French Navy’s D’Estienne d’Orves-class aviso FS Commandant Birot replaced its sister ship FS Commandant Bouan in the EUNAVFOR-led operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea on March 10. FS Commandant Bouan earlier took over from FS Commandant Ducuing and served the counter smuggling mission from Febr
U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) visited Australia’s largest navy base HMAS Stirling on March 7. Oklahoma City visited the Fleet Base West, Western Australia, during its regular Indo-Asia-Pacific deployment. With a crew of approximately 150, the submarine wi
Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac-class frigate HMAS Stuart is set to complete her anti-ship missile defense upgrade this week, marking the completion of an Australian Navy capability upgrade program that spanned seven years. Completion of works on HMAS Stuart was announced by contractor BAE Systems who
European and Chinese counter-piracy task group commanders met in the Gulf of Aden during their regular patrols. The force commander of the European Union’s operation Atalanta, Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas, welcomed Rear Admiral Zhao Jicheng, commander of the Chinese
Members of the Slovak military police have traveled to Germany to prepare for their deployment to the EUNAVFOR-led Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia. A team of 10 have been training with German Navy Marines (Seebatallion) since January 30 and will spend the rest of this month preparing for the depl
Australian shipbuilder Austal opened a new shipbuilding facility that will be used for the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) programme. Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne MP officially opened the facility at Naval Base, West Australia in a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 8.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense has deployed a 12-man strong vessel boarding team to the European Union-led operation Sophia aimed at curbing human and arms smuggling activity in the Mediterranean Sea. The team embarked the German Navy tender FGS Rhein on March 6 during a ceremony at Lithuanian N
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission Pacific Partnership 2017 made its initial mission stop in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on March 7 with the arrival of the United States Navy’s expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF-4). This is also the first mission to Sri
Australia’s first air warfare destroyer NUSHIP Hobart returned to Adelaide after completing its sea acceptance trials off the coast of South Australia. Hobart spent the past five weeks demonstrating its on-board weapons capabilities, including 21 days at sea, where it conducted 20 platform system te
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer Choi Young officially joined operation Atalanta welcoming aboard the operation’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas during a joint counter-piracy patrol off the coast of Somalia. The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer joined EU NAV
Two Royal Navy Merlins have embarked French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral, the lead ship of French Navy task group, for the French annual Jeanne d’Arc deployment. The five-month amphibious deployment will take the force – which includes the frigate Courbet – as far east as Japan and Guam, as fa
Austrian Jagdkommandos, an Austrian Armed Forces’ Special Operations group, will embark German Navy tender ‘Main’ on March 2 to support EU’s counter-smuggling mission in the Mediterranean Sea. An official send-off ceremony for the Jagdkommandos took place in the Roßauer barracks in Vienna on Februar
Divers from the New Zealand and United States Navy honed their mine-clearing skills during a two-week multinational exercise that took place in Bland Bay, Whangaruru,in February. Exercise Fulcrum, a training activity involving primarily the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and the U.S. Navy, tested div
Australian sailors aboard Darwin-based patrol boat, HMAS Maryborough, marked the 75th anniversary of the sinking of HMAS Perth (I), with a midnight ceremony over the wreck in the Sunda Strait. The service took on special significance this year, with increased efforts to preserve the wreck over which
