UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Argus on March 25 departed the Falmouth dock after undergoing a year-long overhaul at A&P’s shipyard. Prior to the overhaul, the 28,000-tonne support ship supported efforts to curb the spread of Ebola in West Africa. During her 172 days in support of Operation Gritroc
New helicopters that will serve the Royal Marines have joined Britain’s flagship HMS Ocean off the south coast for basic amphibious training. The Sea King helicopters that were recently retired are replaced by the battlefield Merlin, which is, according to the Royal Navy, bigger, faster, more powerf
Adhering to last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK Ministry of Defence on March 22 awarded BAE Systems a £472 million (approx $668M) contract to progress the Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme. Key equipment purchases will include diesel generators, sonar domes, which form the b
British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce signed a contract with Fincantieri to provide MT30 gas turbines to power the Italian Navy’s new multi-purpose amphibious vessel. Two MT30 gas turbines will power the new 20,000 tonne displacement Landing Helicopter Deck (LHD) multi-purpose amphibious vessel, t
French naval defence company DCNS on March 16 delivered the FREMM frigate Languedoc to the French Navy. Languedoc is the fifth FREMM frigate to be built by DCNS and the third intended for the French Navy. The ship was officially accepted by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation), an int
Royal Navy’s amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark and the Royal Marines are warming up for a major Anglo-French exercise in the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea by learning and re-learning the basics of putting troops and their equipment ashore. The two-week exercise South West Sword runs through all th
The Russian Navy is set to commission its newest frigate ‘Admiral Grigorovich’ at a ceremony at the Baltic Shipyard Yantar in Kaliningrad on March 11. The ceremony of raising the St. Andrew’s flag is preceded by successful builder’s and state trials. Admiral Grigorovich, the lead ship in the class,
Dutch Navy’s HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën, in collaboration with the Caribbean Coast Guard, intercepted around 600 kilos of cocaine north of the Venezuelan coast, March 5. The intervention came shortly after the frigate’s first bust on its Caribbean deployment when the ship captured more than 400 kilog
Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Cerberus training facility located south of Melbourne, Australia is set to receive a new Kongsberg K-Sim Engine simulator model. The new model will run on the existing Kongsberg K-Sim Engine desktop simulator the Norwegian company delivered to HMAS Cerberus in 2013. The
The Royal Netherlands Navy ship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën seized more than 400 kilos of marijuana in the Caribbean last week. De Zeven Provinciën was joined by members of the US Coast Guard and the Belgian Navy Alouette III helicopter which is embarked on the Dutch frigate. The action was coordinate
Royal Navy’s amphibious landing ship royal fleet auxiliary (RFA) Mounts Bay together with three border force cutters will join the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea that aims to reduce the flow of migrants from Turkey to Europe, the UK Prime Minister said ahead of an EU sumit. RFA Mounts Bay, supported
Ships of the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 recently concluded fire and flood control training in the North of Germany. The exercise took place at the Einsatzausbildungszentrum Schadensabwehr (Combat Training Centre for Damage Control or EAZS) in Neustadt, about 30 miles southeast of Ki
U.S. Navy’s command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) conducted a combined search and rescue (SAR) exercise with the Republic of Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Lanarca in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, February 29. The purpose of the exercise was to increase response capabi
Royal Marines have tested their skills and know-how by fast roping from a helicopter onto HMS St Albans flightdeck. Using St Albans’ Merlin helicopter, one by one members of the ship’s Royal Marines Boarding Team (RMBT) carried out one of their most dangerous training exercises – descending from a h
