During their recent logistical visit to the Seychelles, Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV), ESPS Meteoro, held a number of very productive meetings with EUCAP Nestor and the Seychelles Coast Guard. On the 25th of October, ESPS Meteoro was visited by 18 members of the Seychelles Coast Guard, in conduc
Shortly after dawn the alarm breaks the silence on board HNLMS De Ruyter as the crew of the flagship prepare to head out to sea. After months of planning, a week in port and some final preparations during the pre-sail conference, everyone is focused and excited about what is going to happen in the c
Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency celebrated the official “light off” of the Aegis Ashore system for Romania on Oct. 24., representing the system’s operational readiness. This system, along with its re-locatable deckhouse, will be deployed to Romania in 2015 as part of th
During this year’s Seawork exhibition, American boat and barges manufacturer Armstrong Marine Inc. has placed an order for the development of a fender system for the 15m STORM. The STORM is a newly developed vessel for high speed patrol & combat, interception & boarding and search & rescue. It combi
Surface rescue swimmers from guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) and aviation rescue swimmers from the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74, “Swamp Foxes”, conducted a combined search and rescue (SAR) exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, Oct. 29. An MH-60R Seahawk helicopter from HSM 7
HMS Westminster has just visited Goa where the ship’s company had the opportunity to exercise alongside the Indian Navy. The Type 23 frigate took time out from her busy counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics operations in the Gulf for a workout with Indian Navy Ship (INS) Delhi and her company. Exe
Anti-submarine warfare may not be the usual forte for a destroyer – an air defence warship – but HMS Dragon snapped up the chance to work alongside nuclear submarine HMS Talent. As both were working in the Eastern Mediterranean at the same time, the units practised advanced underwater training with
USS Zumwalt Successfully Launched General Dynamics Bath Iron Works successfully launched the Navy’s first Zumwalt-class destroyer Oct. 28 at their Bath, Maine shipyard. The future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) will be the lead ship of the Navy’s newest destroyer class, designed for littoral operations and
Working alongside the navies of Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, Daring will shortly take part in Exercise Bersama Lima under the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA). The FPDA was established in 1971 and provides for defence co-operation between the five signatories. But before the
The Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, General Knud Bartels, travelled to the Gulf of Aden on 28-30 October 2013 to visit the Ukrainian Navy frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy deployed there as part of Operation Ocean Shield, NATO’s counter-piracy mission. “Ukraine’s ability to plug in and out of NATO’
Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2) and Standing NATO Mine-Countermeasures Group TWO (SNMCMG2) met on Wednesday, 30 October 2013, for a joint training opportunity at sea near Crete, Greece. Both Groups have been operating in the Mediterranean in support of the counter-terrorism Operation ACTIVE
During the scheduled port-call at Tunis, the frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ (F-101) and the Turkish frigate ‘Salihreis’, integrated into the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), have trained with naval units from the Tunisian Navy. These PASSEX-type exercises are intended to assure that the participa
HMS Illustrious has had to fend off a succession of attacks from Omani jets off the coast of Oman during the opening stages of the last major exercise by the UK’s amphibious task group east of Suez. The veteran warship was expected not just to thwart the attackers, but put Royal Marines ashore on th
HMS Ledbury has sailed into Poland for the start of a NATO exercise involving ships from partner nations including Norway, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Estonia. The two-week exercise will see the personnel take part in a number of warfare serials including hunting for dummy mines, di
