NATO’s Allied Maritime Command hosted a ceremony on the 70th anniversary of the alliance to ceremonially activate a new command called Commander Surface Forces NATO (COMSURFNATO). This April 4 activation is part of NATO’s Command Structure Adaptation (NCS-A) remarking new NATO at its birthday. One o
The US 2nd Fleet (C2F) is scheduled to lead the major Baltic Sea exercise BALTOPS 2019, seven months after the command was re-established at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. The US 2nd Fleet, which falls under operational control of the US Fleet Forces Command, was set up again after previously bein
Royal Canadian Navy and Spanish Navy frigate assigned to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) arrived in Odesa, Ukraine on April 1 for a routine port visit. Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto and Spanish frigate ESPS Santa Maria arrived in Odesa after patrolling in the Black Sea with fellow SNMG2 s
Royal Navy auxiliary landing ship dock RFA Mounts Bay served as the test bed for a mobile US Navy minehunting force during a recent test off the coast of Virginia. The test included helicopters, divers, remote-controlled boats and automated surveying machines and was intended to see whether a task f
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster got underway from Portsmouth to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) for a deployment to northern Europe and the Baltic. The Duke-class frigate is scheduled to conduct exercises within her task group as well as a variety of port visits that wil
Ship from Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG) 1 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasure Group One (SNMCMG) 1 completed a scheduled port visit to Plymouth, England, before taking part in an eight-ship maneuver off the UK coast. SNMG-1 and SNMCMG-1 staff took advantage of time in port by having forc
Mine countermeasures ships from eight NATO and ally navies are set to gather in the Baltic Sea at the end of May for the “Baltic Mine Countermeasures Squadron Exercise”. The exercise is hosted by the German Navy’s 3rd Mine Minesweeping Squadron and is in its third iteration. The two-week drill will
Construction on the fourth Italian Navy Multipurpose Patrol Ship (PPA) kicked off with a steel-cutting ceremony at Fincantieri’s Riva Trigoso Shipyard in Genoa on March 14. While being the fourth in its class, this ship will be the first in the “full” configuration, meaning it will be equipped with
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing its eighth forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) patrol of Europe and Africa. Donald Cook began its patrol Nov. 17, 2018 to conduct naval operations in the US 6th Fl
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan departed her Portsmouth homeport on March 8 for a six-month operational deployment which will include high-profile cooperation with the French Navy. Duncan will spend the first part of the deployment in the Mediterranean Sea, providing air defense to the Fre
A Russian Navy task group is being escorted through the English Channel as they head towards the Mediterranean Sea. The task group, composed of frigate Admiral Gorshkov and three auxiliary ships, are escorted by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender and Dutch Navy offshore patrol vessel HNLMS Friesl
The US needs more surface vessels and anti-submarine warfare assets in Europe to counter evolving threats in the region.
The Royal Norwegian Navy’s sunken frigate HNoMS Helge Ingstad arrived at the main navy base aboard submersible barge “Boa barge 33” on Sunday, marking the end of a successful salvage operation. The frigate was transported to the Haakonsvern navy base from the sea floor of Hjeltefjorden fjord where s
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) transited the Bosphorous Strait on March 1, wrapping up ten days of Black Sea operations. While in the Black Sea, the ship conducted operations at sea with the Turkish Navy and completed a port visit to Odesa, Ukraine in
