Two aircraft carriers, one operational since 2009 and the other preparing for its commissioning ceremony, met off the coast of Scotland during the UK-hosted exercise Saxon Warrior. HMS Queen Elizabeth met up with the USS George HW Bush and her carrier strike group during a series of war games which
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown left her homeport in Halifax and headed for Europe where she will join navy ships from several countries for a six-month deployment to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1. On her second deployment under the Canadian Navy’s operation Reassurance, HMCS Charl
U.S. Navy Seabees on July 25 started construction of a maritime operations center on the Ukrainian Ochakiv Naval Base. The seabees, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, have been in Ochakiv since April to establish contracts, obtain construction permits, and perform other logist
Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Francisco de Almeida (F334) departed its homeport of Lisbon Naval Base on August 6 to join NATO’s standing maritime group 1 (SNMG1). The former Karel Doorman-class frigate will join units from Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and Norway for operations in the North and
A group of Royal Navy sailors and marines together with two Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopters spent the past five months deployed aboard the French helicopter carrier FS Mistral during its Jeanne D’Arc mission. FS Mistral, together with frigate FS Courbet, embarked Royal Navy personnel in March for
When the joint UK-US exercise Saxon Warrior kicked off in waters north of Scotland on August 1, 9000 NATO-sailors on 15 warships got underway for the drills. In addition to U.S. and Royal Navy assets, the exercise is joined by the flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1, the Norwegian Navy frig
The UK defence ministry’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) office signed a seven-year contract with Babcock International Group to keep Royal Navy ships supplied with items essential for day-to-day maintenance and operations. The contract, announced by defence minister Harriett Baldwin in Portsm
Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards has laid the keel for the first two of an additional six Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarines (NATO reporting name: improved Kilo-class). The ceremony took place on Friday, July 28, in St. Petersburg. The two submarines will be named Pet
Italian Navy Rear Admiral Fabio Gregori took over command of the EU counter-piracy operation Atalanta from Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado during a ceremony in Djibouti on July 27. EU NAVFOR’s deputy operation commander, Rear-Admiral Alfonso Pérez de Nanclares (Spanish Navy), also
Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Astute has returned to the fleet after completing a major capability upgrade and a sea training period. HMS Astute’s sea training process tested all aspects of the equipment and crew, ensuring that she is ready to respond to emergency situatio
A visit by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan to the Ukrainian port of Odessa on July 24 marked the first UK warship visit to Ukraine in eight years. The Portsmouth-based destroyer led a NATO task group into the Ukrainian port at the start of a three-day visit ahead of exercises with the host nation’s
U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing a four month patrol that began April 3, 2017. At the beginning of the ship’s fifth forward-deployed patrol, Ross and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-miss
After concluding their drills with the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea, ships from the Chinese Navy’s task group are scheduled to visit Finland for a regularly scheduled port call. Three Chinese warships, Type 052D destroyer Hefei (DDG-174), Type 054A frigate Yuncheng (571) and Type 903 replenishment
The European Union migrant-rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea has been extended and will now run until December 31, 2018. EU leaders reached the agreement on July 25 after Italy curbed its protest against how the migrant crisis was being handled by other member states. The extension was expecte
