Royal Navy’s River class offshore patrol vessel, HMS Mersey, has sailed from Florida, USA after completing her final preparations to start Counter Drug Operations in the Caribbean and Central America. The ship arrived in Key West, Florida after battling storms en route. Key West is home to the Joint
The commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, welcomed the NATO International Military Staff (IMS) Director of Operations, Major General Josef Blotz, to the headquarters for a briefing on NATO maritime operations, February 3. During the visit, Major General
30 surface ships, motorboats and auxiliary vessels, more than 1000 servicemen and over 100 pieces of military equipment will be involved in the Russian naval exercise Caucasus 2016. The Russian Navy said that ship formations and Marine units of the Caspian flotilla started preparations for the strat
General Dynamics Mission Systems announced February 2 that the U.S. Navy recently awarded a follow-on, omnibus contract that continues work on fire control systems and subsystems aboard U.S. Navy and United Kingdom’s Royal Navy nuclear ballistic-missile submarines (SSBN). According to General Dynami
HMS Ramsey, a Royal Navy minehunting vessel joined her NATO counterparts in Kiel January 21 to practise mine countermeasure operations. The Sandown-class minehunter, usually based in Faslane, arrived in Kiel after first sailing through the famous 98-kilometre Kiel-canal. It took the ship 9 hours to
A Spanish Special Naval Warfare Force team (FGNE in its Spanish initials) is training Senegalese and Cape Verdean Forces on special operations missions as part of Exercise Flintlock 16. This multinational exercise is conducted by Sahel and NATO nations within the present Cooperative Security framewo
Rolls Royce announced January 1 that the MT30 gas turbine they built for the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 Global Combat Ship completed the factory acceptance test. Rolls-Royce built the turbine under a contract to supply MT30 gas turbines for the first three Type 26 Global Combat Ships. The company has
Fighter jets aboard the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle have been conducting airstrikes against the Daesh positions in Syria since November 2015 while the carrier itself was positioned in the Persian Gulf. While the carrier is a powerful offensive ship it lacks armament to protect itsel
U.S. Navy Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (EXMCM) Company 1 teamed up with British Second Mine Warfare Battle Staff (2MWBS) onboard RFA Cardigan Bay in the Arabian Gulf to complete the mine countermeasures squadron exercise (Squadex), January 23-25. Squadex is a mine countermeasures exercise desi
One German corvette and one Spanish frigate participated in a medical evacuation of a migrant previously saved in the Mediterranean Sea. On January 28, German frigate FGS Ludwigshafen am Rhein carried out her first rescue operation on her deployment with Operation Sophia. The frigate embarked a tota
Vard Marine, a Fincantieri company designing and building specialized vessels, announced Februaury 1 that it has been selected to design one Antarctic icebreaking vessel for the Chilean Navy. The company said the contract value was approximately four million Euros. Vard Marine has been awarded the c
Leaders of navies from across the Pacific and Indian Ocean came to Hampshire, Great Britain for a series of talks on cooperation, security and trade in the region. The Pacific and Indian Oceans Shipping Working Group saw representatives attending from the navies of several nations including Australi
Operation Sophia, the EU-mission in the Mediterranean, has been making headlines with migrant-rescue operations. The main goal of the mission, however, is to disrupt the networks of migrant smugglers. The German Navy says the Op Sophia is succeeding in this undertaking. The EU-operation entered the
British multinational defence company BAE Systems today, January 29, signed a contract with the Thai shipbuilding company Bangkok Dock to assist in the licensed construction of a second 90 metre Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Royal Thai Navy. Under the agreement, BAE Systems will provide engineering
