EUNAVFOR Med operation Sophia air units have recently been augmented by the Hellenic Air Force aircraft Erieye EMB-145H AEW&C and a Spanish Navy AB-212 Helicopter. The Greek aircraft, based in the Hellenic Air Force Base of Elefsis in Greece, is an airborne Command and Control Platform with the capa
BAE Systems, the UK-based shipbuilder, was awarded a £13.5m ($20.4m) contract for 60 new Pacific 24 Rigid Inflatable Boats. The announcement was made by the UK’s Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Michael Fallon during his visit to Portsmouth Naval Base on December 14. This Pacific 24 Mark-4
Royal Navy’s type 23 frigate, HMS Richmond returned home to the Naval Base Portsmouth on December 11 after a nine-month deployment. Sailing more than 40,000 miles, the Portsmouth-based Type 23 frigate travelled as far as the Indian Ocean on security patrols, where her crew intercepted their first ma
Russian Navy’s destroyer ship Smetlivy fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing vessel in the Aegean Sea on December 13. The Russian Ministry of Defence said the destroyer was forced to open warning fire in order to avoid a collision between the two vessels. At the moment of the incident, the destro
The Royal Navy has carried out its second drugs bust in the Mediterranean in just two weeks with HMS St Albans seizing around 320kg of cannabis. The Type 23 frigate stopped the drug smugglers during a routine security patrol and prevented around £1 million worth of narcotics reaching European market
The German frigate FGS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern collided with the container ship Nordic Bremen in Kiel Canal, Germany on December 9. The collision took place near Rendsburg in the 98-kilometer-long Kiel Canal in bad weather conditions around 4 am. According to German Navy, no one was injured in the ac
Improved weather conditions in the Central Mediterranean Sea have led more migrants to embark on the dangerous voyage towards European coasts. In order to avoid the further loss of life at sea, operation Sophia vessels saved 374 migrants in the last couple of days. According to EUNAVFOR Med’s press
Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Bulwark, has returned to Plymouth from operations in the Mediterranean after leading a major Royal Navy deployment. The Plymouth-based ship was leading this year’s exercise Cougar comprising exercises with the French Navy off Corsica and then Exercise Trident
The U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) participated in a bilateral passing exercise (PASSEX) with ships from the Romanian, Turkish and Ukrainian Navies, Dec. 6. The PASSEX was conducted in order to improve maritime capabilities between the U.S. and Black Sea n
German Bundestag authorized the deployment of German troops and units against ISIS in Syria on December 4, 2015. The German Navy will support the French group assembled around the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle. The frigate FGS Augsburg will be sent to aid the aircraft carrier’s operat
The U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman sailed into the Croatian port in Split December 5. The carrier strike group left their homeport in Norfolk, USA on November 16 to join the U.S. 6h fleet area of operations. The ship is scheduled to stay in Croatia until December 9. On December 6, the aircraf
Russian Navy ships, submarines, units and formations of the Northern, Pacific Ocean, Black Sea and Baltic Fleet met the new training year which started on December 1, with around 70 ships in service. According to the Russian Navy Main Command, special attention will be paid to the training of inters
The U.S. Navy’s USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group entered the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, November 23. The current deployment is part of an ongoing rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. The Harry S. Truman
Royal Navy’s Type 23 Frigate HMS St Albans left her homeport in Portsmouth for a nine-month deployment in the Middle East, yesterday, December 1. St Albans will continue the work that her sister ship, HMS Richmond, carried out earlier this year as part of the Royal Navy’s long-term presence East of
