US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), deployed to U.S. Fifth Fleet and operating in support of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), interdicted a shipment of more than 900kg of suspected narcotics from a stateless dhow in the international waters of the Arabian Sea on Decemb
UK Royal Navy and U.S. Navy forces took part in a mine countermeasures (MCM) interoperability exercise in the Arabian Gulf Sept. 9-17. U.S. Navy mine countermeasures ships operated alongside mine countermeasures vessels from the Royal Navy in order to enhance interoperability, information sharing an
Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise will sail to Lebanon to assess the damage of Beirut’s port following Tuesday’s explosion and help return it to normal operations. The deployment of Enterprise will complement an immediate package of military and civilian support and £5m worth of aid, made availa
HMS Defender (D36), a UK Royal Navy destroyer operating in the Gulf of Oman in direct support of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), has seized 131 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from a dhow. The operation was carried out in the northern Arabian Sea on December 19, 2019, Combined Maritime Force
Courbet (F 712), a second-line multimission stealth frigate of the French Marine Nationale currently operating in the Gulf of Oman in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, seized 3,534kg of hashish on December 13, 2019. The drugs were found after a specially trained team boarded the dhow using o
An Australian-led staff of the Royal Australian Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal Canadian Navy assumed command of the Bahrain-based Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 from the UK on December 5. During a ceremony at the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Headquarters in Bahrain, command of CTF 150 was h
The Royal Australian Air Force’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft has completed its first deployment to the Middle East. Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said this deployment was a targeted and meaningful element of Australia’s broader contribution to the International
A task group of ships assembled around US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Persian Gulf on November 19, following a transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with one-fifth of the world’s energy supply transitin
The IMX 19 (International Maritime Exercise) that took place in the Middle East recently gathered 30 ships and over 50 nations for two weeks of mine countermeasures evolutions. Spread across a vast area from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and Gulf, the exercise will see participants sharing knowled
Ex USS Robert G. Bradley was retired in 2014 and is being transferred to Bahrain.
The US Navy-led International Maritime Exercise 2019 (IMX 19) that will involve participants from over 50 nations kicked off in the Persian Gulf on October 21. The exercise will span from the Suez Canal south to the Bab-al-Mandeb, through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Northern Arabian Gulf. It w
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose and French Cassard-class frigate FS Jean Bart made another drugs bust in the Arabian Sea operating as part of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 150. The suspicious dhow was initially located by FS Jean Bart’s helicopter and boarded by a team from the French ship
A keel-laying ceremony held in Cadiz, Spain, has marked the start of assembly works on the Royal Saudi Navy’s first Avante 2200 corvette. The ships are built by SAMI Navantia Naval Industries (SAMINavantia), a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia S.A. The keel-
After deploying from Portsmouth for operations in the Asia Pacific earlier this month, Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender has now been ordered to Persian Gulf where it would aid in the protection of shipping in the Middle East. Following a series of attacks on tankers in the region and Iran’s
