The most senior British military officer visited Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) headquarters in Bahrain this month. The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), General Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB CB, accompanied by the Defence Senior Advisor for the Middle East (DSAME), Lieutenant-General Thomas Beckett CBE
The team on the Royal Navy’s largest survey ship HMS Scott were asked to help experts from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton with one of its scientific buoys over the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. The center receives daily data from a series of buoys in the Atlantic some 300 miles southwest
FGS Bayern, German Navy frigate and operation Atalanta flagship, recently spent time alongside in the port of Muscat in Oman. During the visit, the Force Commander, Rear Admiral Kaack, was invited to spend time with the Royal Navy of Oman. The visit was an opportunity to update delegates from the Ro
The Royal Navy has shared a video of its flagship HMS Ocean taking part in NATO’s annual Baltops exercise. The helicopter carrier participated in the exercise which took place between June 3 and June 20 in the Baltic Sea. As flagship of the exercise, Ocean found herself home to Italians, French, Ger
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond is fit for deployment again after completing six weeks of operational sea training off Plymouth. The Portsmouth-based warship tested both personnel and equipment to make sure everything is ready for front-line duties. It brings to an end eight months of tri
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Portland departed naval base Plymouth today on a nine-month deployment Middle East and the Atlantic Ocean with the Combined Maritime Forces. The frigate is also due to take part in multi-national maritime operations with navies from several nations, strengthening the
The Royal Netherlands Navy frigate De Zeven Provinciën returned to her home port of Den Helder today following a five-month deployment to the Caribbean Sea. The lead ship of the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates intercepted a total of four ships and about 1570 kilos of drugs. Three interceptions re
German Navy tender ‘Werra’ and the minehunter ‘Datteln’ will depart their homebase in Kiel on June 20 to join the EU NAVFOR mission of saving lives and apprehending smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea. Werra, commanded by Corvette Captain Mirko Preuß and Datteln, commanded by Corvette Captain Björn F
Daesh positions are now being hit from two different regions as AV-8B Harriers taking off from USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the Arabian Gulf joined strike aircraft operating from USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea June 16. This marks the first naval aviation combat strike missions of Operation Inh
The UN Security Council authorized member states’ ships to “use all measures” to intercept suspected vessels sailing in Libyan waters in an effort to implement the arms embargo imposed on Libya. The adopted resolution urged members to combat, by all means, threats to international peace and security
German Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) detachment which has been flying the Orion P-3C as part of Operation Atalanta is set to return to the home air base in Germany. 50 soldiers from the Naval Air Wing (MFG) 3 “Graf Zeppelin” have been stationed at the Horn of Africa since March
After taking part in the advanced multinational mine countermeasures (MCM) exercise Spanish Minex-16, minehunter Duero (M-35) integrated into the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR) to take part in the Italian Minex-16 and the maritime security exercise MCE-16 in Tunisian waters. The Spanish M-35,
Following a readiness period in her homeport in Ferrol, Spain, the AEGIS frigate Cristóbal Colón (F-105) is set to sail towards Norfolk, Virginia for a month and a half deployment along with a U.S. Navy destroyer for combat system ship qualification trials (CSSQT). These trials will take place in th
Royal Navy support vessel RFA Lyme Bay has begun her mission as the afloat forward support base to allied minehunters in the Gulf with a two-week Anglo-American workout. The Falmouth-based vessel arrived in the Middle East to take over from her sister ship Cardigan Bay, which spent three years provi
