On November 27, 2017, Fincantieri delivered Offshore Patrol Vessel P61 to the Armed Forces of Malta, following upgrading activities carried out at the Group’s drydocking facility within the Port of Genoa. The aim of the works, which lasted about 6 months, was to improve the reaction capability of th
On 14th November, the Force Commander of EU NAVFOR’s Operation Atalanta, Rear Admiral Fabio Gregori visited General Mabeyo, Chief of Tanzania People’s Defence Force and Rear Admiral Makanzo, Commander of Naval Forces in Dar Es Salaam. During his visit the Force Commander took the opportunity to invi
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland will be joining sister ship HMS Argyll as it deploys to the Asia Pacific region next year. This was announced by the new UK defense secretary Gavin Williamson who addressed the crew of HMS Sutherland Friday morning during a visit to HM Naval Base Devonport
Ships and personnel from a number of NATO and ally navies are participating in the Greek-hosted maritime exercise Niriis 2017. Taking place off the coast of Crete in the southern Aegean Sea, the drill kicked off November 17 and is set to conclude on Saturday, November 25. The exercise is joined by S
A new £18 million contract for work on the Royal Navy’s Long Range Radar (LRR) was announced by UK defense minister Harriett Baldwin as she visited BAE Systems’ Great Baddow site on November 23. The contract will ensure the continued availability of Long Range Radar (LRR) equipment on the UK’s six T
US shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works has teamed up with Spanish Navantia to compete for a contract to build the US Navy’s FFG(X) frigate. Announced by Navantia on Thursday, the agreement will see the two companies work together on evolved designs of Navantia’s AEGIS frigate family. Norweg
Albanian Navy Iliria-class patrol boat ALS Oriku has wrapped up a full year of operations with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), concluding the Albanian Navy’s first ever NATO deployment. Deploying with SNMG2 in November 2016, the Damen-built patrol boat spent over four thousand hours on p
The French Navy has received a new visual defense simulator (Simdav) at its base in Brest, the system manufacturer Naval Group announced on November 22. Brest is the second base to receive the Simdav after Toulon received one at the end of 2016. Both deliveries are part of a 5-year modernisation and
Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset scrambled recently to shadow a Russian naval destroyer as it transited the Moray Firth, returning home from the Mediterranean Sea. It was not the Kulakov’s first visit to UK waters as the destroyer was also shadowed by HMS Somerset from the same position in the Moray
The Polish Navy’s first Kormorant II-class minehunter ORP ‘Kormoran’ has passed all state and builder’s trials and was officially transferred to the navy on November 17. According to a navy announcement, the minehunter is now set to be commissioned in Gdynia on November 28, on the day of the Polish
A former US Navy submarine rescue ship has concluded over seven decades of service with two navies. Decommissioned by the Turkish Navy in a ceremony on November 16, TCG Akin started life as USS Greenlet, joining the US Navy as a submarine rescue ship in May 1943. After 27 years of service, USS Green
Ships form NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 have concluded their Mediterranean Sea stint taking part in exercises with regional navies and supporting operation Sea Guardian. The group is now heading for the English Channel where they will attend Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) drills before resumin
Over twenty ships and a number of aircraft are winding up their participation in the Turkish-hosted multinational maritime exercise Dogu Akdeniz-17. The exercise is hosted by Turkey in the Mediterranean every two years and the 2017 iteration is the 20th time it is taking place since it first started
The Turkish government is interested in buying the soon-to-be-decommissioned UK helicopter carrier HMS Ocean if it is not sold to Brazil. In a reply to a parliamentary question, the UK defense ministry confirmed that Turkey sent an expression of interest to UK about the potential sale of HMS Ocean.
