Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Victoria pulled into the Haifa port on May 25 for her first ever visit to Israel. The 31-year-old Santa Maria-class frigate arrived in Haifa together with Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan for a weekend port call. The two ships are currently deployed to NATO’s Standin
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne departed her home port of Fleet Base East bound to start a seven month deployment to the South West Pacific and North East Asia. Melbourne’s deployment will include participation in the second iteration of Indo-Pacific Endeavour, exercise Kakadu in Austra
The US Navy has marked the 50th anniversary of the loss of attack submarine USS Scorpion (SSN 589) in a ceremony at the Scorpion Memorial on Norfolk Naval Station. On May 26, family members, friends, and submariners past and present gathered at the memorial to honor the memory of the 99 sailors lost
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga has continued her drug interception streak with an additional two hauls of illicit narcotics in the Arabian Sea. The narcotics were intercepted following boarding operations in international waters of the Arabian Sea this week and are valued at approxima
US president Donald Trump awarded retired Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Britt Slabinski with the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony held May 24. Slabinski was awarded for his actions while leading a team under heavy effective enemy fire in an attempt to rescue teammate Petty Officer First
A 2015 expedition aboard the Colombian Navy research ship ARC Malpelo discovered the famous shipwreck of 300-year-old Spanish ship San José which is believed to have sunk with a cargo gold, silver, and emeralds worth billions of dollars. The shipwreck was discovered on November Nov. 27, 2015, but Wo
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin on May 23 announced a successful test firing of two production representative Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) from a US Air Force B-1B bomber. In the event over the Sea Range at Point Mugu, California, a US Air Force B-1B from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, rel
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) met with Turkish Navy units in the Aegean Sea as they wrapped up 20 days of operations in the Black Sea. Led by the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan, SNMG2 ships rendezvoused with Turkish fast patrol boats TCG Mızrak and TCG Volkan after
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile-destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) arrived at US Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka to join the forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) in Japan. The arrival of Milius to the 7th Fleet on Tuesday, May 22, adds another upgraded Aegis Baseline 9 destroyer to the wa
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding on May 16 hosted a keel authentication ceremony for the US Navy’s 21st Virginia-class submarine, Montana (SSN 794). In keeping with a US Navy tradition, former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, the ship’s sponsor, chalked her initials on
The US Navy has shared a video of its Freedom variant littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) launching Longbow Hellfire missiles as part of the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) developmental testing (DT) The live-fire missile exercise took place off the coast of Virginia on May 11 and sa
French Navy’s sole aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle has entered the water again after spending over 14 months in the dry dock as part of her mid-life upgrade. The aircraft carrier was refloated at the Toulon navy base on May 16 after entering the dry dock on February 8, 2017. FS Charles de Gaul
The French Navy frigate La Fayette seized 260 kg of heroin when interdicting a “suspicious dhow” in the Red Sea on May 11. It is her third seizure of narcotics in less than a month, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) said. In an operation coordinated by Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), Marine Nati
A keel-laying ceremony at Russia’s Vympel Shipyard on May 15 marked the construction start of the first of four new Project 21980 (Grachonok-class) anti-terror vessels. The vessels are being constructed under a 2017 contract, signed between Vympel and the National Guard of the Russian Federation. Al
