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
The UK Royal Navy announced an investment of £2 million for the expansion and modernization of Gibraltar’s ‘Windy Hill’ monitoring station. Sitting high above the Strait of Gibraltar, personnel at the monitoring facility keep an eye on 60,000 ships entering or leaving the Mediterranean, or crossing
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
German Navy’s Frankenthal-class minehunter FGS Sulzbach-Rosenberg will be joining NATO’ Standing Mine Counter Measure Group 1 (SNMCMG1) operating in the Baltic and North Seas, the German Navy has announced. The minehunter is set to depart its home port of Kiel, Germany, on July 28 to spend the follo
Belgian Navy frigate BNS Louise Marie concluded her deployment to the EU-led migrant crisis operation in the Mediterranean Sea setting sail home on July 23. The multi-purpose frigate left operation Sophia after the scheduled 34 days of duties, despite calls for the frigate’s earlier withdrawal due t
Less than a year after the German Bremen-class frigate FGS Karlsruhe returned from her last operational deployment, the navy announced it would sink the 35-year-old ship in upcoming tests. According to the navy, Karlsuhe will be detonated in the Baltic Sea sometime in 2018 after being fitted with va
Authorities have reportedly surrounded and detained a ship chartered to obstruct migrant-rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea. The vessel in question is the ‘C-Star’ and was chartered by an organization called Defend Europe which aims to prevent migrants reaching Europe through the Mediterranean
The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58) is back at her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, after spending six months with the George H.W. Bush Carrier strike group in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility (AOR). Under the leadership of Cmdr. Jason Labott, Laboon officers
A Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter has wrapped up its integration aboard a German Navy frigate during her pre-deployment training which started in April this year. The Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton-based helicopter spent seven weeks aboard the Bremen-class frigate FGS Lübeck. This was also t
French Navy’s Horizon-class air warfare destroyer FS Chevalier Paul is scheduled to join Romanian Navy vessels for maritime exercises on July 19, two days after entering the Black Sea. FS Chevalier Paul is expected to be joined by three Romanian Navy vessels for a set of joint activities in the Blac
A Chinese Navy three-ship task group is sailing towards the Baltic Sea where it is set to take part in exercises with the Russian Navy. The bilateral drill, dubbed “Maritime Interaction 2017”, is scheduled to take place between July 21 and 28, and will involve an overall of 21 ships, according to a
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS St. John’s concluded her six-month deployment to operation Reassurance supporting NATO assurance and deterrence measures in Central and Eastern Europe. While deployed, HMCS St. John’s conducted operations and took part in multi-national exercises with NATO Allies and
Royal Navy sailors and marines exercised with their counterparts from other countries during a five-month annual French naval deployment to the Indian Ocean and Far East. UK forces joined the French Navy assault ship FS Mistral in March as part of the Jeanne d’Arc 2017 French task group, which has v
