UK’s defense procurement minister Guto Bebb on March 6 informed MPs that the UK defense ministry received the treasury approval to award a construction contract for the Royal Navy’s seventh Astute-class submarine. Negotiations are still ongoing, it was noted, and the new contingent liabilities assoc
NATO’s major Mediterranean Sea anti-submarine warfare exercise Dynamic Manta is getting underway at the Italian port of Catania on Monday, March 5. The two-week drill will take place in the Ionian Sea and will be joined by navies from 10 allied countries. Dynamic Manta is an annual NATO exercise in
German Navy’s Brandenburg-class frigate FGS Bayern is scheduled to get underway from her homeport of Wilhelmsaven on March 7 to start a six-month deployment to the Aegean Sea. During their time in the Aegean Sea, the frigate and her crew will operate as part of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SN
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departed the Black Sea on March 3, after conducting maritime security operations. The US Navy vessel entered the Black Sea in February 2018, joining sister ship USS Ross. Carney’s crew visited Varna for a scheduled port visit to st
Turkish defense contractor STM announced it has been awarded a contract to modernize a second Pakistan Navy Agosta 90B submarine. The contract signing ceremony took place March 1 at the premises of Pakistan defense ministry’s procurement agency. The contract for the modernization of the first submar
The Royal Navy’s next Type 26 frigate will be named HMS Cardiff, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones has announced. HMS Cardiff is joining HMS Glasgow and HMS Belfast as the final ship in the first batch of three frigates to be built under a contract from 2017. Cardiff was named on St David’s Da
The commanders of NATO’s operation Sea Guardian and EU-led operation Sophia met at sea on February 24 to discuss closer tactical level coordination and information sharing in the central Mediterranean Sea. The task group commander for NATO’s maritime security operation Sea Guardian (OSG) visited the
The Italian Navy’s FREMM frigate ITS Carlo Margottini, in service since February 2014, recently achieved another first en route to her Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea deployment. Having sailed from her homeport in La Spezia on February 20, ITS Carlo Margottini transited the Suez Canal for the the first
US sailors and marines have concluded two months of cooperation with their French counterparts aboard the French Navy amphibious assault ship BPC Tonnerre. Approximately 150 US personnel spent the last two months working together with the French task group composed of BPC Tonnerre and Horizon-class
Israel-based ballistic protection company Plasan will be delivering armoring solutions for the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 frigates, the company announced on Thursday. Plasan received the armoring contract from BAE Systems, the main contractor for the Type 26 program. The frigates are to be built at BA
Two French Navy ships, joined by UK marines and sailors and their Wildcat helicopters, got underway from Toulon naval base on February 26 to start a five-month deployment to Asia-Pacific. The Jeanne D’Arc mission is an annual deployment undertaken by French Navy ships over a five-month period. Last
The Royal Navy’s first Batch-2 River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Forth arrived in her new homeport at Portsmouth Naval Base on February 26. She is the first of five vessels in the class, designed for counter-piracy, anti-smuggling, fishery protection, border patrol, counter terrorism and mariti
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Carney (DDG 64) and USS Ross (DDG 71) are underway in the Black Sea again after completing port calls in Varna, Bulgaria, and Constanta, Romania, respectively. The two destroyers entered the Black Sea transiting the Bosphorus two days apart on February 17
Ships deployed to NATO’s Mine Counter Measures Group Two (SNMCMG2) arrived in Bar, Montenegro, for a port call on February 23. Led by Royal Navy Commander Justin Hains, the group arrived in Montenegro after sailing from Marmaris, Turkey last week. The task group consists of the flagship HMS Enterpri
