The Letter of Intent, signed February 4 between the Netherlands and Germany, breaks the ground for the development of the Joint Support Ship initiative and the amphibious operation capability. Germany is thereby acquiring new capabilities while the Dutch Navy is enabled to equip its ships more effic
After spending a year in the harbor conducting major shipyard maintenance, U.S. Navy’s Amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) completed sea trials February 1. Sea trials are conducted after ships complete major shipyard maintenance and tests the ship’s systems and to make sure the ship is ready
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
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
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
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
Kongsberg Maritime announced February 1 that it has been selected by L-3 MAPPS to provide the CCTV system for the Royal Canadian Navy’s new class of Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS). L-3 MAPPS is one of the suppliers to Irving Shipbuilding, a prime contractor delivering the AOPS vessels as a part
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
The German Navy corvette FGS Erfurt rendezvoused with the Spanish Navy helicopter Toro 07 in The Gulf of Aden to conduct a rather uncommon exercise. The helicopter is regularly embarked on the Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria which is also deployed to the EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta at the Horn of Afr
Spanish F100 class frigate ESPS Alvaro de Bazan (F101), the Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Iron Duke (F234) and the Spanish Fleet Replenishment Ship ESPS Cantabria (A15), vessels of the Standing NATO Maritime Group ONE (SNMG1), arrived in London, UK for a scheduled port visit. Under the command of S
U.S. Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California awarded BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair a $25,589,923 modification to a previously awarded contract for the 2016 selected restricted availability (SRA) of USS Anchorage (LPD-23). An SRA includes the planning and execution of
