The Finnish Navy said it would be joining the European exercise Emerald Move 16 which is set to take place in Italy in September and October. The main objective of the exercise is to showcase the participating countries’ ability to command and maintain augmented amphibious brigade-level units and de
Following a request for information (RFI) for its Squadron 2020 project to construct four ice-going offshore patrol vessels, the Finnish Navy has now signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Rauma-based shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions. If the LOI is realized, the company will build f
The European Union Council gave its final approval to the European Border and Coast Guard on September 14 and the EU now estimates the body will start its activities in mid-October. The main role of the European Border and Coast Guard is to help provide integrated border management at the external b
In late August, the US Navy staged an anti-submarine warfare drill in the Arabian Sea which was joined by British, French and Australian Navy assets. Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Perth joined USS Nitze and USS Mason which also had MH-60R flights embarked. Also involved were the Los Angeles cla
The Royal Navy has put the Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST), an unmanned surface vessel (USV) based on the Bladerunner hull shape, on sea trials in the Tidal Thames, September 5. MAST is being developed by Portchester-based ASV Ltd, under research funding from the Defence Science and Technol
The Australian government has awarded BAE Systems a contract to further refine its design of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS) for the Royal Australian Navy under the SEA 5000 (Future Frigate) program. BAE Systems said that a team of the company’s Australian engineers would be deployed to the UK
Fincantieri has signed a contract with the Australian Government to participate in the Competitive Evaluation Process, conducted by the Department of Defence, to deliver 9 Future Frigates – to be built in Adelaide, South Australia – for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under the SEA 5000 programme. F
EU Naval Force Somalia’s Force Commander, Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Luyckx, took the opportunity to visit Operation Atalanta’s Italian warship, ITS Euro, recently. After being welcomed onboard the Italian warship by her commanding officer, Commander Giuseppe Aletta, Commodore Luyckx was intro
Recently, operation Atalanta’s Dutch Flagship, HNLMS Tromp, has been refueled at sea by the American tanker, USNS John Ericsson, in the Gulf of Aden. Refuels such as this are referred to by sailors as Replenishment At Sea (RAS) and are vital for ensuring ships can continue with their important missi
EU and Libya have signed a memorandum of understanding under which European navies will provide training for the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy. The memorandum was signed by in Rome, Italy, by Commodore Abdalh Toumia, commander of Libyan Coastguard and Port Security and Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino,
A massive leak of documents containing top-secret technical details of the Indian Navy’s Scorpene-class submarines has hit the French defense company DCNS which is set to build new Australian submarines. The documents, first revealed by The Australian, contain 22,400 pages and detail secret combat c
German Navy tanker Spessart (A1442) is scheduled to return to Navy Base Kiel on August 26 after spending 88 days deployed to the EU-led counter-piracy operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa. Once it enters the port, the tanker will have sailed a total of 24.830 nautical miles, equivalent to a sai
German Navy’s Brandenburg-class frigate FGS Bayern is set to return from the operation Atalanta on August 20 after spending almost six months off the Horn of Africa combating piracy. By leaving the mission area, the frigate has also concluded the German contribution to the mission. FGS Bayern’s plac
British technology company QinetiQ has been contracted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) of the UK Ministry of Defence to stage a demonstration of unmanned and autonomous systems during the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior event. The demonstration, dubbed Hell Bay 4, will see a va
