulf duties to another. The two ships – Iron Duck on the left here, the Saint on the right – saluted each other with jet
A team from the Navy Unmanned Combat Air System program office (PMA-268) accomplished the first carrier touchdown of an F/A-18D surrogate aircraft, emulating an unmanned vehicle, using systems developed as part of the Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program on July 2. The t
The flight deck of HMS Illustrious has buzzed and throbbed once more with aircraft as helicopters returned to the first time since her £40m overhaul. LA James Batley guided the first aircraft – a Merlin of 814 Naval Air Squadron – to set down on the deck of ‘Lusty’ in more than 18 months, […]