METU-16, the Finnish Navy’s annual firing exercise, will be held from August 22 to 26 and August 29 to September 2 in the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland, the navy has informed. Hämeenmaa-class minelayers, Katanpää-class Mine Hunter Coastal Vessels, Rauma- and Hamina-class fast attack missil
Operation Atalanta welcomed back Dutch frigate HNLMS Tromp to the EU Naval Force off the coast of Somalia on August 6. Tromp’s crew departed their home port of Den Helder in the Netherlands on July 20 to join the mission for a second time as the frigate was part of Operation Atalanta back in 2010. I
Spanish Navy minehunter ESPS Turia has returned to her home port in Cartagena after a three-month deployment to the the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG-2). During her with SNMCMG-2, Turia took part in Spanish and Italian Minex exercises and later in exercises Breeze and Sea Shield
The U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Bremerton (SSN 698) held a change of command ceremony at the submarine pier on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on August 5. Cmdr. Wesley Bringham, commanding officer of Bremerton, was relieved by Cmdr. Travis Zettel. The ceremony’s guest spe
The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) arrived in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines August 8 as part of a U.S. 3rd Fleet Pacific Surface Action Group (PAC SAG). The port call marked Momsen’s midway point as part of the group. Under the operational control of U.S. 3rd Fleet
Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans returned to Naval Base Portsmouth today following a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. Hundreds of friends and families lined the Naval Base as the Type 23 frigate returned from the Gulf where she joined the US and French navies in the fight against Daesh. ‘Th
German Navy’s Rhön-class tanker FGS Spessart has left the EU Naval Force and Operation Atalanta fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia. The ship spent eighty eight days and sailed over 13,600 nautical miles after leaving Wilhelmshaven navy base on April 18. The EU naval task force is deployed to t
The U.S. Navy announced August 4 that it will transition from the blue aquaflage Navy Working Uniform (NWU) Type I to the green camouflage NWU Type III as the service’s primary shore working uniform beginning October 1, 2016. The NWU Type 1 was not a popular uniform as it was described by Sailors as
The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Training Squadron is scheduled to conduct a friendly port visit to Klaipėda on August 8 as Lithuania and Japan mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Commanded by Rear Admiral Hidetoshi Iwasaki, the training squadron includes three ships and a crew o
The Pakistan Navy has taken command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) after conducting a handover ceremony with the Royal Navy. Commodore Bilal Abdul Nasir of the Pakistan Navy assumed command of CTF150 from Commodore Guy Robinson of the Royal Navy on August 4 in
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has demonstrated its warfighting capability with the successful firing of six missiles during Exercise RIMPAC 2016 in Hawaii. The Anzac-class frigate fired a Harpoon anti-ship missile, three Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles and launched its embarked MH-60R Sea
The U.S. Navy’s coastal patrol ship USS Monsoon tested the capabilities of one of the ships newest assets, the RQ-20A Puma AE (all environment) during a Griffin missile system test that took place in the Arabian Gulf between July 19-25. The Navy says that the small unmanned aircraft system is easily
U.S. Navy Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship USS Shamal (PC 13) returned from its third patrol in the U.S 4th Fleet area of operations on August 1. In support of Operation Martillo, Shamal’s third patrol assisted in five joint interdictions, resulting in the seizure or jettison of 1,483 kilograms of
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency exercised a $523 million contract option with Raytheon to produce, test and deliver 47 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB interceptors for operational testing and deployment. This is the fiscal year 2016 option under the $2,351,177,872 contract for Standard Missiles a
