849 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) has set off for the Gulf this week to support Royal Navy and coalition forces on operations in the Middle East. 849 NAS has played an essential role in training the Culdrose Sea King Force aircrew and engineers as well as supporting frontline operations. It has also supp
Representatives from international counter-piracy organisations, as well as nations deploying warships independently, have gathered in Bahrain to discuss how they can best work together to combat the threat posed to shipping by criminal gangs from Somalia. NATO chaired the 34th Shared Awareness and
With less than a week to go before they arrive back in the UK, HMS Bulwark’s embarked Royal Marines put on a showstopper by storming a beach in Gibraltar. Exercise Sea Snake saw commandos from Charlie Company 40 Commando and 4 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (ASRM) land on East Beach in Gibraltar for
Whilst deployed on operations in the Middle East, HMS Defender’s helicopter Miss Adventure has celebrated her 35th birthday. The Westland Lynx Mk 8 helicopter normally based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovil has been embarked on the fifth Type 45 Destroyer since the Ship departed Portsmouth at the b
On 10 December 2014 Spanish Navy warship ESPS Navarra headed for home after completing a deployment with the EU Naval Force in the Indian Ocean. ESPS Navarra joined Operation Atalanta, the EU’s counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia, on 23rd July. Since then she has completed a range of dut
On Monday 8 December Spanish warship ESPS Rayo joined the EU Naval Force. The ship will be deployed at sea in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden for the next 6 months. Following an intense period of operational sea training, ESPS Rayo departed her home port of Las Palmas on 17 November, with an [&hel
On Friday 5 December EU Naval Force Spanish frigate, ESPS Navarra, rendezvoused at sea with the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, off the coast of Somalia. After sailing near to each other, the Commanding Officer of ESPS Navarra, Commander Alejandro Cuerda Lorenzo, and two Spanish journalis
Pyotr Velikiy, Russian Navy’s fourth Kirov-class battle cruiser, yesterday deployed on a mission to undertake submarine seeking exercises. The main goal of these drills is to provide the crew of Pyotr Velikiy, as well as the submarines involved in the exercise, with practical experience. The exercis
HMS Bulwark made a stunning entrance to the Grand Harbour of Valetta Malta this week almost a year to the day since her last. Nearing the end of a 4 month Cougar 14 deployment to the Gulf and Mediterranean, the Fleet Flagship paid a short port visit to recuperate from her busy operational schedule o
On Sunday 7 December Djiboutian Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed awarded Commander Bernard Baron (French Navy) the rank and dignity of Officer of the National Order of 27th of June. Commander Baron was presented with the award for his ‘outstanding service and assistance given to the Djibouti
Royal Navy’s vessels will soon have its first permanent naval base in the Middle East since UK formally withdrew from Bahrain and Sharjah in 1971. In the margins of the 10th IISS Manama Dialogue, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond signed a new defence arrangement with His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin
The Royal Navy’s drug busting warship HMS Argyll is heading home for Christmas having dealt another blow to the drugs trade in the North Atlantic. The frigate has been deployed for six months and the final nine weeks of this have been spent on highly successful counter narcotics operations in the Ca
On Tuesday 2 December Colonel Giampaolo Schiavo handed over command of the Djiboutian-based Italian Task Force Air (TFA) to Colonel Elio Volpari. During the past four months the TFA team has been operating with the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta, and conducted over 200 unmanned aerial flight
The US is increasing its military presence in Europe by adding two more ballistic missile ships to its Rota Naval Base in Spain. These are the first American ships home-ported here since Polaris-missile submarines left in the 1970s, U.S. base officials said. Guarding Against Missile Attack, Pirates
